@ForkReport - Hour 2

A US couple decides to bring American grub to Italy. Wendy’s AI drive-thru. Joey Angelo- Cinco De Mayo / Margaritas via phone.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, it's Neil Savandra. You'relistening to kf I AM six forty the
four report on demand on the iHeartRadioapp. Let me teach you had it
here, Let me teach you hadit, Conda, Let me teach you

(00:29):
at it. It's a culinary Letme teach you had it. Let me
teach you rat of. Let Me'sKFI AM six forty live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. Hey, everybody,Happy Saturday to you. Neil Savadra,

(00:50):
here with you. Great to behere with you on this gorgeous Saturday.
Next Saturday, I will be outand about again, this time in Redondo
Beach. Or if you're a local, Dunde, I live in Redundo and
you can join me there next weekend. Big doings there. Beach Life Festival
on May fourth is when I willbe there. It's the third through the

(01:12):
fifth massive lineup man, so thisfestival, the Beach Life Festival, returns
right there on the shores of RedondoBeach, Los Angeles, May third through
the fifth. As I said,massive performances Stay Incubus, My Morning Jacket,
Divo, Dirty Heads, Zz Topseal Man, so much going on.

(01:37):
Beach Life also announced major DJs forlate nights and they got a lot
going on, mixed masters like Mikefrom Beastie Boys, legendary DJ Paul Oakenfold
and let's see, it certainly isone of a kind. See if there's
anything else you need to know,I think you need to know to go
to Beachlife Festival dot com Beachlife Festivaldot com from more information and stick around.

(02:02):
We'll be giving you a chance towin tickets to join me at Beach
Life Festival next weekend. I willbe there on the fourth. The good
folks at Portafino Hotel and Marina arehosting me. They're there, They're putting
me up and I'm looking forward tothe rooms or gorgeous the locate, the
location is amazing. But to celebrate, they have this exhilarating brunch experience before

(02:25):
the Beach Life Festival on May fourth. So live music, panoramic ocean,
few vistas, that lavish feast andyou can book online now at Hotelportafino dot
com, Hotel Portafino dot com andagain keep listening for your chance to win
tickets coming up in just a littlebit. But I'm very excited about that.

(02:49):
It is now that beautiful weather welove so much here in southern California.
All Right, this story I justthought was too cool and I wanted
to share it with you. Wehear so much about people coming migrating to
the United States. They move here, they bring their culture and their food,
and we're incredibly lucky for it.It makes us Trust me, I've

(03:12):
traveled all over the place. Yougo to other countries and there's like one
culture, one style of food,and that's sometimes even one religion. So
we're very blessed to have all thesethings here in our culture. Kind of
this combination of cultures here in theUnited States. But you often don't think
about, like what is it likewhen American goes abroad or American moves and

(03:36):
says, hey, we want tobring American food here, And that's kind
of a cool thing. And that'swhat this couple did. So you picture
this. You got this couple fromthe US. They decide to move things,
shake things up a bit, bringingAmerican food to the heart of Italy.
Felipe d Silva Da Silva and Shannonlet me see Scarieta. They swapped

(04:00):
their American hustle for this quieter lifein Italy. They open a restaurant and
turning heads right and left. Peopleare checking it out. They want to
see what they've got there. Andso now this restaurant is making people excited
and people are talking about it.It's not your typical Italian food seat there

(04:26):
in this Calabria, small kind ofarea. It's all about these bold flavors,
spicy kicks, and they even havethings like pigs blood sausage. They
have these different types of pastas.And right in the middle of all that,
nestled in the hills is the figAnd that's a spot they created where

(04:50):
American classics meet Italian tradition. SoShannon and Felipe, they're serving up all
these classics you'd expect from lobster rollsor maybe a Reuben sandwich, along with
some unexpected, unexpected twists like breakfastburritos and tacos. Can you imagine that
being in a small area of Italyand then all of a sudden you've got

(05:13):
breakfast burritos and tacos, even introducingto the locals savory breakfast type things like
biscuit and gravy, something incredibly newby the way for Italians. You know,
the sweet pastries and things like thatare kind of the norm when it
comes to Italy. You think ofthese things, and now they come with

(05:35):
this very savory, thick gravy andbiscuits, chipped beef in there. Now
you're talking, but it's not justabout the food. The fig This restaurant
they created has become this hub forthe community. You got locals, you've
got expats alike flocking to their taconights, their big themed events like the

(06:00):
Thanksgiving dinners, Saint Patrick's Day.Kind of crazy when you think of it
as this American eyed perspective going intoa place like Italy. And the drinks.
Don't even get started on the drinks. They got this full cocktail program,
imported liquor like Tito's vodka, BulletBourbon, both I enjoy very much,

(06:21):
by the way, adding a touchof American flare to the Italian dining
experience with this, you know,booze forward culinary experience as well, So
you know you're there in Italy,massive culinary scene, right and sure it's

(06:44):
a risk, but how cool forShannon and Felipe, these two Americans moving
to Italy and bringing their food,their passions with them. They say it's
been worth it. They love it, found a slower pace of life,
which is nice for right more timetogether as a family, and they found
this community they've they've fallen in lovewith. And not only have they fallen

(07:08):
in love with the community, butit seems that the community is has given
that back as well. They've embracedall their bold flavors, the adventurous spirit
that they have, and they're runningto it and they're paying money for it.
Something worth tipping your hat to andsaying, you know, you love
that that American spirit in reverse,going you know what, we want to

(07:30):
bring something that we enjoy from theStates to here to a place that we
love. Moves at this cool speed, very mellow, and now they're bringing
this and they're bringing some American flavorswith the cocktails as well, you know,
not as many of those Italian liqueurswith the bitter. You know,

(07:57):
did you just make a face itbitter? You don't like a negroni or
anything? No, I really thinkthat that should that's like should be illegal.
I ordered one one time, like, oh, this should be tasty,
and then I it's delicious. It'sa really wired tastes acquire it's for
me. It doesn't. It doesn'tagree it. Also, it also depends
on what you're eating as well.Yeah, you know you can combine that.

(08:18):
But yes, it is a taste. But to bring some of these
other flavors there, and some ofthe bourbon and the things from the States,
I think it's pretty darn cool.So I just thought that was a
neat story that I wanted to passalong to hear in reverse, you know,
going going somewhere and introducing your flavorsthe way so many cultures have here
in the States. And we're thebetter for it, for sure. All

(08:39):
right, stick around. Much moreto come on the Fork Report, including
uh Wendy's and their new AI drivethrough causing a stir on their the interwebs,
all that social media. So onthe tick and the talk and the
talk and the tick and the snapin the chat in the instant in the

(09:01):
ground. Did you call me?You just mouthed pop pop, didn't you?
That's the sound my never mind,It's all right, I'll put my
shoe back on. You're listening toThe Fork Report with Nil Savedra on demand
from KFI AM six forty. Heyeverybody, Nil Savidra here with the Fork

(09:24):
Report. Thanks for hanging out.By the way, and for those of
you who don't know, I amnow an official part of the Morning Show
Monday through Friday with Bill handle Happyto do it. Almost full circle really
when you think about it, youknow, I started as an intern on
that show back in ninety four.Nineteen ninety four was the year I came
and I remember it wasn't the wholestation KFI was two Dixie cups with a

(09:50):
piece of dental floss between the two. You could only hear the station one
at a time and pass it along. We've come very far. Happy to
be here. Oh mister Marcone,what a sweet man he was inventing radio
and all. Anyways, it's beena wonderful journey. And I came here.

(10:13):
I had hair, yeah remember thatthen, right out? Look real
positive, beating it out of me. Over half my life here. AnyWho,
Let's get back to the show,shall we. Alrighty, then let's

(10:35):
get back to food talk, ladiesand gentlemen. But do join us on
the Morning Show if you're not already. I mean, it's Bill Handling all
but from six to nine Monday throughFriday, right after wake Up Call with
our buddy Amy King. And rightbefore our buddy's Gary and Shannon come aboard.
So very easy piece Wendy's AI orderingman, this blew up a viral

(11:00):
TikTok that got everybody buzzing about Wendy'sdrive through. It's all about their new
AI assistant. Now, we hadtalked about this some weeks ago. They
call it Fresh AI and looking atit, it's pretty crazy, it's kind
of cool. So in the videoyou see this TikTok user Britney Ann underscore
too too too. She rolls upto a Wendy's drive through and does what

(11:26):
we all do you expect? Ohuh yeah, I'll have And you think
it's going to go that way,human bad speakers and everything, but instead
she's greeted by this fresh I AIasking welcome to Wendy's. What would you
like? So the as she's describingwhat she wants, the order is popping

(11:50):
up on the display. Now we'reused to that kind of with you know
when you order it McDonald's now ittells you, it shows you what you're
getting. But this is word forword the question that's being asked and the
response you give. So you say, uh, well, i'd like and
you see ah, well, i'dlike typed up on the screen. It's
nuts. So your mind is kindof blown now because you're looking at this

(12:16):
and you're going, oh, thisis the future, and it absolutely is
now. I know for many folksworking at fast food is their first job,
although with the changes, the argumenthas been, no, you've got
to bump it up to twenty dollarsan hour because it's not people's first jobs
anymore. But this is the problem. There has to be there has to

(12:37):
be a staircase, a ladder ofthings. If we try and make everything
a job that is worthy of ahome and all of these things, you're
not going to have these ladders anymore. What they're going to do is what
they're doing, and it's not theevil corporations. That's how business works.
You're trying to keep food inexpensive andfast. That's the goal of fast food.

(13:01):
So mega viral, this thing goesup whopping thirteen point six million views.
As people's minds are blown. Thetech like fresh Ai it's gonna step
in. People are gonna lose jobs. I don't care what anybody says.
I don't care if they come inand say this is to support to supplement.

(13:24):
Yeah, maybe, but those opportunitiesare gonna shrink, so beware of
the consequences. Everything has them.It's not some basic robot either. It's
incredibly intelligent. So when these teamedup with Google Cloud and that's how they're
doing this AI, it's all aboutenhancing that crew and customer experience, really

(13:48):
customer experience experience. And what's goingto happen is you're going to see these
lower level jobs being tossed away,and maybe people are going to be making
more money in management and understanding ofthe industry differently, and there'll be more
of those jobs maybe, But thenwe're going to lose these entry level jobs.

(14:11):
And we're kind of doing that.So you can use this and it
understands whatever you're like, slang orcasual conversation. You can customize these orders
on the fly. So's it's reallycrazy. Now some people are saying,

(14:31):
oh, yeah, we'll give itthis order, give it that. So
this person actually went back more thanonce to try giving stumping it a little
bit, getting two burgers, onewith onions, one without, one with
this and that, and it it'sstaying up on it. So I haven't
seen it yet. I'm gonna checkcouple out. I don't know if it's
gonna hit California. I don't knowif this Britney, this TikTok user was

(14:54):
in California or not. But I'mcurious because we have fewer here. But
in the rest of the country,Wendy's is like number two up against McDonald's.
It's everywhere. It's only in Californiathat it's not. And the reason
is because we have such a youknow, we're hard on on businesses,
so they dropped the news. Wetalked about it back in December of twenty

(15:16):
twenty three. Since then, they'vebeen rolling out more and more locations,
started in Columbus, Ohio, makingits way into other cities. So we'll
see it eventually. Don't be surprisedif you see one or spot one in
the wild in your neck of thewoods. And if you do, let
me know, hit me up andtag me in your social media at Fork
Reporter, because I'd like to seeit. You're listening to The Fork Report

(15:37):
with Nil Sevadra on demand from KFIAM six forty. Hey, everybody,
Neil Savadra here with the Fork Report. We celebrate food every Saturday for three
hours. No show like it reallythree hours. It's long. We get
to not in that kind of way, and then like sleeping producer Kayla wake
up. It's just celebrate of food, people that make it, the culture

(16:03):
behind it, cocktails, the food, energy, vibes, trends, cooking
at home, everything in between.It's kind of a sanctuary if you will
take you out of the craziness ofthe week, whatever's going on in the
news, and just celebrating food,good stuff. If you want to know
about prime rib, I talked aboutprime rib in Technique of the Week,

(16:23):
breaking down the reverse seer and focusingon how to make it the best it
can be. Right now, wewant to get into spirits and my next
guest, True Vet over two decadesin the wine and spirit industry and Agavi
spirits expert. And that's for thoseof you who don't know what that is.
That's what most men think they are. Well, this tequila and the

(16:48):
difference they're both the No, that'swhat this guy did does. Founder of
Sukasa Mezcal and sip Marks. It'snewish canned, pre mixed margarita made with
natural ingredients, by the way,and his name is Joey Angelo. Welcome
to the Forkerport Joey, thank youso much. What's going on, Neil?

(17:11):
How are you? I am verygood, sir. It's a beautiful
day here in Burbank. I knowyou're out there in North Carolina. I
hope it's beautiful for you. I'mactually in New York City and it's not
a beautiful day. Oh what's goingon there in NYC? Hello? Rain
cloud, darkness? Not where you'relooking at, that's for sure. Yeah,

(17:32):
there's the weather has been kind ofnuts there on the East Coast.
It sure has, it, surehas. We definitely don't get that California
weather, that's for sure. Well, come visit, bring lots of those
sip margs. So tell me aboutthis. Now, this was a category
that I wasn't a big fan offor a long time. It's like,

(17:52):
there's something about the beauty of awell mixed drink, seeing it made in
front of you, fresh ingredients,and then having people, kind of for
convenience sake, slap it into acontainer where you don't have to make it
yourself. However, man, thatis changing leaps and bounds. And I've
had some phenomenal cocktails that are premixed and the techniques are getting better keeping

(18:18):
things fresh containers technology. So incomesyou with all of your background and says,
let's do this with the number onemost ordered beverage in the world,
and that's margarita, and tell memore about sip marks. That's exactly right,
And Neil, honestly, I didn'treally like them either. That's uh,

(18:42):
that's why I kind of jumped inand threw my hat in the ring.
You know, there's just, youknow, there's something about it.
They were just you know, eithertoo sugary or or just no flavor at
all. And you know, wethought that no is actually doing the actual
margarita properly. So to your point, natural ingredients, Fresher gave proper tequila,

(19:07):
solid flavoring, all that really reallycame together, low sugar, and
you know, we think we havethe best place in margarite out there.
And that's amazing to put that intoa can. I don't think it's in
a lot of doors yet, atleast not here on the West coast.
So is this something that people haveto go to sipmargs dot com to order?

(19:29):
So yeah, for sure, we'reabout about thirty plus markets online.
We are actually about to launch theWest coast very very soon. We're in
ten states and California is certainly next, and then Arizona after that. Yeah,
because you know it's sunny out here. We need them. The marst'll

(19:52):
rub it in meal. Yeah,I'm just saying, I know it's raining
over there, but it just it'skind of sad thinking you in, thinking
of you there in Manhattan on arainy day with a margarita when you could
be out here and well I shouldYou're right, that seems mean. I
apologize, but no, that's that'sthat's okay. I think the short answer
is you could certainly enjoy it onlinefor now at sipmark dot com. Usually

(20:18):
there in a couple of days,but we'll be at all your you know,
your your bedmo locations and pavilions andsuch very very soon, so that'll
be great. We enjoy it becausewe need to. There's nothing better than
people seeing the need. And Ilove that you're referred to in a couple
of articles that I read as aserial entrepreneur. It's like, you can't

(20:41):
stop. You got to jump intothings. You want to make things,
and I think there's nothing better thanthe birth of an idea from a concern
about quality and the like, andmargaritas is a tough one. I've said
this before in the program because thefact that it is a citrus based drink.
Citrus has a lot lifespan of freshness, and it's very hard to make

(21:04):
things taste fresh when you put citrusin them. So I'm excited about tasting
your margarita's, your pre mixed Margaritias. When we come back, we'll talk
more about that some of the hurdlesthat you had to jump over to put
these marks together. Of course,people can find out more at sip margs
dot com s I P M Ar G S. My guest right now

(21:29):
is Joey Angelo over two decades,this guy with wine and spirits and all
that and Agavi Spirit Expert, whichwe will have you on again to talk
mes cal down the line. Rightnow we're talking about the margarita's pre mixed.
We'll get into that when we comeback more with Joey Angeloso. Go
nowwhere you're listening to The Fork Reportwith Nil Savedra on demand from KFI AM

(21:52):
six forty. Hey, every buddy, It's the Fork Port all things food,
Beverage and beyond. It is yourfriendly neighborhood fork report to Neil Sevader
here with you every Saturday for threehours, celebrating food a culture behind it,
cooking at home, mixing drinks athome, but also going out and
putting money into the local economy.Hospitality. The is the cornerstone of local

(22:14):
economy rises and falls on that,So go out there and support. Keep
in mind. Next week, aweek from today, I will be out
at the Beachlife Festival. They're inRedonde, Redondo Beach on the waterfront,
four stages, massive performances, StingingIncubus, my Morning Jacket, Devo's Easy
Top, great DJs will be outthere as well as great food. The

(22:40):
location is beautiful and the Beach LifeFestival is absolutely one of a kind.
I'll be broadcasting live. If youwant tickets, Beachliffestival dot com, Beachlife
Festival dot com, and we'll begiving away some tickets coming up. I
want to thank the folks at thePortafino Hotel and Marina. They got this
great brunch experience they're doing before theBeach Live Festival on May fourth, and

(23:04):
you can enjoy live music that panoramicocean front vistas that they have there,
that lavish feast and you can bookit online now Hotel Portafino dot com,
Hotel Portafino dot com. I willbe staying there myself and I'm looking forward
to it. Beautiful, beautiful locationand get on that. But I'll be

(23:26):
out there broadcasting in the sun andfun. And speaking of sun and fun,
we've got Joey Angelo with us.Welcome back, Joey, as we
talk about not only your decades ofexperience there in the wine and spirits industry,
but you're the founder of Sucasa Mescal, which I'm hoping one time you'll
come back and talk about that.Right now, we're talking about Margs,

(23:48):
the canned pre mix margaret readers.You can find out more at sip margs
dot com. Do you have multipleflavors? We do. We do.
So we have a classic, wehave a mango that won multiple awards.
We have a coconut which is amazing. We have a spicy and my personal
favorite actually is we have a mescalwith a mescal readA Wow, that's not

(24:14):
with your Sukassa mezcal. Yes,exactly exactly, and you're right, it's
it's really it's not easy to doit properly. You're talking about citrus earlier,
you know, any any time you'reusing fresh fruit, and you know,
it's just it's just really difficult,and the flavors not exactly what you

(24:34):
would think it would be like that. The mango taste is not the mango
taste that people think, you know, they think like a candy type thing.
When you use fresh ingredients, it'sit's a totally different profile. It's
much more difficult. So you soundreally excited about the product. I'm looking
forward to it. We don't haveany in front of us right now,
but I am going to try itand I am looking forward to well.

(24:55):
Take care of that, Neil,don't don't. Don't you worry? Well?
I like the I like the wayyou think. I want to bat
my eye and if I have itright in front of me right this.
No, it didn't work, butI do look forward to it. I've
heard and read many, many goodthings about it. The putting these out,
I know, is pretty bold because, like I said, Margarita's are

(25:15):
the number one ordered drink. Alot of competition out there, and everybody
has their own, you know,way of making it. You know,
some people aren't fans of Triple Sickbecause they've had bad Triple sck, or
they aren't fans of certain margaritas becausethey were made with bad tequila. So
it sounds like you are curating thiswith your partners and making sure that the

(25:38):
best ingredients are going into those cans. Correct, absolutely the best ingredients,
And you know to your point,you know, I'm a fresh margarita guy
too, And honestly, it's actuallya different consumer. Those who like to
go to like a restaurant or abar and get a fresh margarita probably don't
like sitting mark that much. Andthose who want a refreshing carbonated margarita probably

(26:03):
don't like a heavier, more therapyfresh margarita. So it's really it's kind
of a different consumer. But itis very difficult to do things the right
way. But I think, handsdown, our flavors are absolutely top notch
Okay. So if you're mixing itfresh yourself at home, what's your go
to specs on a margarita? Ah, that's so I'm glad you asked.

(26:27):
I'm a big Tommy's margarita guy,so I'll do about two ounces even mescal
too. I'd love a mezcal margaritaif not tequila, So I would use
two ounces of my two cossa mezcow. I would do about an ounce
and a half of lime and maybejust a tiny drop of agave, very

(26:48):
very little. I'm not ah.I'm a sweet guy, but I don't
like sweet drinks, so I likeit more on the tart bitter side.
But you know, if you wantto sweep en up, just add a
little bit more. And I tendnot to do the triple that kind of
thing like you mentioned me personally.Yeah, you know what, I'm a
fan of putting some quantro in orsomething like that sometimes if I want to,
I agree it just a little bit. Wow, look at us,

(27:12):
we're becoming fast friends right here.Buddy's for life, You and me wonder
twin powers across across the United Statesfrom I love it. I also love
to cook too, So we couldtalk offline. Brother, when you come
into town or next time I'm outthere in Manhattan, we'll connect and we'll

(27:33):
jump around to have some drinks andsome food. But I would I would
love that. I would absolutely loveI'm going to take you up on that
offer, and then we'll talk Mezcal. Next time when you have some time,
we'll we'll chat about that. ButI appreciate you taking the time to
come on. That is the voiceof Joey Angelo. Truvett, been in
for for being a young guy multipledecades in the wine and spirits industry,

(27:56):
loves his agave spirits and the founderof Sukassa Mescall, which you can get
out here by the way if you'relooking for it, and then sip margs
dot com is where you want togo to find out out that these canned
pre mixed margarita is made with naturalingredients. And I appreciate you taking the
time. You can find him,you know, sip marks on the socials
as well, or Joeyangelo. Ithink it's it's It's yeah, Joey Angelo.

(28:23):
Yeah, exactly, it's Joey Angeloon Instagram, Sucassamescal dot com,
at Sucassa mezcalf on the Instagram,and then at sip margs on Instagram as
well. Well. Brother. Itwas a pleasure to meet you via voice.
We'll have to connect some other timein person, but thanks for taking
the time and the best of luckto you. Thank you so much.

(28:44):
Thanks for having me, Neil mypleasure. You've been listening to The Fork
Report. You can always hear uslive on kf I am six forty two
to five pm on Saturday, andanytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app