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October 27, 2024 • 42 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought with Billy and Jenny,
brought to you by the Box Center. For more than
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 hottest restaurants, and giving you
the inside scoop on where to wine, dine and spend
your time. So get ready, it's Food for Thought giving
you something to chew on.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hey, everybody, welcome into Food for Thoughts, brought to you
by the Box Center. Hopefully everyone is enjoying a beautiful
fall season. If you're up here in New England or
wherever you're listening, it feels like it's been such a
lovely one. I'm excited for the show this week. I
have a couple great friends here with me. Our first
is Andy husband. He's a many award winning chef. He's

(00:47):
a pitmaster. He's the master behind the Smoke Shop Barbecue,
which has a few locations in our area and continuously expanding.
I mean, he's won best Barbecue in all of our
local magazine, but he's also won best Barbecue nationally and
in Simmons Is internationally. Andy, we've had you on before
We love when you come to visit.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
How you doing, I'm doing great.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
How are you I'm good, I'm good. I'm good. So
we've had the pleasure of knowing you and working with
you for twenty years. And Billy and I just released
a cookbook that you are a one of sixty of
our favorite friends included in.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
And we'll talk about the book in a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
But I remember when that book was just sort of
a thought in my mind. You so kindly sat down
with me, because you've written quite a few, you know,
kind of the ins and outs, and gave me, you know,
a lot of ideas of sort of what to expect
and anticipate. But I just mentioned that it's fall, and
it's been a gorgeous fall. Maybe people think of barbecuing

(01:51):
when they think of summer, but I would say barbecuing
probably is most perfect in the fall. Tell us about
some of the fall recipes that you're working with, and
and do you love the barbecue in the song?

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Oh, I mean I love to cook. I'm start with that.
And I can't believe it's been twenty years. In some ways,
it seems longer. In some ways, it seems like yesterday.
So that's great. You know, it's been it's been great.
So you know, I'm going to just start off with
my favorite thing right now to eat. Everybody needs to
do this. You don't need to be a chef. Go

(02:31):
out to the store by a Della Cotta squash, Cut
it in the long way, cut it up the long way,
scrape out the seeds, cut it into cut it into
a into slices about say a quarter inch to a
half inch thick possible, with a little all oiled salt pepper,

(02:53):
and roast it for about twenty five minutes and four
hundred and twenty five degrees, flipping it halfway through. You
don't even feel it. It is like fall candy. I
can't I eat this all the time. I'm scared I'm
gonna eat too much of it because I don't want
to get sick of it is so good well, and.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
I think the best part about the squashes this time
of year is they need nothing like there's barely there's
nothing you need to do with it. And it's a
healthy nutrition dense You're right, delicious candy tree.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
It's just so good and so you know for me,
and honestly, you know, to tell you the truth. I
used to hate squash. I was kind of forced teeted
as a kid. And and maybe and maybe you know,
my parents are awesome, maybe not the best cooks, so
you know, like, well, you know, sometimes that's why people
have an aversion of things because they've had it as
a child and think, oh, that's how it is. I

(03:48):
promise everybody don't kind of way to go. So, Jelena,
I do a lot of I do a lot of barbecuing.
And what am I about to tell you translates also
into uh, you know when I say barbecue and like
I use a big green but you know, with a smoker,
uh grill. I do a lot of this in the fall.
It's a perfect time. But you can do this in
the oven. Reverse here a roast. Now, I don't know

(04:12):
if you all know about reverse hearing, but to me,
it is the ultimate way to make a roast.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
So what is that mean? Walk us through?

Speaker 3 (04:21):
As So normally we sear our meat and then we
roast them right or we put them in a hot
oven and a seer like in a hot of them.
A reverse seer is let's say you got a pork
roast rubbu with salt, pepper, you know, rosemary, if you
like whatever, and throw it in about a two hundred
and fifty degree oven or it's gonna probably take about

(04:43):
two to three hours until it gets to about you know,
a pork I would cook to about one hundred and
forty five, So I would take it to about one
hundred and thirty five. And when you pull it out,
it's not gonna look good. You're gonna think andy failed
you wait, turn up, you turn out, and turn up
your oven to about four and fifty degrees. Put that pork,

(05:05):
pork roast back in. Let it. You know, it'll be
in about ten minutes it'll become gold and brown, and
when you bite into it, it will be luscious, juicy, delicious.
You won't need to rest it because that rest has
happened the whole time. And it's just a really great
way to cook a roast. And by the way, you

(05:26):
can do this with a thick steak. You know, you
can do it with pot roast. And you know, I,
you know what I would justice. We're in such a
cool time where you can look everything up of the internet,
just too a little googling of you know, little googling
of reverse here. Serious eats dot Com has a great
great recipes for it. To me, that's great. Now for me,

(05:49):
pork roast, I'm gonna do some dried fruit. I'm gonna
do some broccoli rob and I'm gonna do that delicata
and that's my fault dish for Sunday night.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
My god, it sounds so delicious and it gives somebody
a different way to.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
Think about things. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Okay, So the smoke shop, you have a bunch of
locations and you're opening another. You have Assembly Row.

Speaker 4 (06:09):
Let me see if I can do this. You have Harvard.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Square, you have East Boston, you have this seaport, and
you're opening in Mathouin.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Am I right, we're opening Thethouin. I'm actually sitting outside
of my location that we'll be opening in Wooburn soon
and then Chelmusfrid should follow that. So we're growing. It's crazy.
I'm a busy man.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
God, you are cranking. I don't know how you're getting
all this done. And you have two adorable girls who
happen to be the same age as my oldest. We
have to get together and you're awesome. Amazing wife Rice
obviously very involved in the business too.

Speaker 4 (06:47):
It's so fun to watch you expanding.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
All right, so we're.

Speaker 4 (06:51):
Gonna take a break so quickly.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
What do we need to know about what's happening in
your restaurants right now?

Speaker 5 (06:55):
Cole?

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Really great question.

Speaker 6 (06:57):
Thanksgiving.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
We are now selling our Thanksgiving packages. These will always
sell out. We started selling in October. I suggest you
go to our website and get your package. You know,
we smoke it. You can get just a whole turkey,
or you can get the whole package. Really great stuff.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
I love that you have added this to the millions
of things that you're doing. This makes such a special
Thanksgiving for folks, and I know they do sell out,
So get there soon. We're going to take a break.
We'll be back with more Andy Husbands in just a minute.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
You're listening to Food for Thought brought to you by
the Box Center and Sale and Waterfront Hotel and Sweet Welcome.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
Back to Food for Thought brought to you by the
amazing Box Center. I actually have to say I was
just in touch with the new CEO of the Box Center, Casey,
and he let me know all of the goings ons
that are happening this holiday season and into twenty twenty five.
I'm actually taking my kids to the Circus Holiday craze.
I don't know the Circus Ola one for the holiday,
and that looks really fun. But definitely check it out

(07:57):
because there's great shows to see, great memories make.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
And then afterwards you should head to the.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
Smoke shop to any of us locating for dinner. Our
guest right now is Andy Husband. So Andy, earlier in
the show, you said to me, your parents, love them dearly,
were great, fantastic parents, weren't the best cook. So who
was your culinary inspiration when you were growing up?

Speaker 3 (08:17):
You know, it's such an interesting thing for on's remember
that I was. I'm a child of the seventies, so
latch key child. I ate a lot of saltine tuna,
fish egg salad. I used to make my own kind
of what one might call a weird guacamole I had.
I had a Joy of Cooking that Blue Joy of
Cooking book, and I was home alone a lot, and

(08:40):
I just read it and said, I want to try
to make that, and so that was kind of my beginning.
But after that, and then you know, I went to
I went to Cola. I worked at a bakery called
Hayes's Bakery, big shout out to need him go Rockets
and that. And Ken Mullen was my pastry Chafts and
I'll never forget him. He was generous and you know,

(09:01):
literally taught me a lot about baking, and so that
was kind of my first. But man, I worked for
so many great chefs. I would be remiss to mention
Chris Flessinger, who was my mentor. You know, I loved
the guy East Coast Grilled those that remember, what a
great guy. But you know, I've you know, I've kind
of had a lot of influences. I also have to
mention Yan pan Cook, Julia Childs and the FuG of

(09:23):
Gourmet I watched. I watched a lot of night because
I was the last key kid. So that's what I
you know, I love that stuff.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
And I also love that story because yes, there were influences,
but there was something innately about you that gravitated. I mean,
you could have done anything during the day, right Like
you could have been building big lego towns, you could
have been you know, like whatever it was you could
have been doing that was such a natural thing for you.
It was just an innate way for you to connect

(09:51):
and that ultimately landed you into a very successful career.
And that's a that's a special story. It wasn't necessarily
that mom and grandma were cooking. It was a you
were alone and during that aloneness you found the thing
that really got you going and then turned it into
a major career.

Speaker 4 (10:07):
Anyway, I love that.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
So Okay, So Thanksgiving we talked about is on the
docket for folks and place orders now because they will
sell out. And expansion is happening. You mentioned a lot
of the new locations.

Speaker 4 (10:18):
How is barbecue being received as you move into these
new neighborhoods.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
It's crazy. So I mean, as I mentioned, we're doing
a pop up in Mathuin, and we've been selling stuff
online because we're going to be there. We're pre selling.
It's been enthusiastic, is mildly said. We're really excited to
go to Mathuin. What a great town, and so you
know we're It's interesting if you think about it, every city,

(10:44):
every town in Massachusetts has a pizza place, of sushi place,
in Chinese place, you know, so have all these different things,
but there's not much barbecue. There's some great barbecue Massachusetts.
Big shout out to Russey Gham fireflies, bets love those places. Oh,
Blue Ribbons fantastic. You won't see me opening mirror those
guys because they do a great job. But there is

(11:04):
a demand nobody. You know, it doesn't make sense that, oh,
only great barbecue or only people in the South lots barbecue.
Barbecue is comfort food. It's Americana, you know, it's the
original American cuisine.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
It definitely is. And one of the things that we
love about you is you've given us so much education
about it. It's not just that it's delicious, but the
education of the animal, where the things come from, which
ones are better? And you and I have spent a
ton of time together. As I mentioned, we're family friends.
We've known each other for the twenty years. Lillie and
I have been somehow doing this together. We've sat on
the board of the MRA for a long time together.

(11:38):
We've talked about pressing issues in the restaurant industry regularly.
Obviously we were here trying to support you all during COVID,
which was just awful for the hospitality industry. I want
to talk about what are some pressing issues that are
happening right now?

Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, So, I mean, look, what in some ways. I'm
ecstatic to have gone through COVID see people really you know,
and innovating, doing great things. You know, we've seen this
industry change. It's no longer the industry of our grandfathers,
where you know, the kitchens are mean, you know, we
treat people to respects, humane hours, and pay them. Well.

(12:15):
This segues into question five, and this is very very serious.
What's really what's really interesting is nobody asked for this,
my our teams, and by the way I have I
stand with my teams. My teams want to keep their tips.
My teams want a no vote on five, and I
stand with them on this because while this group from California,

(12:40):
that is what this question five on the ballot, I believe,
you know, hey, I believe they have good intentions. I
don't believe they're bad people. They have good intentions, and
then you know they're trying to help people out. But
their argument of well, there's bad actors out there and
they don't pay them, you know, it has to be
minimum wage, is salary or hourly plus hips. I don't

(13:00):
want to get too deep into this, but they're saying
there's bad actors out there by changing this slot that
doesn't change a bad actor. Our My position is, you
tell me who these bad actors are and we will
take them to the Attorney general. Because I love my industry.
It's filled of great people, like your industry, like any industry. Yeah,
there's some problems, but this is not going to solve

(13:22):
the problem. And what this is going to turn out
to is our servers are gonna make less money. And
just by the way our servers were like your first job,
you know we will. We love hiring, we love training,
we love building teams. And our guys are making thirty
to forty dollars an hour as servers, right right, That's
a good, good amount and they can work as much

(13:44):
as they want.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
So I think the thing that we're trying to convey
to folks is that it's when you know your industry
you are when you are the person within your own business,
you know how to manage it. The hospitality the industry
has very specific ways and rules of the way things happen.

Speaker 4 (14:04):
And at the core of.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
It is the facts that you all build teams and
want to build teams that are thriving and successful and happy.
And I think that if there is any misconception about
Question five. It's somehow that this is going to be
better for people, and the way that it is written
for both the servers and for the restaurants in general,

(14:28):
is not going to help the restaurant industry.

Speaker 4 (14:32):
It will hurt it.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
A lot of people are saying that restaurants will close.
Is that something that's going to happen?

Speaker 3 (14:38):
Andy's potentially, you know, I'm not gonna What I want
to say is there's two things that have been said
and not I don't want it. I'm going to paraphrase people.
Governor Healy, who's a vote NO, said go talk to
your local restaurant, your local server, your local bartender, and
awesome their opinion, and I'm gonna guaranteed are going to

(14:58):
say vote no. Number two. John Cesso in the Boston
Globe I've been today or yesterday, I can't remember. He
was talking about the fundraising for you know, against him
for and that we the No has you know, outraised him,
and he said, there's little to no proof that any
any front of house employee has donated to the vote yes.

(15:20):
But there's tons of proof that they have donated to
vote no. So what state of point do you want?
We're it's it's not good for our industry. And I
don't think people in California, billionaires with California have the
right to tell Massachusetts what to do day in California.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
So that part, yeah, and I think that part is
confusing to people. So let's let's explain it a little
bit more. This this bill came to pass by a
group of people in California that we are all voting
about here in Massachusetts. And we know it's kind of
a strange thing because Billy and I don't really talk
about the political side to thing very very often, but

(15:56):
what we do talk about is supporting this industry that
we have promoted for twenty years. And we can safely
say that no restaurant tor or chef that we have
worked with in any of these twenty years wants anything
more than to support the people within their team. And
so this idea that they're not supporting a team is
just completely inaccurate. And so we hope that you do

(16:17):
exactly as Andy just said. Talked to the folks that
in your local restaurant, ask them and they will help
you explain why we want you to vote. Know in
question five, any last sentiments, Andy no I.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
Just want to tell you the coolest thing about this
battle is I have I'm on an unbelievable text chain
with I mean, I don't even know thousands restaurants or
how everybody is like working together. It reminds me of COVID,
how we all work together to get to get a solution,
and you know we got. Restaurants are awesome. I don't

(16:54):
care what restaurant you love and what you frequent. You know,
from ninety nine to the OONI and everything in between, right,
I love all those places.

Speaker 7 (17:01):
I'm a huge preque of the ninety nine by the way,
with my family and uh, and you know, it's it's
it's this is a great industry and it's the American dream.
I started with five thousand dollars in nineteen ninety six,
no family money, and now I own a bunch of restaurants.
How did I do that? With the American dream of
working hard?

Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (17:22):
You can, Yes, if you work hard, have a good concept,
you know, treat your people well and treat your guests well.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
You can have a success story. Yeah. And I think
that is exactly true. And I urge people to ask
the question so that they can be more informed Andy,
thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
As always, we adore you.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
Thank you, thank you, Thank you both. No on question
five and go check out the smoke Shop at any
of his locations. You're the best, buddy.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
Thank you, thank you. I'll talk to you later.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
Thanks Andy. We'll be back with more Food for Thought
in just a minute.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
You're listening to Food for Thought brought to you by
It's the Box Center and sale in Waterfront Hotel and sweet.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
All right, we've got more food for Thought brought to
you by the Box Center.

Speaker 4 (17:59):
I'm going to be with you for the next couple
of minutes.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
Because Billy and I do want to make sure that
you know about this cookbook that we have launched, mainly
because it is a huge tribute to this industry we
talk about here with you every single week. So the
name of the book is a Taste of Boston, and
Billy and I decided that because we've been working together
for twenty years, which we keep saying for ourselves feels

(18:24):
absolutely impossible, but somehow it is yes true.

Speaker 4 (18:29):
And we have done.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
Hundreds of television shows and hundreds of cooking segments and
interviews with chefs, and we wanted something tangible to really
both commemorate this twenty year anniversary but also to celebrate
this moment in time in hospitality.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
So we have a.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
Book, this book, A Taste of Boston, that has sixty chefs,
sixty recipes, and sixty stories. So one of the things
that's really unique about Billy and myself is we have
not only been promoting these folks for twenty years, but
these people have become our people, our friends. These are
the you know, people we've had kids with, we've had

(19:11):
marriages with, we've had we've gone through COVID with. You know,
we we you know, we're not just people in the
media promoting their businesses. These are people that we've connected to,
and so we've been able to tell personal stories about
them that you might not know if you read their
You definitely wouldn't know if you read their resume or
you see them on a national television show, or even

(19:32):
if you eat in their restaurant. So it's a book
of stories, a book of a lot of the philanthropies
that they support, a book of you know, kind of
a lot of their background, and there are specific pieces
of their personality that don't necessarily come through if you
see them, you know, behind the kitchen inside their restaurant,
but it's also their best recipes, so it gives home

(19:52):
cooks a chance to cook like some of the best
chefs in Boston. It's a partnership with Meat Boston, which
is an organization that we work with both on TV
and through this cookbook, who really bring tourism here to
our city. And so this is a book that you
can get in any of the tourist sites throughout our city.
It's also a book you can get on Amazon. In Amazon,

(20:14):
just plug in a Taste of Boston Cookbook and you'll
see Billy and myself pop up. And we think it's
a really great kid for the holiday. It's a really
nice way to be able to share the city that
you love with someone that you loved. And we hope
that you all will take a look at the book
and they think about about it for the holiday. Great

(20:35):
chests in there, all of the greats, some of whom
you may not know. Great diversified palette that you can
all enjoy from different flavors from around the world. We're
going to take a break. When we come back, we
are chatting with my friend Nancy Cushman, another great restaurant
tour in the area.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
You're listening to. Food for Thought brought to you by
It's the Box Center and Sale and Waterfront Hotel and.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
Sweet Welcome back to Seek but thoughts brought to you
by The Box entered my friend Nancy Kushman, who is
a celebrated restaurant tour in our area owns Oh Yeah
Ho Joco Bianca, Wood Fire Kitchen and Bar, which my
family frequents all the time right there in Chestnut Hill. Nancy,
thanks so much for joining us on the show this week.

Speaker 5 (21:17):
Happy to be here, Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
So you and your husband Tim have been working together
for some time, and you've brought so many interesting flavors
and different things to our city. And I know you
guys are so unbelievably philanthropic. We see you at all
the events that we see, and so we love supporting
all that you do and seeing all of your success
and also all of your hard work. And one of

(21:40):
the things that we're doing over the next couple of
weeks is trying to educate our listeners about question five,
which is going to have a very big impact on
the restaurant industry. And while I keep saying Billy and
I typically shy away from things like this. This one
feels like something that's really important for us to talk
about because having to do with both the way it's

(22:03):
written and the way that it is really kind of
misunderstood in some ways. So Nancy, tell me a little
bit of the backgrounds and why voting no is a
important for question five.

Speaker 5 (22:15):
Sure, and I think it's important. You just said you know,
you and Billy shy away from this, and I will
say too, even though the ballot question has absolutely nothing
to do with politics. That has everything to just do
with the industry of the restaurants and our staff and
our guests and impacts that this will have in Massachusetts
if this were to pass. So I'm really funny because

(22:36):
in the hospitality industry, like our DNA is to say
yes to everything, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But I
have never seen a larger group of people come together
from servers, bartenders, owners, even our vendors like to say no,
like this just can't pass. And what's really interesting on
the surface, it might seem like to anybody voting in

(22:58):
looking at the ballot questions like sure, why would we
not want to raise people's wages?

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Right?

Speaker 5 (23:04):
But there is this complex issue that it's really it's
unbelievable that's even on a ballot to be discussed because
the negative domino effect and negative consequences of this are
going to touch so many people. It will not just
impact servers. And it's also super counterintuitive because you say,

(23:25):
why you pay people more? That's good for everybody. But
what the impact of this will be. And I'll try
to explain it because it is very it is compact.
I'll just try to make it really simple. So basically,
the ballot measure, you know, suggests that if it passes
that servers and bartenders, So the service staff in a

(23:45):
restaurant right now, they would be paid over the next
four years progressively increase their base minimum wage to the
minimum wage is fifteen dollars an hour. Right now, they're
already paid mum wage. It is a law in Massachusetts
that if the server doesn't make up between the wage

(24:08):
and tips, like if they don't make fifteen dollars an hour,
the restaurant is responsible on a daily basis to make
sure that they are paid at least minimum wage. I
will say, this isn't even an issue. Servers are often
the highest paid and bartenders are the highest paid or
highest compensated. I guess I should say in positions in

(24:29):
the restaurant because of tips, and they can often make
you know, forty dollars plus more an hour versus in
the kitchen it might be twenty. In the twenties, I
will say, I don't know any restaurant or restaurant who
who's paying fifteen dollars to anybody in their restaurant. Maybe
maybe a host who is at a high school who

(24:50):
is just training, that is who's being paid fifteen dollars
an hour. So this, this ballot is actually seeking to
address an issue that isn't even an issue in messages
because it is already the servers are being paid at
the minimum wage and more. The other issue that I
think comes out of this is that so say this

(25:10):
work to pass, and these restaurants, restaurants are going to
have to absorb the additional labor costs. And it's about
eighteen thousand dollars per employee. So if you go to
a restaurant, look around your local restaurant. They might go
to the pub, the taverns, the you know, whatever casual
restaurant they might go to. Look around there's at least

(25:31):
ten service staff around between bartenders and the bar backs
and the servers and the food runners. And what's going
to happen? Just do that map ten times eighteen thousand times.
Even just ten employees is one hundred and eighty thousand
dollars additional years. So what happens is there are not
restaurants that can absorb that right now. There are such

(25:53):
in margins of restaurants like it's just impossible. And so
maybe fine dining could absorb it, and maybe the fast
casual could be okay, but those the majority of our
neighborhood favorite restaurants and bars, and those are going to
really be tremendously impacted. So what does that mean?

Speaker 6 (26:12):
Okay?

Speaker 5 (26:12):
And I and.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
I think that's and I think that's the most important
thing to consider. Your favorite restaurant may not likely will
not be able to stay open if and when question
five passes. I think one of the things that Andy
said before, and I know that you second this because
we've had this conversation, is this is while this has
been a very hard question to tackle from a educating

(26:37):
the public standpoint, it has been another example of how
much this industry is able to kind of bands together,
work together, celebrate one another, and be there for one
another when things are hard. I have to say I
very much appreciate seeing all you guys are doing to
get this message out. I hope that people take the
time to sort of hear us and ask the folks
in their own favorite restaurants what their feelings are, because

(27:00):
it's a pretty resounding across the board. No, please do
not let question five pass. So Nancy, thank you so
much as always for being so eloquent and being so
helpful and being such a great.

Speaker 4 (27:11):
Voice for the industry. Thanks for joining us well.

Speaker 5 (27:13):
Thank you for educating and helping to educate everybody in Massachusetts.
I really appreciate you guys. Thank you so much. Jenny.

Speaker 4 (27:19):
Of course, we'll have more food for Thought in just
a minute.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
You're listening to Food for Thought brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel and Sweets.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Welcome that Food for thoughts brought to you by the
Box Center. Okay, so we're going to take a break
from talking about question five, although I know this guest
could chime in and tell us the similar things that
we've heard throughout the show. We're talking to a dear
dear dear friends of Billy and myself, Dan Donahue, who
is the president of the Saunders Group who oversees hotels

(27:49):
in our area, but predominantly the Lenox Hotel, which is
a very special hotel for me personally I have two
daughters and my three year olds is named Lenox, and yes,
it is very much much has to do with this
very special place that is the Lenox Hotel that has
been around for a very long time but remains one
of the more relevant, sort of centrally located heart pieces

(28:13):
of this awesome city where I think hospitality is so
clearly defined in everything they do. So Dan, thank you
so much for joining us.

Speaker 6 (28:22):
Oh great to be here, Jenny, thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Okay, so we know that there's so much history about
the Lenox, but I think what's so exciting that we
get to to talk to about today is there's going
to be so much change coming from inside the space.
So can you tell folks what you just launched earlier
this week or maybe late last week.

Speaker 6 (28:42):
Sure, So as of next rying November, first we have
we are the hotel is assuming what was then before
leased out spaces. So all of our outlets before we're
leased out. Now we're going to bring them in house.
So as you talk about tradition and history of the Lennox,
let me start with what it is now, a city bar.

(29:05):
It's going to be called the irv Irving Sonzer is
our patriarch. The family started started back in early early gosh,
probably early nineteen hundreds, nineteen thirties, and we really this.
You know, we're changing up the seating a little bit,
you know, redid the floors and put in a couple

(29:26):
more lights and open up the bar just a little
bit better than that the same. You know, it's one
of the best things about transition. Of one hundred thirty
five people that worked in our food and beverage, you know,
we're retaining one hundred and twenty four of them. So
it really is it's going to be our opportunity to
put our own sense of hospitality into our outlets. Right

(29:47):
So and then sorry and then Souls becomes Sweeneys On Boilston.
Our chef Daniel Kenny, very very talented Irish guy, has
family in Ireland and really wants to put his spin
on this authentic Irish pub. So he's taking you know,

(30:13):
will certainly have the old classics, excuse me, the neighborhood favorites,
if you will, of you know, buffalo wings and you know, murgers,
smash burghers and potato skins and that those kinds of things.
But then he's really taken a great New England sense
to Irish food. So it's exciting to be able to

(30:33):
introduce this. We've been tasting this for months. We went
to Ireland a couple of months months after to kind
of look and feel and get a sense of what
Irish pubs are generally, you know, feel like. So we
think that we're going to be able to bring that
very successfully to Boston Street.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
I think something that people don't necessarily always understand is that, yes,
when you walk into the Lenox, you walked outside the
lobby and into a restaurant. And maybe the perception was
that the folks who oversaw the hotel also oversaw and
owns the restaurants. And so the idea that that was
not the case then and is the case now brings

(31:14):
about something really wonderful because I think if you've ever
stayed at the Lenox, if you've ever connected with anyone
that works at the Lenox, you know, that hospitality and
and sort of connectedness and this idea of working so
hard and delivering whatever the guest may need is something
that's always been at the heart of what you do.

(31:34):
And now you're going to be able to take that
ethos and translate it into the restaurant. So for some
it's like, Okay, well that's that may not mean anything,
but I assure you it's going to mean so much.
And like you said, you're able to retain the staff
and sort of bring in the touch that is the
Lenox and makes it so special. So the irving you
you kind of you kind of said, yeah, there's a

(31:55):
you know, some new seating and some new I mean,
it is going.

Speaker 4 (31:58):
To knock your socks off.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
Because I've been so close to Dan and and the
group over at the Lennox for so long. I've had
the privilege of being a part of some of these conversations,
to watch some of this transformation.

Speaker 4 (32:09):
I mean, you're working with some of the best people.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
You're putting together a very sexy and sleek and yet
very comfortable vibe of a restaurant that will now be
off the lobby. You mentioned chef who uh is very
talented and has some history, you know, obviously international history,
but also history here in Boston.

Speaker 4 (32:28):
And you guys are doing some fun things, and.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
So tell us about what some of the things are
that you're excited.

Speaker 4 (32:34):
On the menu at the Irving, you know what.

Speaker 6 (32:37):
He's he's he has these these minute, miniature little podstickers
that are absolutely positive to die for. He is. After
the first week we're installing the pizza oven and then
he's making these fresh so little you know, mini pizzas.
It's gonna be the Irving will be really be catered

(32:59):
to sharing. It's a it's a very comfortable bar. There's
no TV. It's it's it's it's like you can liken
it to a Martini lounge if you will, back in
the day. But it's very intimate, very you know, it's
it's it's like a it's like you're like a little
You're enveloped and nice like warmth, you know, some some nice, nice, nice,
nice lighting, and just if you feel taken care of,

(33:20):
not just by the staff, but by the objects of
the room.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
You know.

Speaker 6 (33:24):
The most exciting part about this is taking our sense
of hospitality the Lennoxes and putting it into the outlets, right,
so you know it is, it is, it is. I
can't tie you, Jenny, how excited the team is and
what we're going to, you know, do for the back Bay.
And you know we we love the back Bay, we

(33:45):
love everything in it. We support it. We're community focused
and we can't wait to bring it to our neighbors.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
And our guest You are so community focused. One of
the things that you can experience when you walk into
the Lenox Lobby is your mercantile area where you showcase
a number of different local purveyors. And it's one of
the things I love most is that you know you're
constantly evolving, if there's constantly new businesses popping up, and
it really does make you feel connected to your city,

(34:13):
to your region, to the area that you're in.

Speaker 4 (34:15):
It doesn't.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
I think one of the things you do so well
is it's.

Speaker 4 (34:19):
Such a unique experience.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
You know, you can travel any to major cities and
stay in hotels where every hotel kind of feels the
same in a lot of ways, and I think there's
something about the Lenox that feels so unbelievably unique. And
I think it's one of the reasons Billy and I
have felt so connected to it for so long. We
referenced our book, which is coming is now finally out,

(34:43):
and there's two, there's a there's a handful of places
that aren't restaurants and chefs, and the hotel that is
included in there is the Lenox And Dan, you I
don't even know if you've seen it yet, but you
have a lovely photo with Billy and myself in there
and we talk about how much we love it. So
all right, So Dan, what's holiday looking like? I mean,
you guys have these unbelievable fireplace rooms that are a

(35:05):
great way to spend your weekend winter holiday get away.
What else is coming down the pipeline that you want
folks to know about? And how quickly are people going
to be able to experience the new restaurants.

Speaker 6 (35:17):
Well, so we're going to keep the restaurant up until
just bright before Christmas, So City Table will be closed
December sixteenth, opening back up February seventeenth, And we are
dramatically changing the restaurant as a whole. And I think
that I'm most excited about. We're going to have an

(35:38):
eighteen foot tree in the middle of the restaurant. It
really is going to take advantage of all the light
that comes in out, so you're going to be feel
activation outside and you're going to feel it inside. So
it really is just an exciting time for us. We're
in the final stages of naming it and coming up
with it's branding, but it really will be the Shawnee

(36:00):
Star of the hotel. So we're very excited about it.
And you know, as we're going to winter, right, obviously
the best part is decorating for the holidays, and you know,
we kind of always pushed Jeval a little bit, but
we're going to have the hotel decorated the second week
in November because it really does just create again talk

(36:21):
about being enveloped, and you know the family Bung talks about,
you know, what is the lot of us with secret
sauce and I think you know this, Jimmy, it is
by far our people, right, It's the people that make
this place from from the dorman right to the valets
and front did every housekeeping. I mean, we've been very
blessed to have a lot of guess return for many

(36:44):
many years, some some decades, right, and we have very
good following with you know, obviously the David's family. New
Bounces is very support of us, of us and you
know those partnerships. I mean, we fly at a New
Bounced flag outside on Bolster because we want be able
to know how proud we are to be associated with
a company like that. Especially you know you talked about

(37:06):
local before, Jenny. You know we're family owned, right, so
being local is very important. So when you look at
you know, the Bercantile for example, we want local, local items, right.
Our cheft is singularly focused on local, local, local, So
you're going to see it. You're going to see it
when it comes to all of our outlets.

Speaker 4 (37:26):
Well, you definitely do.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
And you bring in such warmth and it's such a
special place. Dan, We're so excited for you. Thank you
for taking time out of this busy time for you
to come join us. We're going to have you on longer,
but thanks for joining us, and we'll talk soon.

Speaker 6 (37:38):
Okay, Thank care, Jenny, Bye bye.

Speaker 2 (37:39):
We got more Food for Thought coming up in just
a minute.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel and Sweet Oh.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
This is a great show on Food for that brought
to you by the Box Center. This is our last
break of the show, and I want to give you
kind of a recap. So we talked to Andy Husbands.
If you are looking to not cook that turkey or
not cook all the sides and just enjoy something incredibly flavorful,
definitely check out the Smoke Shop. They do an amazing

(38:08):
Thanksgiving and there's only so many so they start ordering.
I mean they've already started ordering, so I think there's
probably a couple of weeks left to add that to
your Thanksgiving weekend. I even say, if you're not going
to do it on Thanksgiving, but you kind of want
Thanksgiving to continue over into the next day, which I mean,
let's face it, who doesn't. It's also a nice thing

(38:28):
to do for that weekend. It's usually a weekend where
people aren't working much and you're sort of hunkered down,
and so if you are doing that turkey yourself, get
it and use it for a couple of the next days. Anyway,
So that was Andy, and then Nancy Cushman, most notably
of Oh Yeah, was once voted the number one restaurant
in the country the world, I know, the country, which
was a which was a big Award and they've since

(38:52):
opened to other restaurants, so Djoko and Fenway, which is
so delicious. She's a sack a Master, which we didn't
get to talk enough about, but her restaurants are great
in Bianca, which is a different flavor. Palette right there
at the street in Chestnut Hill is great for families,
great for couples, great for groups of people, just very lively,
beautiful space. And then lastly we talked to Dan Donna

(39:13):
Hue of the Lennox Hotel, which has some great things
coming out the irving and you're going to see some
us talking about that a lot. It's one of our
favorite spots. And then we referenced our book, our cookbook
which has just come out of Taste at Boston. I
want to tell you a little bit more about it
in some of the specifics. So Lydia Shire is, I
don't know, kind of the mother of culinary at this

(39:36):
stage here in Boston. She's been around for a very
long time with a dear friend of Julia Child. She's
actually the first recipe that's in the book, and she
made Cate agree, which is not something that you probably
have made before. And it's really nice to be able.
This is a breakfast dish, and it's really nice to
be able to choose something that you don't know anything about.
This juncture likely for breakfast. So this is a lot

(39:58):
of eggs an aromatic rice. It has originally South Indian
influences but then ultimately landed in Britain where it is
a very popular dish. So that's something that you can
check out, which includes haddock or stablefish, so it's fish
for breakfast. This is something different. So that really kicks
off the book, which is broken up into breakfast, lunch,

(40:20):
and dinner. I'll tell you one of the lunch items
that I'm most excited about. Okay, so this isn't itself.
It's full lunch for Breads and pale, which is a
partner of Barblaha, which is a Greek restaurant that is
fairly new in Brookline. Was basically just named number one
restaurant by Boston Magazine, which is pretty awesome. And so

(40:41):
he teaches you how to make sour dough bread if
you've ever had a desire to make your own bread,
which I think has become really popular and Instagram lately.
He gives you an incredible recipe Okay, I'll move on
to dinner. I'll tell you about Kristin Kanty and Charlie Foster.
We've had them on the show a lot. Woods Help
here for a great restaurant. They also have a couple
and conquered but chef did something with Christy lamb Ribs

(41:03):
and they actually use a lamb rack in the recipe,
and so I remember calling him and saying, I don't
know how hard it's going to be for people to
get a lamb rack, and he said, well, that's the point.
I want people to connect with their local butcher. And
I loved that response, and so we didn't change a
single thing about the recipe because I think it is,
like we talk about all the time, so important to

(41:23):
connect with your local folks, whether it be your local fishermen,
your local butcher. I mean, that's the way that you
can really feel connected to your food, which is a
big thing for Woods Hills. And lastly, our dessert, I
will talk about joe An Chang, probably one of the
most celebrated pastry chefs, certainly in New England, maybe even beyond,
and she makes the good old but not so good

(41:44):
old because it's with her spin Boston cream Pie. Can't
believe you have the recipe to be able to recreate
that at home. Anyway, you can buy it on Amazon
it is a Taste of Boston Cookbook, or you can
buy it on me Boston dot com slash Cookbooks. Okay,
what was a great show. We appreciate you being here.
We'll be back with more food for thought Rocky by
the Box Center next week. Have a great night.
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