February 6, 2025 • 15 mins
Actress, protege of music icon Prince, and Cameroonian chef Andy Allo joins us this week for Luke’s Diner!
You’ve got to hear the mouth watering Cameroonian dish she would recommend to Rory and Lorelai!
Would Max Medina approve Andy’s version of Osso Bucco?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am all in again.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I am all in again with Scott Patterson and iHeartRadio Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I am all in Podcast. One
of them productions. iHeartRadio Media. iHeart Podcast. We are doing
episode of Luke Steiner with the one and only Andy a'llo.
She is a Cameroon born actres, singer, songwriter chef shines
(00:43):
in Amazon's upload in NBC's Chicago Fire as a former guitarist,
now here's the sentence that really got me as a
former guitarist and vocalist for Prince. Not a lot of
people get to say that. Her music includes the Billboard
charting album Super Conductor and the acclaimed singles Angels, Make Love,
(01:09):
Beyond Music and acting. Andy explores a Cameron and roots
through fine dining, hosting pop ups which I think you
got one coming up too, We'll talk about that, and
directing her award winning short film Alice Dynamic Artist. She
continues to inspire across music, film cuisine. Follow her journey
(01:30):
on Spotify, Apple Music, and get on her mailing list
because she is busy. Welcome Andy, Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Wow, Thanks Scott Man, I haven't heard that.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Bio bio is that me? That's all right, that's you.
So first of all, first of all, we have to
talk about your songwriting. We gotta do it. I mean,
we'll get into the food. We're going to get into food.
But but yeah, tell us about the songwriting. How did
(02:08):
you start? How'd you get into it?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Well? I've always been a storyteller, whether it was through
poetry or like coming up with soap operas as a
kid and just entertaining myself for hours coming up with
crazy stories. But I picked up the guitar kind of
out of high school. My mom is a trained pianist,
(02:32):
so we grew up with music and she taught me
a little bit of piano that has not stuck at all.
But I just grew up in a very musical, creative family,
so I knew I wanted to sing. I loved performing
and just bringing joy to people. So I when I
(02:56):
moved to America at thirteen from Cameroon, I knew, Okay,
I'm in the place where dreams come true. This is
where Hollywood is. This is where and thankfully my mom
is from Sacramento, up north, so not too far from
LA and I just started doing the hustle, the grind
(03:21):
and did open mics, recorded my first album, Put That
out two thousand and nine, which got me on a
program that featured African singer songwriters, and the network and
people behind that ended up working with Prince a year
(03:41):
or two later. And my phone rings and they're like, hey,
you know, we love you, we think you're amazing, but
we're working with Prince now we think there's some synergy.
And I was like, okay, cool, sure, you know, you
get these random calls and you're just like sure, sure, okay, Like, yeah,
come on down to a concert he's putting on and
(04:02):
we'll try to introduce you to and so in a
nutshell that but you know, I I've always loved singing
and telling stories in different mediums. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And who are your primary influences as a songwriter?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Oh, Bonnie Rait, I would say, Tracy Chapman and oh
so many. Joni Mitchell.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
J Mitchell was just gonna say, yeah, one of the
great storytellers. Oh yeah, uh wow, So you're steeped in
all that like late sixties, early seventies folk rock, acoustics.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Story, Yeah, just great story it is. J Taylor, Yeah,
oh Man.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Neil Stephen still's all this Crosby Stills, NA. Sure, the
great storytelling. Yeah, well that's fantastic. So do you still perform?
Are you still out there playing out?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah? Once in a while, you know, I'll put on
a show. I you know, I still play. And I've
recorded a new album last year. We finished mixing it
and so it's in the wings. It's uh, you know,
it's simmering. And right now I'm focusing on being a chef.
But I know that new music is gonna come out. Uh,
(05:29):
you know, when when the time is ready, it's gonna
be released to the basses.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Well, let's talk about the the album or the symphonies
of your culinary expertise here.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Oh that was nice.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
You know our listeners are people here, this incredible fan base.
They love the foods of Gilmore girls. Have you ever
experimented with dishes like you know, let's say something like
stuffed fried squash bottoms and uh, you know, things like that,
but you know, put your own spin on them. Have
you ever done stuff like that?
Speaker 3 (06:05):
I haven't, but I need to because I love eating
stub squash blossoms. It's one of my favorite things to eat,
especially like when it's stuff with like some ricotta and
like and then you like dip it in the tomato sauce. Yeah,
it's I need to start playing with it.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So tell us more about your getting into the food
world and how that all happened.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Well, the way I grew up, we were surrounded by
just such rich flavors and Cameron, and food is very
community based. You know, you're around the table as many
cultures are. You're you know, we're eating with our hands.
You're in it, you're feeling it. It's very role and
(07:01):
almost an immersive experience to eat. And it feels like
for me watching my mom my grandmother make food over
a fire. It's very and the different family members in
the village and at home, you just there's such a
connection and it's like love an heart on a plate.
(07:25):
And I just grew up with such a love and
appreciation for especially making things from scratch. So like my
mom would make tortillas from scratch. My mom's American, so
she would brought in the more like different dishes that
aren't traditional to Cameroon, and that was really cool. She's
(07:46):
grinding her own flower, you know, she's just learning how
to make things in Africa that aren't readily available, so
it was really amazing to watch that happen. And I
love food. I love to eat, so I've always had
this appreciation and dream of being a chef, but life
(08:09):
took me in other directions of I'm just a creative
so I grew up you know, singing, dancing, acting, eating
and I actually used to bake cakes in exchange for
song beats and that was like a deal that I
(08:30):
had with a producer in Sacramento. Is like he would
give me beats and I'd like bake a cake for him.
That was my payment. Because I was like a teen,
I didn't have any money, and so food has always
been a through line for me.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
So okay, what would you recommend? Because Laura, l I
and Rory they're you know, they're about takeout. You know,
they like their takeout stuff and their dinero. Would you
if you could introduce them to one Cameroonian dish that
might rival, you know, like their pizza, their Chinese food obsession.
(09:09):
What would that dish be?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Oh? Oh that is good. And I'm a big I
love takeout. I'm not gonna lie, and pizza is my
go to as well. I think I would do a
play on burger and fries. But in in Cameroon, in
(09:39):
West African countries, there's a spice called soya and it's
a bit it's it's spicy, but it's it's nutty. And
typically it's kind of meat that's been roasted and grilled
very very well and very well done. And you eat
(10:03):
that with you can eat that with the yams, with plantains,
different different things like that a rice if you want.
But I would do a suya spiced burger and and
I would do some fried root fries instead. Wow of
(10:35):
some you know, like dip. I love dips. I'll just
get me a dip and I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Okay. So you have your first ever pop up at
Do Bistro, right, yeah, and it's just around the corner.
What can diners expect from the experience. What's been the
most exciting or challenging part of putting together? By the way,
(11:03):
Annie pop up is February six, Okay, yes, and give
us a location.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
It's at the Bistro and it's this French bistro in
Woodland Hills, Okay. And I'll be there one night, one
night only pop up and it's it's filling, it pretty quickly,
which is amazing and really exciting to see. So I'm
really excited just inviting people into Cameron and food and culture,
(11:35):
and so you'll be taken on a journey. It's five
courses preset menu, and I'm introducing different things but in
a package that's familiar. So one of the dishes looks
kind of like donuts or like donut holes, but we
call them puff puff And then I've got a bunch
(11:57):
of dips. So just introducing everyone in a in a
package that's like, oh, yeah, wait, I think that's what
that is, but the when you taste it, you're like, oh,
that's she's a little different. And I think what's been
fun is because there's so many dishes I could have,
(12:17):
you know, picked from, and I'm already thinking of, oh
what am I going to put on the next menu
for the next pop up, but for this one, really
coming up with dishes that also feel like heart warming.
And so one of them is this lamb pepper soup
that it's a little bit chilly here in La and
(12:39):
and it's a soup that I just it always makes
me feel at home and and it's like a cozy hug.
So I'm there's some great like shredded lamb in there
and a potato rose just to fancy it up a
little bit. But it's one of my favorite things to
make fantastic.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I don't know why I can. All right, here we go.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
And you know what in in the in the episode,
it was an osu buco. Is that how you pronounced it? Yeah? Yeah,
And and I was like, oh my gosh. One of
the dishes on my menu is like a Guinness braised
short rib. And when I was like looking up, ohsu
(13:22):
buco and I haven't wasn't really familiar with it, but
I love Italian food, and and it was it's braised
beal and and I was like, oh okay, yes, I
love the similarities, you know, just like raising meat for
a long time and just when it falls off the bone,
it's just oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Well, Annie Allo go see her. Woodland Hills to Bistro,
February sixth, Woodland Hills, California. Continued success. You've got got
to come back and fill us in more about about
your journey. You're fascinating, delightful journey. Share more of it
(14:08):
with us. It was great talking to you, and good
luck with the show. Good luck with the pop up,
good luck with the album. What else? I mean, you're
gonna have a cookbook coming out. I'm now right here
we go, continued success and we'll talk soon. Okay, thanks so.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Much, Scott. This was amazing. I'm such a big fan,
so this was a dream.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Thank you, Peace and love, take care. Hey, everybody, don't forget.
(15:07):
Follow us on Instagram at I Am all In podcast
and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com.
I am all in again.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I am all in again with Scott Patterson and iHeartRadio Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I am all in Podcast. One
of them productions. iHeartRadio Media. iHeart Podcast. We are doing
episode of Luke Steiner with the one and only Andy a'llo.
She is a Cameroon born actres, singer, songwriter chef shines
(00:43):
in Amazon's upload in NBC's Chicago Fire as a former guitarist,
now here's the sentence that really got me as a
former guitarist and vocalist for Prince. Not a lot of
people get to say that. Her music includes the Billboard
charting album Super Conductor and the acclaimed singles Angels, Make Love,
(01:09):
Beyond Music and acting. Andy explores a Cameron and roots
through fine dining, hosting pop ups which I think you
got one coming up too, We'll talk about that, and
directing her award winning short film Alice Dynamic Artist. She
continues to inspire across music, film cuisine. Follow her journey
(01:30):
on Spotify, Apple Music, and get on her mailing list
because she is busy. Welcome Andy, Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Wow, Thanks Scott Man, I haven't heard that.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Bio bio is that me? That's all right, that's you.
So first of all, first of all, we have to
talk about your songwriting. We gotta do it. I mean,
we'll get into the food. We're going to get into food.
But but yeah, tell us about the songwriting. How did
(02:08):
you start? How'd you get into it?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Well? I've always been a storyteller, whether it was through
poetry or like coming up with soap operas as a
kid and just entertaining myself for hours coming up with
crazy stories. But I picked up the guitar kind of
out of high school. My mom is a trained pianist,
(02:32):
so we grew up with music and she taught me
a little bit of piano that has not stuck at all.
But I just grew up in a very musical, creative family,
so I knew I wanted to sing. I loved performing
and just bringing joy to people. So I when I
(02:56):
moved to America at thirteen from Cameroon, I knew, Okay,
I'm in the place where dreams come true. This is
where Hollywood is. This is where and thankfully my mom
is from Sacramento, up north, so not too far from
LA and I just started doing the hustle, the grind
(03:21):
and did open mics, recorded my first album, Put That
out two thousand and nine, which got me on a
program that featured African singer songwriters, and the network and
people behind that ended up working with Prince a year
(03:41):
or two later. And my phone rings and they're like, hey,
you know, we love you, we think you're amazing, but
we're working with Prince now we think there's some synergy.
And I was like, okay, cool, sure, you know, you
get these random calls and you're just like sure, sure, okay, Like, yeah,
come on down to a concert he's putting on and
(04:02):
we'll try to introduce you to and so in a
nutshell that but you know, I I've always loved singing
and telling stories in different mediums. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And who are your primary influences as a songwriter?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Oh, Bonnie Rait, I would say, Tracy Chapman and oh
so many. Joni Mitchell.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
J Mitchell was just gonna say, yeah, one of the
great storytellers. Oh yeah, uh wow, So you're steeped in
all that like late sixties, early seventies folk rock, acoustics.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Story, Yeah, just great story it is. J Taylor, Yeah,
oh Man.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Neil Stephen still's all this Crosby Stills, NA. Sure, the
great storytelling. Yeah, well that's fantastic. So do you still perform?
Are you still out there playing out?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah? Once in a while, you know, I'll put on
a show. I you know, I still play. And I've
recorded a new album last year. We finished mixing it
and so it's in the wings. It's uh, you know,
it's simmering. And right now I'm focusing on being a chef.
But I know that new music is gonna come out. Uh,
(05:29):
you know, when when the time is ready, it's gonna
be released to the basses.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Well, let's talk about the the album or the symphonies
of your culinary expertise here.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Oh that was nice.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
You know our listeners are people here, this incredible fan base.
They love the foods of Gilmore girls. Have you ever
experimented with dishes like you know, let's say something like
stuffed fried squash bottoms and uh, you know, things like that,
but you know, put your own spin on them. Have
you ever done stuff like that?
Speaker 3 (06:05):
I haven't, but I need to because I love eating
stub squash blossoms. It's one of my favorite things to eat,
especially like when it's stuff with like some ricotta and
like and then you like dip it in the tomato sauce. Yeah,
it's I need to start playing with it.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So tell us more about your getting into the food
world and how that all happened.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Well, the way I grew up, we were surrounded by
just such rich flavors and Cameron, and food is very
community based. You know, you're around the table as many
cultures are. You're you know, we're eating with our hands.
You're in it, you're feeling it. It's very role and
(07:01):
almost an immersive experience to eat. And it feels like
for me watching my mom my grandmother make food over
a fire. It's very and the different family members in
the village and at home, you just there's such a
connection and it's like love an heart on a plate.
(07:25):
And I just grew up with such a love and
appreciation for especially making things from scratch. So like my
mom would make tortillas from scratch. My mom's American, so
she would brought in the more like different dishes that
aren't traditional to Cameroon, and that was really cool. She's
(07:46):
grinding her own flower, you know, she's just learning how
to make things in Africa that aren't readily available, so
it was really amazing to watch that happen. And I
love food. I love to eat, so I've always had
this appreciation and dream of being a chef, but life
(08:09):
took me in other directions of I'm just a creative
so I grew up you know, singing, dancing, acting, eating
and I actually used to bake cakes in exchange for
song beats and that was like a deal that I
(08:30):
had with a producer in Sacramento. Is like he would
give me beats and I'd like bake a cake for him.
That was my payment. Because I was like a teen,
I didn't have any money, and so food has always
been a through line for me.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
So okay, what would you recommend? Because Laura, l I
and Rory they're you know, they're about takeout. You know,
they like their takeout stuff and their dinero. Would you
if you could introduce them to one Cameroonian dish that
might rival, you know, like their pizza, their Chinese food obsession.
(09:09):
What would that dish be?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Oh? Oh that is good. And I'm a big I
love takeout. I'm not gonna lie, and pizza is my
go to as well. I think I would do a
play on burger and fries. But in in Cameroon, in
(09:39):
West African countries, there's a spice called soya and it's
a bit it's it's spicy, but it's it's nutty. And
typically it's kind of meat that's been roasted and grilled
very very well and very well done. And you eat
(10:03):
that with you can eat that with the yams, with plantains,
different different things like that a rice if you want.
But I would do a suya spiced burger and and
I would do some fried root fries instead. Wow of
(10:35):
some you know, like dip. I love dips. I'll just
get me a dip and I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Okay. So you have your first ever pop up at
Do Bistro, right, yeah, and it's just around the corner.
What can diners expect from the experience. What's been the
most exciting or challenging part of putting together? By the way,
(11:03):
Annie pop up is February six, Okay, yes, and give
us a location.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
It's at the Bistro and it's this French bistro in
Woodland Hills, Okay. And I'll be there one night, one
night only pop up and it's it's filling, it pretty quickly,
which is amazing and really exciting to see. So I'm
really excited just inviting people into Cameron and food and culture,
(11:35):
and so you'll be taken on a journey. It's five
courses preset menu, and I'm introducing different things but in
a package that's familiar. So one of the dishes looks
kind of like donuts or like donut holes, but we
call them puff puff And then I've got a bunch
(11:57):
of dips. So just introducing everyone in a in a
package that's like, oh, yeah, wait, I think that's what
that is, but the when you taste it, you're like, oh,
that's she's a little different. And I think what's been
fun is because there's so many dishes I could have,
(12:17):
you know, picked from, and I'm already thinking of, oh
what am I going to put on the next menu
for the next pop up, but for this one, really
coming up with dishes that also feel like heart warming.
And so one of them is this lamb pepper soup
that it's a little bit chilly here in La and
(12:39):
and it's a soup that I just it always makes
me feel at home and and it's like a cozy hug.
So I'm there's some great like shredded lamb in there
and a potato rose just to fancy it up a
little bit. But it's one of my favorite things to
make fantastic.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I don't know why I can. All right, here we go.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
And you know what in in the in the episode,
it was an osu buco. Is that how you pronounced it? Yeah? Yeah,
And and I was like, oh my gosh. One of
the dishes on my menu is like a Guinness braised
short rib. And when I was like looking up, ohsu
(13:22):
buco and I haven't wasn't really familiar with it, but
I love Italian food, and and it was it's braised
beal and and I was like, oh okay, yes, I
love the similarities, you know, just like raising meat for
a long time and just when it falls off the bone,
it's just oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Well, Annie Allo go see her. Woodland Hills to Bistro,
February sixth, Woodland Hills, California. Continued success. You've got got
to come back and fill us in more about about
your journey. You're fascinating, delightful journey. Share more of it
(14:08):
with us. It was great talking to you, and good
luck with the show. Good luck with the pop up,
good luck with the album. What else? I mean, you're
gonna have a cookbook coming out. I'm now right here
we go, continued success and we'll talk soon. Okay, thanks so.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Much, Scott. This was amazing. I'm such a big fan,
so this was a dream.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Thank you, Peace and love, take care. Hey, everybody, don't forget.
(15:07):
Follow us on Instagram at I Am all In podcast
and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com.
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