Paul Wahlberg of Whalburgers

.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You are listening to Food for Thoughtwith Billy and Jenny, brought to you
by the Box Center. For morethan fifteen years, this dining duo has
been eating their way through New England, mixing it up with top chefs,
jumping behind the line of the hottestlest lance and giving you the inside scoop
on where to wine, dine andspend your time. So get ready,
it's Food for Thought giving you somethingto chew on. Hi, everybody,

(00:22):
welcome to Food for Thought. BillyCosta here, and I've got my good
friend Paul Wallburg sitting right next tome. Heye, Paul, how's it
going, buddy? But how areyou? Billy good? You know what,
Paul, I'm so fascinated by youthat I've dedicated the entire hour of
this show on Food for Thought justto you. Well, you had nobody
else, so I guess. Okay, that's kind of true, But no,

(00:45):
I have everybody else. I couldhave had everywhere. You have everybody
else, absolutely, But we haveso much to talk about. First of
all, thank you for coming in, Paul. Always a pleasure. Let's
get some numbers out there first,okay, wall Burgers, how many are
there around a hundred, around onehundred, round one hundred. Yeah,
I think we just we just brokethe hundred mark. Yeah. So yeah,

(01:07):
it's just you know, we've beenvery fortunate. We've we've we've we've
got some great partners and we're justplugging them along. That's when you know
you've really made it. When you'velost count of the number of restaurants you're
operating. Well, they I don'tknow about that. It's just we have
I don't want to talk about this. Yeah, well you have to thought,

(01:29):
okay, Um, yeah, it'sit's for us. You know,
it's a franchise system. So wehave some places that you know that,
yeah, and so we have youknow, there's some places that work out
very well and then other places don't. So that the numbers have changed a
little bit over the last couple ofmonths. Okay, So you've got Almanova,
one of New England's most beautiful restaurantsover there at Hingham Shipyard Marina or

(01:51):
Hangam Shipyard. I guess we canjust leave it there. Uh, and
let's say, give or take afew one hundred Wallburgers around the country and
Canada and Australia and New Zealand,I'm sorry. When did Australia happen?
Australia's now yeah, about a yearplus, um, and yeah in New
Zealand just just recently. Now,when when you guys open, and this

(02:15):
is a shared partnership, right,all of you guys, the Walburger Walburg
brothers are involved. Yeah, yeah, we have investors as well. And
yeah, so there's you know,there's a group of people. So now
since you the food guy, right, you're the chef of the family.
Um, when you open in NewZealand, Australia, Canada, do you

(02:35):
have to go to the grand openingsor be a part of that or it
depends on some of the Some locationswill open, you know obviously, you
know with with with a big youknow, a big and other other places
open a little more quietly. Soit depends. It depends on on on
what we're you know, what's goingon and what's happening at the time.
But I'm always curious behind the scenes. And you and I have talked about
this before. I am probably theworld's worst business man. So when I

(03:01):
meet somebody who's heavily involved in business, I'm curious. Now that all works,
So do you have like a boardof directory. So we have yeah,
we have a board of directors.We also have a team. You
know, we have a great teamat you know at the head at our
our headquarters, and you know,we just we just again we work very

(03:23):
hard on trying to you know,balance it as best we can. And
there's you know, with so manymoving parts, you do you do whatever
you can to make it happen.And the menu is exactly the same at
all walburg Um. Now there's variations. So we'll have like a regional you
know, so there's certain regional dishesthat people will want to you know,
add to the menu, and sowe we will vet them and kind of

(03:45):
go through them. And then there'scertain things that you know, more specialty
items depending on on locations. Butwell like when you go on Australia,
you may have to add something Australialike or something and you know, because
we obviously we're not we're there tokind of fit in and be part of
the community there and be part ofthe fabric of the community. And so
um, when we went down toAustralia, there were certain dishes that you

(04:09):
know, they they they have likean Australia like their burger has um,
their Auski burger has beats on ithas an egg on it. And so
there's certain ingredients that we want todo because we don't want to say here,
this is what you should eat,right, I say, this is
what we do. But then wealso want to give it that local field
as well. But if you havea wall Burgers that is um a franchise

(04:30):
z so to speak. The franchisez has to maintain the exact quality of
product that exactly. So we havecertain specs on everything that we do.
And then there are certain things thatyou know, we have a Perogi Burger
in Pittsburgh, so you go,so that's something that's important to them.
So you know, we tested itand and we we were able to make
it all work. But there arespecs like our core, the alur Burgers,

(04:54):
the Alur Burgers, the Alur Burgers, so that works through and and
you know, so they have tobuy into you know, the tots and
the fries and all of you allof the certain all of the pieces that
go with it. But then Isaid, we try to leave him a
little bit of room and like evenwith the cocktails, Yeah, this is
gonna be regional beers that people aregonna want to drink, and there's going
to be some regional cocktails. Sowe leave a little bit of wiggle room,

(05:15):
but we try to try to beas consistent as boss. Let's say,
hypothetic, I always know when Paulis nervous. Paul and I have
known us for years. He won'tlook at new when we talk because he's
afraid of what I'm going to askhim? Yes, right, am I
making that up? You're sitting theresaying, Oh, what's he going to
ask me? I don't know ifI want to comment on that, but
try this one out. Okay.Let's say hypothetically, you and the family

(05:40):
you know, flew off to Australiaor New Zealand. Right, So you're
in Australia. You're sitting at thebeach. Let's say, for arguments sake,
Bondai Beach in Australia, which happensto be they say, the number
one beach in the world. Let'ssay you're sitting at the beach and the
kids say, hey, you knowwhat, Dad, let's let's go to
Wallburgers. So you go to Wallburgers. Do you have to pay? Of

(06:01):
course? Really? Yeah? That'snot possible. You are Wallburger, I
know, but they know. Butobviously when people come in, you know,
they I'm not Yeah, I doesn'tknow. It doesn't work that like.
That's yeah, there was one ofthose uncomfortable questions. Absolutely. So

(06:21):
if I go into a restaurant andI'm having something, I'm gonna pay for
what I'm in your own restaurant?Yeah, of course, really, because
it's a it's a business transaction,you know, through and through. And
you also, they will fight,you know, if I go into they
won't want you to pay. Theywon't want me Okay, but you know
I'll be you know, and youknow if especially if you're bringing people I

(06:45):
don't know, I don't want well, I'm guessing I don't want to.
I'm guessing. I'm guessing you goto Almanova, right, you with the
family, And did they bring youa bill? Yes? I asked,
No, I don't tell them tobring me a really of course is awesome.
See that's why I love Paul Wallberg. We do have to take a
break, but we have so muchto talk about. Okay, I swear

(07:06):
I'm not going to make you nervousanymore with these stupid questions. But over
the course of the hour, Yeah, we're going to talk about Wallburgers,
We'll talk about Almanova, We'll talkabout all of the different charity events you're
involved with. We may have acouple of questions about the Crazy Brothers,
but it's Paul wallburg And there's abig Burger competition launching in Boston. We'll

(07:27):
get to that too. We've gotthe whole hour, for God's sakes,
We'll be right back. You're listeningto Food for Thought brought so you buy
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hoteland suits. Hey, everybody, welcome
back to Food for Thought. I'vegot Paul Wahlberg in studio with us for
the full hour. Let's get offWallburgers for a couple of minutes, if
that's okay with you. Paul,Okay, okay. I want to talk

(07:48):
about charity because one of the thingsI do outside of radio and TV is
I get asked a lot to hostfundraising gallas and things of that nature.
And you and I have done alot of them together. But even when
we're not doing one together, I'vebeen to so many that you have donated

(08:09):
yet another giant live auction item toraise money for whatever charity. You're the
most charitable person I know in theculinary world. And I'm being honest,
not Paul. Well, I don'tknow about that, because the one thing
I do know is restaurants always stepup. And since I've been you know,

(08:30):
in involved in restaurants, you know, basically my whole life. When
you see when when these events popup, people restaurants are one of the
first places to you know, stepforward. And it's amazing to think about
it because we know the importance ofit, you know, when it comes
to supporting children, people with illness, whatever that those situations are. And

(08:54):
it's important for everybody because you know, you want to be first in mind
when people think about, you know, where they want to go, where
they want to spend their money,and to be part of the community is
hugely important for all of us.And you know, and you mentioned me,
but I can easily mention you becausethere are so many events that you
are the host, the auctioneer,whatever whatever that is. And all of

(09:18):
the time and effort that you putin, all the dedication that you put
in, it's it's really is amazing. And and well, I will always
oh you, miss Billy. Hewas here, he did this, and
so those are the types of thingsI hear. So I'm well aware of
all of the stuff that you doas well. And you have a whole
different life outside of outside of obviouslythe restaurants and the radio and all of

(09:39):
those different things of supporting the community. So I applaud you. Well,
it's nice of you to say that, But I don't know about you,
but for me, when I'm askedand when I do these events, I
mean, you grew up in Dorchester, you know, it's kind of a
tough environment. I grew up extremelypoor. You and I happen to do
these sure why MCA event every year. I also do the north Shore Why.

(10:03):
And I'm a white kid. That'sand that's and to remember where you
came from is so important. Andthat's one of the things that's important to
us, because you know, beingable to support the Why, being able
to support the Boys and Girls Club, being able to support your neighbor.
It's hugely important because people gave usan opportunity, you know, growing up

(10:24):
as kids, you know, growingup into Orchester and stuff like that,
and so really and we grew uphumbly the same, you know, the
same as you and that that thingthat to be able to you know,
to be in a position to beable to give back and and really be
supportive. It's it's important. Yeah, it's funny because growing up in East
Cambridge, and again we grew upvery poor, and if my brother and

(10:46):
I didn't have the why, Imean that was where we went, I
would literally, I don't know ifI've ever shared this, but I would
literally on the way to high school, which was I don't know, six
seven blocks away, I would stopat the y. You know why.
I stopped at the y on theway to schoolball so I could take a
shower. We didn't have a showeractually in my earlier years, we didn't

(11:09):
have hot water, so and thewhy was someplace my brother and I could
go after school. You know,I pick up basketball, you'd run the
track. It actually got my brotherand I into working out and being physical
and things like that. And whenI really think about it, sometimes it's
well, without the why, Iwouldn't have played hockey in prep school,
in college, probably wouldn't have playedbaseball, tennis, all of that.

(11:33):
It's because the why at a veryyoung age instilled that in us. So
I'll always be happy to get backto the Y. And that's all of
those community type places, the coreof a lot of these neighborhoods. Like
I said, the YMCA, theBoys and Girls Club, all of these
places are so important for all ofus and the difference that they make in

(11:56):
so many lives. It's you know, the Dorchester Lee Youth Clad in Dorchester,
places like that where and there's somany communities that go unsung, right
that people don't talk about, thesmaller ones really, you know, And
and you think about if you ifif you can make a difference in one
life, and you think about allthe lives that places like that have changed,
and they do make a difference.I also remember at a young age,

(12:18):
we didn't go on vacations. Youknow, there was no vacation for
us. We never even went outto dinner once in my whole life,
never, uh, And the whywould have field trips and day trips and
things like that. So for kidsgrowing up with not much, you know,
just growing up poor, you know, you got to go places you
otherwise never get to go. Yeah, that was our summer camp and we

(12:41):
went through a group. Yeah,we went through the Dorchester House and we
went to and it's now crossroads thatruns these camps, but we went to
Duxbury Stockade and then there was Campwing Is right there as well, and
cam Mitten and then there was anotherone up in the Hampshire that we got
to go to and you know,to get out of the city and to

(13:03):
be able to you know, tolearn certain skills and to be able to
kind of experience, you know alittle bit. Because like you said,
we weren't going on vacation. Myparents started taking us to dinner and they
were going to take us out threeat a time. So my my two
older sisters and my older brother werethe first ones to go out. They

(13:24):
went to the No Name Oh Wow, Yeah, and then it stopped there.
I was like, well when amI getting when? You know,
because it was albody was taking methat I was taking us, and but
we were young and it was thatthing I mean for us going out to
dinner was you know, we gotChina Sky, you know, take out
and places like that, and youknow, you went to the little sandwich

(13:48):
shops. You know, we hadhigh fi pizza, we had Stefanos,
we had places like that. Andthen you know, you would go and
when you as you got a littleolder and you started working, you made
a little you know, you you'dhave money in your pocket. You know,
it wasn't much, but you youknow, between a paper root and
this and that and the other thingswhatever, cutting grass for the neighbors,
shoveling sne whatever it was, youlearned, like you able to go out.

(14:11):
You know, it was a bigthing to go to Brighams and says
sit at the counter at Brighams Original. But if you go in there,
you could get a cheeseburger, youcould get a few, you'd get a
frap after that. Oh absolutely,you would think of the irony. Right,
So here's you hardly ever even takenout to dinner as a child,
right, and now you're feeding NewEngland. Yeah, what are the odds

(14:33):
of that? Well, you knowwhat, I was very fortunate. I
started working in the restaurant business whenI was young and and and fell in
love with the energy. And that'sreally what it was for me, because
it's that non stop there's always somethinggoing on, there's always something like happening,
yeah, and there's always something todo. And so for me,
you know, I was. Igravitated towards that and I absolutely fell up

(14:58):
with it. Um. I starteddoing as a kid with all my friends.
UM this place, Joseph's Catering.They were based in Mattapan and then
moved over to Dorchester, and umthe people there were just amazing. But
there was it was like being aroundmy brothers, right. There was no
you know, nobody gets away withanything, you know. It was just
a bunch of high school kids incollege got you know, college kids,

(15:20):
and they get the owners of Klappuswho were the nicest people. And but
and they had a very successful cateringcompany and they had during the busy season,
they would do a ton of jobs, you know, on a Saturday,
and so you would be all overthe Knights of Columbus, the UM
Teachers Junion, all of these differentplaces, the WU you know, all

(15:41):
these different places and all these differentlocations, the Viking Club over and over
in Braintree. I think it was, you know, places like that where
you would go on a regular basisand you would do this and some of
these events were you know a coupleof hundred people, hundred fifty people.
And then when that slowed down,um My friend's dad owned a restaurant,
a place called Trolleys on Canal Street, right down the street from the garden.
So I was working there and soduring the day they had they had

(16:04):
some office. Yeah, so youstarted young. I started young. I
was in high school and so um. But then on like game nights,
so the Celtics, the Celtics withLowry Bird and all of that, and
then you had the Bruins and soright down the street from where you're on
Canal Street, and so that's whereit's like I had that moment where someone

(16:26):
said, you know, I startedlike I was a dishwash and then I
started prepping. Yeah, and thenthey said, wow, you're pretty good
at this. You should become achef. And it was like my Forrest
Gump moment. I was like,okay, And it was just that just
clicked right there because I really thoughtof it then as something that was right
for me, because, like Isaid, that energy of that, you
know, of the kitchen and thenthe creative part of it and being able

(16:48):
to make food and be able todo different things, you know, you
just it just really gravitated towards that, and I and I fell in love.
Would never looked back. You know, it's funny part where we sit
here and talk. It just hitme. And we've known each other for
years. I've known your brothers foryears, but it just hit me that
I have had kind of individual relationshipsin different ways for different reasons with you

(17:12):
and with Mark and with Donnie,and each one of them comes with some
pretty cool stories. We have totake a break, but yeah, we'll
get into your brothers, Mark andDonnie and what they're up to. We'll
talk more about charity events and fundraisers. I definitely want to dive into the
Boston Burger Battle, which I'm sureyou'll be the champion of, so we'll

(17:34):
break that down as well. We'rehanging out for the full hour with Paul
Warburg. If you haven't been toAminova and Hangam, you got to get
there. It's just a place inheaven. And we'll also talk more about
the Wallburgers business. It's all comingup on the Food for Thoughts. Stay
right there, you're listening to Foodfor Thought brought to you buy the Box
Center and Sale and Waterfront Hotel andSweeves. Hey, guys, welcome back

(18:00):
to a Food for Thought. PaulWallberg is my guest for the full hour,
and for good reason. We havea lot to talk about. Mark.
I want to start talking about Almonovabecause I know you worked at I
mean you started as a dishwasher andworked your way up at various restaurants.
What was the place in how Ifirst met you? Which bridgements and you're

(18:21):
the chefs bridge in um And Ithink that goes back to TV shows You
go for me, but that's allfar back you and I go. But
Almanova is a beautiful restaurant and thiswas your first restaurant of your own.
How did that come to be?Um? We you know, talked to
some investors and I were talking aboutlike putting you know, putting a restaurant

(18:44):
together, and this kind of allkind of fed into it, and and
and we worked really hard to kindof get it all together. But why
hang them? Um? Just itwas location, Like they were just opening,
you know, bringing bringing the shipyardtogether. But that's a point.
They were just bringing it together.So in a lot of ways, it
must have been a big risk,like what is this shipyard going to be?

(19:07):
Well, you know it was youknow, the redevelopment of the whole
area. It was it was justit's something that just was. It was
a beautiful spot and being on thewater, you know, it's like you
want to definitely, you know,it was a great location. I think
you have the best outdoor deck inNew England. Yeah, well what a
spot, thank you, overlooking theriver, the marina, the boat.
Oh, it's just perfect. Andyou guys did such a beautiful job.

(19:30):
What was your mission with Almanova?Originally just to open a restaurant that was,
you know, something that we wantto do. We want to Italian
Mediterranean, We wanted to have alocation that was going to you know,
it was a great location and justreally kind of established, you know,
doing what we do. And it'snamed after your mom, but a lovely

(19:52):
lady. I got to spend alot of time around her because there was
a time in my life where Ispent a lot of time with the new
kids and with your brother Mark,and a lot of stories to be told
there. In fact, maybe we'lltalk about that. I do have to
take a break in a couple ofseconds. But again we're talking with Paul
Wallberg, and why not I've knownhim for years. I've known the Wallburgs.

(20:14):
I travel with the New kids.I travel with Mark Wahlberg and God
between the movies and the songs andthe pop stars and what a family?
How many siblings others? Nine ofus, nine of you, all right,
nine of you growing up in Dorchester. God bless Almonofe. And we're

(20:36):
gonna take a break. It's foodfor Thought. And yeah, we'll break
down some of the relationships strangely enough, that I've had separately with Paul,
with Mark and with Donnie. We'llbreak that down right after the break.
It's food for Thought. I'm BillyCosta, will be right back. You're
listening to Food for Thought brought toyou buy the Box Center and Salem Waterfront
Hotel and sweets. Hey, folks, welcome back to Food for Thought again.

(20:57):
Billy Costa here with Paul Wahlberg.So interestingly, Paul, I've had
relationships with you, with Mark,and with Tonny for all different reasons at
different times. I first kind ofgot close to the New Kids. I
was already working here at Kiss.The New Kids exploded overnight, so to

(21:18):
speak, and hard work was intoovernight. Oh yeah, oh yeah,
I know. I was there forPark got it. I had them on
one of my radio shows when theywould just break dancers down to Daniel Hall
and then the next thing I knewthey were the New Kids. But at
one point I was working over aChannel four and I was working a show
called Evening Magazine about and I wentinto Barry Schulman, I remember his name.

(21:41):
He was the program director at Busyat the time, and I said,
Hey, Barry, I've got anidea. You know, I've gotten
very friendly with the New Kids andthey're about to launch their first US tour,
and I said, I think thisis going to be special. I
have access to the kids, wecan go on tour, and Evening Magazine

(22:02):
had never done a full hour,so first one I presented it to him.
He kind of laughed me out ofhis office. He said, yeah,
right, whatever, because he didn'tknow the New Kids where they were
going and where they already were.So then about two weeks later he calls
me back in. He says,hey, can we revisit that New Kids
think, because apparently now he's hearingstories. I said sure, I said
I They're going to Upstate New Yorkfor the first part of the tour.

(22:25):
So I ended up taking the EveningMagazine camera crew and we followed the New
Kids around for two or three ofthe stops on the Upstate New York tour.
Lo and Behold, it became themost watched, highest rated evening magazine
in over twenty years. For thefirst time, in the seventh thirty slot
on a weeknight, we beat JeopardyAnd it was because of the New Kids.

(22:47):
To beat Jeopardy takes them doing well. It was the only time.
It was the only time. Butthen, okay, this gets better.
So then a few months later it'sannounced they're going on their first tour overseas.
By this time they were even bigger, right, you remember these things.
It was amazing And it's funny whenyou you mentioned that that overnight success.

(23:10):
You to watch the amount of workthat went into it and how long
overnight? Really, Oh yeah,it was amazing And to see them and
and nobody had a clue that thiswas going to become what it became like.
You know, there's always the hopesand dreams and aspirations, but nobody
to see what they've been able todo and to see how long they've been

(23:30):
able to do it. And whatreally amazes me and impresses me is to
watch them with their interaction with theirfans and important all of that because you
think that these people all grew uptogether. Yeah, you know, between
the fans and and and the banditself, because they were young when they
started out, and and and andthese and these fans were young, and

(23:51):
they just grow and develop, andyou know even to this day with you
know, they've got the new Kidscrews, and they've got all of these
shows, and they're going back outin the road, all of these different
events that they have. It's amazing, it really is. Well, the
entire morning show, me and Lisaand Justin Whinnie, we all went to
their most recent show, which wastwo or three months ago at the Garden.
They had a couple of other artistson tour, them Salt and Pepper,

(24:12):
Rick Astley, and that it wasa great night out and the fans
loved them just as much a yearago. It was a year ago,
yeah, because it was a summer. Yeah, you know what they say,
Paul, you're having fun. Um. So anyway, so then getting
back to the evening thing, Iget called back into Barry's office and uh

(24:32):
no, I went in. Isaid, you know, they're having their
first tour overseas and I think,um, I think it'd be worth taking
a camera crew and falling them aroundwithout hesitation. He said when do we
leave? When did they leave?And I said, okay, done.
So we did it and again secondhighest ratings. And yeah, I think
I did Ireland with him. Idid Edinburgh, Scotland in the Playhouse and
a few other stops. Um.So yeah, pretty crazy situation. Yeah.

(24:56):
And you think about and even bringingup Evening magazine. Yeah, right,
and you think about the time,like, you know, how different
you know, our world was backthen. Yeah, and all of these
local shows that were able to andfor to be able to showcase local talent
and local people and stuff like thatin the stories that matter, to local
stories that matter. It was amazing. And then you got your brother Mark.

(25:18):
Yeah, and we'll dive deeper intowhat I know. We're here to
talk about it. And I know, Emma, your marketing person's like,
hey, we're here to talk aboutWahlburgers. Okay, Well we got a
lot to talk about, Emma.Okay, uh, but Mark is doing
incredibly well. By the way,getting back to the new Kids, why
were you never a new kid?Uh? Talent? It's kind of kind

(25:38):
of a kind of high on thelist of like to be in to be
in a bang were you asked?No, it was I had already found
what my passion was. And um, and I being a chef and stuff
like that, and I sound likea bag of cats. It's not even
not even close. Did you evergo on tour as like the caterer like
and you know, just to bea part of the experience. No,

(26:00):
I again, I've been working inrestaurants and stuff like that. But it
was I was just in awe ofit and I couldn't have been prouder to
watch to watch it go. Butlike I said, to watch them interact
with all of them, and youknow, you get to know you know,
John and Jordan and Joey and Danielthe whole, Like you get to
know these guys and just amazing people, amazing amazing people, and the love

(26:23):
and care that they have for theirfans is really just spectacular. I had
some interesting interaction with Mark as well. I remember the MTV Awards one year
out in Los Angeles. Mark wasjust he may have still been Marky Mark
and the Funky Punch And I'm atthe door getting into the after party in
Los Angeles, and Mark starts walkingin and you know they're still checking my
credential. Mark walks in with likean entourage for lack of a better word,

(26:47):
and he was just banging I thinkit was with good vibrations. And
he just walks up and gives mea big hug. He said, he's
with us. And then when y'alljust went into the MTV Awards. But
we're gonna take a break and I'mgonna put you in a spot. I'm
gonna ask you your favorite Mark Wahlbergmovies. I'm going to ask you your
favorite episodes of Blue Bloods and oh, Emma, it's gonna be fine,
Emma. His marketing person is here. This is the party hates. But

(27:11):
we'll do that, and then we'llget to the Boston Burger battle, of
which Paul is involved, and I'msure we'll win. We'll take a break.
It's Food for Thought and we'll beright back. You're listening to Food
for Thought, brought to you buythe Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in
sweets. Hey, guys, welcomeback to Food for Thought. Paul Wallberg
the guest. He's got Alma Novaand Hingham obviously the Wallbergs have Wallburgers all

(27:34):
over the world right now, hundredrestaurants in counting right now, Paul,
you're gonna stop there, yeah,hundred. Now, you know what my
concern obviously is the next Burger thatgoes out, and you know, he's
trying to make sure that it's upto the standards and really kind of pushed
out. Don't you have one aboutto open? Or yeah, we have
one we're getting in to open inFoxwoods. There you go, and that
should be the end of July,at the end of August, beginning of

(27:59):
September, that time prime, itdepends. You know, we're you know,
we're still under construction. Okay,time to have a little fun.
Uh So, your brother Mark,big time movie star. I mean,
he's like, did you see thathe's not the biggest box office drawing.
It's insane. It's and I willtell you what's most impressive is you see

(28:19):
the work that he puts into it. To watch him in action when it
comes to preparation, getting stuff together, really doing the research, everything that
he does is it's amazing. Anddoes he really get up at three in
the morning and work out and thengo to church every morning or is that
marketing. That's that's Mark. That'sMark through and through. He when he

(28:42):
is when he's committed to something,he is all in. He is all
in and that's what he does andhe just he works at it tirelessly and
it's amazing. And beyond the acting, he's a big businessman. He's kinds
of food products and now the clothingline Municipal yep, so he you know,
for him and um, the fletchazul Firs tequila and all of these

(29:03):
different things that he does. Hereally again, he is dedicated to what
he does and he's passionate about itand he and he loves he loves the
challenge. Um okay uh. FavoriteMark Wahlberg movie. Um, probably Invincible
is probably top of the list becauseI just love the way that it catches
that time he plays to walk onfootball player football player yea, Vince Papaliyah

(29:27):
and he does that, but italso catches really captures the time of like
the seventies and all of the thingsthat were going on during that and such
a great story. But I'm alsolike, if Shooter's on, I'm watching
Shooter. I've seen Shooter at leastten times. Is it me if you're
if you're just sampling around looking forsomething to watch and you land on the

(29:48):
movie shooter, you can't turn away, even if they're only two minutes left.
Yeah, I get to see thisscene again there, it's Yeah,
the characters that are in it's welldone. The cast, everybody that's like
it's it does like. The workand effort that Mark puts into all of
that is really amazing. Okay,uh Loan Survivor that's going to be my

(30:11):
favorite. I've seen that at leastsix seven times. It seems like the
most exhausting acting project I've ever seen. I think it was his best dramatic
acting role. I will tell you, you know again watching him and see
him in action, like how likecommitted he is to what he does.
And you know, everybody sees theglamorous part of you know, the business

(30:33):
and stuff like that, but thehours that it takes the time, all
of the situations that you find themselvesin the weather, whatever it is.
You know, the show goes onand it has to get done, and
it's just amazing, and these commitmentto it is just is it's it's really
impressive. And to watch him interact, you know, and I've been able

(30:55):
to be on sets with him andto see him interact with every you know,
everybody else that you know, fromthe electricians to the to all of
the makeup people, the trades,any of the trades people, anybody,
and the respect that it's amazing.He's he's a he is a true professional.
You know what I love seeing too, is I see him a lot
in the Tunnel to Towers project.Talk about giving back, uh. I

(31:17):
think he's very effective in terms ofbringing attention to veterans UH and projects and
programs that benefit veterans, oh absolutely, and all of the things that he
deems important for himself. You knowthat the you know, all of the
work that the mach Walberg Youth Foundationdoes and all of the things that he
he he is committed to helping people, and he you know, he sets

(31:41):
the bar very high. He wasin town just recently. Right he has
a pop up story that's still opento set. I'm not sure if it's
still open, but I know he'sopen. They were doing the diving competition
over yeah, the cliff divers.Cliff divers, yeah, which we used
to see, you know, backin the day, would be from Macapuco
in places like that, how theyjust builds some off the museum. And
so I went last year. Yeah, I docked my boat there. What

(32:04):
a great event. Oh my god. Yeah. And so he was in
town for that and he he,like I said, he's just so busy
all the time and it's just totallycommitted to what he does. What do
your kids think of it? Imean, I know they know the dad
is a big deal, but theyagain they're impressed with like, but they
know the work that it takes andthey know that the commitment that it takes.

(32:25):
So it's just it's it's it's amazing. You know. If if I'm
with my kids and someone you know, ask me for a picture in the
airport, they just giggle, theychuckle. They think they think it's funny,
but um, but you know thatfor them, they they're just very
proud of of their of their siblingsand their cousins and their uncles and all
of it. So as a family, do you ever sit around and watch

(32:46):
Blue Bloods? Yeah, on occasion, On occasion, I got to ask
you a question. Okay, I'msorry, I'm just having fun for myself.
Now. This is this is Iguess it is totally dedicated to you.
And you know, the thing thatfascinates me about Blue Bloods is at
the end. Okay, first ofall, in the first scene of every
episode, it's the same thing.Donnie shows up with his partner. What

(33:09):
do we have? That's the openingline of almost every episode, and then
every episode ends what the entire extendedfamily sitting around for dinner? Who does
that? I will tell you thatis one of the things that you know
from what I hear. You know, when you look at the cast and
you look at the people and youlook at the characters that are being portrayed,

(33:29):
it's it's such a well done,amazing show. But I will tell
you that so many people gravitate towardsSunday dinner. Yes, having the entire
family around sitting there talking about youknow, the different topics obviously that they're
going to touch on, but theidea of everybody getting together, it's very
old school. It's very heart it'svery it's it's very heartwarming and very old

(33:52):
school. And when you think oftoday's world, like you think about when
you were growing up and you weretalking about you know, so your humbled,
you know, beginnings how many pickupgames did you play? Oh god,
yeah, right, every Like forme, I never played organized sports.
Every sport I ever played, youknow, some some I played well,

(34:13):
some of I played poorly. Butit was all pickup because you were
always playing. You were at theyou were down at the field playing baseball.
We're in the schoolyard playing street allday, our stickball or whatever it
was. You know, in thewintertime, we played tackle football on pavement
snow to break your fall, wedid. But it was things like that.
And you think about it today whereeverything is so structured and organized.

(34:37):
Yea. And so if you havekids who are into any type of sport
or even dance or whatever it is, you know that happens on the weekends,
that happens at this time, thathappens on that time. So all
of those times that you used tohave that you know, everybody had to
be home on Sunday, Yeah,right, just get home exactly. Now
it's occupied by so people don't havethat ability that they used to have because

(35:02):
you know, it's just the way, it's just the world has changed.
Back in those days, we wouldjust disappear all day down to the park,
whether we're playing baseball, pickup basketball, tag football, tackle football,
as long as you were home fordinner and screaming out the window get home.
Oh absolutely, And for us,you know, especially where we lived.

(35:22):
You know we were when we livedon Buttonwood Street, were in the
backyard and there were three triple deckersin a row and there was no fence.
So you played everything out there,and you know, and you know
it was you made up games,you played kick the can, you played
relievial whatever. It was noted,nothing organized, and so it was just

(35:44):
a different world. But Sunday dinner, you were home. Yeah, you
very rarely had guests for Sunday dinnerunless it was family. Yeah, you
know, my grandmother or my grandfather, an uncle or something, my aunts
and uncles or whatever it was.But then what was great is we knew
what the leftovers we're going to be, Oh yeah, right, come Monday
and Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. Right, So if we had if my parents

(36:06):
roasted a turkey when it wasn't Thanksgiving, yeah right, it carries you for
a week. Oh you you knewyou were having your turkey sandwiches. Then
you got to turkey salad, andthen you got to the soup. Y
soup with the bones because he madethe soup and you picked it off and
then put But you look forward tomy dad loved it. Sunday morning at
five am would get up and makea giant pot of Portuguese stew. Yep.

(36:30):
That would last all week. Ohabsolutely, and it was delicious and
so for me, one of myfavorite members. We would have a boiled
dinner. Oh yeah. And theboiled dinner was a smoke shoulder and I
always knew my dad was going toand you would have the ham sandwiches.
You would cut that smoke shoulder andyou would turn into a sandwich. Yeah.
But my dad would chop up thevegetables and everything and he would fry

(36:52):
them in a skillet and he calleda goulash oh yeah, with the bits
of ham. And then then wehad pickled beets with it. And I
will tell you today, nothing takesyou back to a certain time and placed
in food. Yeah that way.Yeah, like that smell, the aroma,
that taste. If someone ever comesinto a restaurant and says, oh,
my dad used to make this andit tastes just like my dad,
you have made a friend for life. There you go, because that connection

(37:15):
that we have to you know,when you think about you know, the
people that we've lost, you knowover time, you know, grandparents and
parents and things like that, themeals that they would prepare, well,
hold, that was because we gotto take a break. Okay, it
is a Food for Thought. We'vegot one more break left. And with
that break, I really want totalk about the Boston Burger Battle, which

(37:35):
I think everybody should get involved withits food thought. We're hanging with Paul
Wahlberg and we'll be right back.You're listening to Food for Thought, brought
to you by the Box Center andSalem Waterfront Hotel and Sweets. Hey,
everybody, welcome back to Food forThought. Pilly Costa here with Paul Wallberg.
Okay, here we go. Let'sget it on the Boston Burger Battle.
When does it start? Where doesit happen? So, voting starts

(37:57):
tomorrow online and you can vote forthe restaurants. There's a whole list of
burger places that are involved and youcan vote for them, and then the
top fifteen go to the finals,which will be on September ninth over at
Encore and so there'll be a wholecompetition. You can sample all of those
from all of those restaurants that areable to get in, and so you

(38:17):
can sample those burgers and choose awinner. So now the people that are
voting, are they voting because they'vetried the burgers or are they voting because
they're you know, a certain placestheir favorite place to go. It's based
on you know, the taste ofthe burger, the quality of burg and
stuff like that. But also peopleare going to go to support their favorite
places, which is great because that'swhat this whole business is about. Relationships.

(38:42):
Yeah, you know when you builda relationships and you know, when
you travel, it's I'm sure youhave your places, you know when you're
out on your luxury yacht and yougo to all these different places and you
get you say, when I goto port As, yeah I go to
this restaurant. When I go toport why I go to this restaurant?
And obviously what you do all therestaurants that you know, you have the
places that you love, but thento be able to go to a place

(39:04):
and discover something new, and soa competition like this is really about that.
And if I'm in the airport,I'm going to Wallburgers. And if
I'm in Hingham, I'm going toAlmanova. Thank you. That goes.
It's saying, okay, how manyrestaurants are participating? More than thirty restaurants
are in the voting, and thenthat'll get whittled down to, you know,
the fifteen restaurants that are fortunate enoughto make it in through them.
Now, do you submit the actualWallburger, original hamburger or do you submit

(39:30):
something special? Yeah, we're doingsomething. We're going to do our cheriso
jamburger. It's it's going to beit's our featured burger right now and we're
going to run that for the competitionas well. Now, how is that
made? It is? It haspepper jack cheese on, it has hellapinos,
chipotle ioli, has crispy onions andh we make a chariso jam with

(39:52):
agave and it's it's delicious. Nowis this a team effort in the kitchen
coming out with the recipe? Howmany recipes did you have to go through
to land on the charizo? Well? We did. We actually went down
to we were down in Mexico.I got to go down to Mexico and
we were learning about um, youknow, because obviously it was tied into
the flech Azul, which Mark ispart of, and so we were able

(40:15):
to see them go to the avfields and watch them do it, and
we got to taste real traditional flavorsin Mexico, and so to see that
the flavors of taste everything and tosee everything kind of in its like,
in its historic and natural state,it was amazing. Now, if your
family is going out to dinner butyou're not allowed to go to Almanova or

(40:35):
any of the Wallburgers, do youhave a favorite place? Um? I
love all places. It depends.It depends, you know, because there's
so many places. You know.We went out to Toro, places like
that. Austin is a great restaurantcommunity. Do you have an idol?
Um? Everybody? You know whatit is. Everybody who's in this business.

(40:57):
I look at and I'm in aweof them for what they do because
we know what it takes. Imean, you've been around enough chefs and
cooks and dishwashers, everybody that's involvedwith it, the bus boys, everybody,
the managers, all of the peoplethat it takes. It's so hard
to really choose that thing. I'min all of everybody who does this for

(41:19):
a living. And because it's ait's a work of love. It's a
business you either love or you hate. There's no kind of in between.
You don't just do it for ajob. Just see, you know anybody
as Paul Wallburg is my idol again, you know you are my idol.
And okay, there we go.I answered there. When you look at
what you've done for the restaurant businessin Massachusetts, in Boston and all of
these places and all of them,I think of it more is what they've

(41:43):
done for me, and what youhave done for me, and what you
continue to do for everybody. Butwe gotta go where out of time we
did the full hour, buddy,Thank you Paul Wallburg. Check it out.
Almanova my favorite restaurant. It's athing of shipyard. Go to a
Wallburgers anywhere in the world and you'llsee Paul Wallburg. All right, we'll
see you everybody up next sixty minutes.