December 1, 2024 • 39 mins
(00:42) Meet Ben D'Amico, the executive development chef for Giant Eagle's Market District stores, who takes us on a culinary journey through the world of large-format grocery chains. From humble beginnings as an intern to crafting prepared foods for 24 locations, Ben shares the exciting and challenging aspects of his role, including creative collaborations like 'Flights and Bites' with Ana Eats Pittsburgh or exclusive menus for collegiate soccer teams.
(08:11) Ben takes us behind the scenes, revealing the complexities of maintaining consistency and quality across multiple locations. His insights into evolving consumer tastes showcase how Market District stays ahead of the game, offering customers options that range from budget-friendly to premium quality.
(23:16) Beyond the corporate kitchen, Ben shares his work with 'Best Buddies' partner Tori, on a unique pasta dish that reflects the flavors of Italy and Greece, set to be a highlight at the upcoming Taste Buds event. Ben also opens up about his Italian and Slovak roots, emphasizing the importance of family traditions like the Feast of the Seven Fishes, and we also get a quick mention of his wife's children's book, "Harvey's Hamburgers."
(33:25) Plus Chantal and Alex Huff reveal their recent visit to Reva Modern Indian Cuisine, and Chris Fennimore of QED Cooks shares an updated approach to a beloved seafood dish. Have a seat at the table and enjoy!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Doug (00:01):
Welcome to he Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, doug Howman.
What does it take to be thecreative chef of a large-format
grocery chain?
We get the inside scoop fromthis week's guest.
Looking to shake up someflavors with your next
restaurant, visit Chantal andAlex Huff, take us to Reva
(00:23):
modern Indian cuisine.
And if you're a fan of seafoodor your family celebrates the
Feast of the Seven Fishes, ourfriend Chris Fenimore shares a
tip to update one of his familyrecipes.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
Well, thank you so much forcoming over and for being on the
show.
(00:43):
Well, thank you so much forcoming over and for being on the
show.
Would you introduce yourselfand what you have going on right
now in the world of food?
Ben (00:51):
Sure, I'm Ben D'Amico.
I'm the executive developmentchef for Giant Eagle, focusing
on the market district stores,and as far as what I have going
on with food, it's very vast.
Every day is somethingdifferent and I don't know.
I'm exploring all sorts ofactivities and events and food
every single day.
Doug (01:09):
I can't imagine.
You know we've talked to a lotof cooks and chefs on the show
before but not a lot of folksthat work in a huge you know
everyday grocery marketsituation.
I can imagine it's verydifferent than the restaurant
situation.
Ben (01:25):
It is very different than restaurants, but in some ways
it's the same.
Okay, so I grew up inrestaurants, came up through
them, and I've been working atGiant Eagle, focused on Market
District, for 16 years almost 17years.
And there are elements ofrestaurant in there with the
large corporation.
So you have kind of the best ofboth worlds, is you have a lot
of focused food efforts going on, with the power of a huge
(01:49):
corporation kind of to make someof that happen.
So it's an interesting balanceI find.
Doug (01:54):
So been with Market District Giant Eagle for over 16
years.
Yes, always in a chef capacity.
Ben (02:01):
Always, yeah, actually, as a development chef.
I started as an intern, okay,and I worked my way up through.
So I've always been behind thescenes, focused on the prepared
foods areas, but I've worked inall the different other fresh
departments.
So it's mostly the hot and thecold meals you see at Market
District.
I've had my hands in probably99% of those items, oh wow.
Doug (02:23):
Well, I first actually noticed you more recently
because you were working with myneighbor, Ana Ana Eats
Pittsburgh and you did a flightsand bites menu with some of her
favorite foods, which I know isThai.
You also snuck in somestrawberry jello pretzel salad.
I imagine flights and bites isjust one of many
responsibilities.
Ben (02:40):
That is correct.
That's one of the projects Iget to work on and I actually
design the menu and the conceptfor each of those.
So we do it's going to be oncea month.
It's the third Friday of everymonth and the Ana was a
collaboration we did where wehave a partnership with her and
we said, hey, let's actually trysomething here.
So that was the first time weactually built a menu specific
for her and she always said hermom's best dessert was the
(03:03):
strawberry pretzel salad, so itwas all her favorite Thai foods
along with that.
That was our firstcollaboration we did.
Doug (03:09):
It was great, yeah, that's where we met.
I was there.
Ben (03:12):
That's right.
That's one of the kind of sideprojects I do.
Most of my work is probablylike 50% on the computer, 50% in
the kitchens and we have 24locations at Market District.
So I'm doing everything fromkind of training and setup and
designing the food and the itemsto the execution and items like
flights and bites or our tasteof the holidays events or kind
(03:33):
of that in-store.
So I get the best of bothworlds with the corporate side
and then the kind of the storeside to do those experience
things.
Doug (03:41):
While you're leading me into my next question, I sort of
wanted to ask what is a day inthe life of a corporate chef for
a large grocery store chain?
I don't know where to start,yeah.
Ben (03:54):
Again, it can be very vast, because you're talking about a
grocery store with all sorts ofyou know, thousands and
thousands of items, and evenwithin prepared food.
Sometimes we're selling up to500 different items within those
different stores, in preparedfoods, in the prepared foods yes
, and just to clarify too,you're responsible for all of
the market districts, all 24market districts.
I do some with the Giant Eagle,but most of my focus has been
(04:14):
with market district and it's avery small team, there's three
of us.
Really.
That focus and it's interestinghow the ideas come up is I
usually get a text or a phonecall from my coworker, lisa, and
it's usually starts off workhours and it's like hey, I saw
this on Instagram, I saw thisitem or this is coming up in a
trend and we'll kind of just say, hey, let's look it up and come
up with a new idea.
But but we're focused on a lotof cold.
(04:34):
I'd say probably 90% of what wesell is is cold items.
Okay, so the package, take mealsyou're kind of single
ingredients, your salads andsandwiches, and then we'll kind
of take some different ethnicroots with here's your Italian
(04:56):
set, your kind of Latin Americanset, and we'll make decisions
based on those groupings as towhere we think the consumers,
our guests, would want, wouldwant to purchase something,
where the need is, of course,and then we'll we'll come up and
we'll do some testing andreally just that's the beautiful
part of my job is playing withfood and really just sharing
that with other people andtrying to find something that's
(05:16):
successful.
And I'll tell you, doug, wehave a lot of items that do not
work.
We have a lot of again, youcan't always hit home runs, but
we have a kind of a concept iskind of fail fast, yeah.
So let's try it.
See how the guests react.
If they love it, great.
If they don't, that's okay.
Let's go on to the next thing.
(05:43):
I find a lot of times, chefs arevery sensitive.
We're very art, artistic insteadof on people with a taste, with
an experience, and that's kindof something in the back of our
heads when we develop food istrying to satisfy those people.
So it's again you're trying tomake money, but then you're also
trying to make a memory or anexperience or have something
Somebody's like I want to buy.
(06:03):
That again, that was great, itsolved the need and that's
honestly like what drives ourpassion to like keep doing stuff
and keep introducing new items.
Doug (06:12):
I'm sure that the emotional side of that
creativity is a little funky,because I came from the sales
world before I did all thisstuff and when you say fail fast
, it's like we would say go forthe no, let's keep trying some
stuff and get all the no's so weget those yeses.
Those people that want to comeback and do more, buy more,
experience, more.
I'm sure there's many foodsthat you want to create and
(06:34):
maybe they just don't translatewell to like a takeaway, grab
and go.
Maybe they get soggy, butthey're supposed to be crisp, is
that?
Ben (06:42):
A hundred percent Nail on the head.
Yeah, a lot of food it goesthrough.
If I can make it and I make adish and it's beautiful, it
doesn't mean it's going to holdor be refrigerated for a couple
of days without just something'sgoing to go wrong with it or
you're not going to have thegreat quality experience.
So we have to do shelf lifetesting and quality testing just
to make sure that thatexperience from day one to day
(07:04):
five for the guest is going tobe the same.
So whether you're coming atnine o'clock in the morning or
five o'clock in the evening, Iwant the guests to have the same
experience.
Doug (07:13):
When you're talking about the dishes that have been
successful, can you think of acouple dishes that really stand
out in your head and tell us alittle bit about them?
Ben (07:26):
Yeah, I think our salads we do a lot of grab and go salads
and years ago these werenon-existent and we did an item
where let's make something fresh, let's make it bigger, we make
it in store, let's hit all ofour metrics that we think the
guests would want to do.
And it's a huge salad.
If you ever see them, they'rebig and it's something very
simplistic, but it's one ofthose that we can't make enough
of in our stores.
(07:46):
It's become a signature itemand I would have never thought
I'm going to hang my hat on asalad, but it's something that's
stood the test of time for thelast 10 years.
Wow.
And there's items that again,giant Eagle's famous for the
chicken right.
Everybody knows we have friedchicken.
That's what we do and that's agreat part of our business.
But I had no, that's not.
Chantal (08:02):
That was generations before me, that's before you
came, yeah.
Ben (08:06):
So so that item we also we pride ourselves on the store
made.
Now, you know, with with the,the people in the store.
A lot of my job is to startwith the idea and then figure
out a way that 24 locations canmake it.
And make it the same.
Make it the same and we have acommissary and we do some of
(08:27):
that.
But a lot of what MarketDistrict prides itself on is the
in-house experience of we makeit here.
You know, we make it fresh,take it home and enjoy it.
So we have to build items andwe kind of start with a funnel,
the top of the idea.
Here's all the ideas thattrickle down, and then we have
to say is the quality going towork?
And then we would say the teammember, are they going to be
able to make this and replicatethis without too many steps, too
many ingredients?
Not because we're kind ofdumbing it down more or less,
(08:47):
because we just want it veryconsistent.
Doug (08:49):
Right, can I ask just a couple that are coming on the
top of my head like meatloaf?
Is that made in the commissaryor in-house in the store that?
Ben (08:58):
was made in stores for a long time.
We sent that out to amanufacturer to be made, but now
we're bringing it back fromMarket District.
Actually, that just came up acouple weeks ago.
Doug (09:07):
That's so funny.
Ben (09:07):
As we saw that our guests are reacting at Market District
to get that back in store.
Yeah, so that is coming out.
We do items like we roast ourown turkeys, right, and we fry
the chicken and we do a lot ofour meals.
A lot of those components aremade in, but there is a balance
of stuff that our commissarywill make or components that
we'll assemble.
So it's that balance you haveto find.
It'd be great to makeeverything from scratch 100%.
(09:30):
It's just not really realisticnowadays with the volumes that
we do and the workload that thestores have.
Doug (09:38):
Do you have any idea how many pounds tons of food that
you or your team are helping tocreate that are moving out?
Ben (09:46):
It's a lot.
It depends on the store.
But we have, like, our Robinson, Market Districts one of our
biggest movers?
Yeah, that's right down theroad.
That's a big, big mover ofstuff.
I couldn't put a number to it,honestly.
But some stores also, they havethese special accounts with
either corporate partners orsports teams, collegiate and
professional.
So some of those stores do waymore volume because they have
(10:07):
these different accounts thatthey're cooking for, are you?
Doug (10:11):
ever tasked with designing something more custom to that
group, like a corporation orsports team.
Ben (10:18):
Yes, that usually actually does come up to me, so the
stores will handle a lot of theday-to-day when there's a bigger
account.
We just had a university comeup to us and ask to do meals for
their sports teams for afterpost-game meals.
So we've done a couple of theirteams that started with just
their soccer teams and moved onto football and moved into
volleyball and softball.
So we're actually partneringwith them to try to find a
(10:40):
nutritious, delicious meal thatworks for them.
So that would be some of mytask in my jobs.
Which is kind of the fun partis designing an item that we're
really selling to a veryspecific audience or customer.
Doug (10:52):
Oh, that's incredible.
I did have another little sidequestion Are you allowed to tell
us where is the commissary?
There's a commissary somewherein the world, right?
Ben (11:00):
Yeah, it's in Freedom Road in Cranberry.
It's in Cranberry.
It's in Cranberry.
Yeah, we call it Fresh FoodManufacturing.
We've operated that for 10 to15 years and they cook all of
the market district soups.
They cook our pastas, they cooksome of our chicken.
They do a lot of components forus for what you'll find in
Giant Eagle and Market District.
I work with those guys up thereand we design and develop food
(11:20):
and we're working on a couple ofnew things with them now.
So that is a consistent, justanother tool in your pocket, and
it's a way for you to controlall of that in-house Correct?
In-house and we control thequality, we make sure everybody
gets it, and that's kind of.
One of Market District's goalswas to be the innovator for food
within Giant Eagle, and thenGiant Eagle is adapting some of
(11:41):
those pieces that we find to besuccessful.
So we're kind of like theplayground, the testing ground,
if you will, yes, but then kindof, if it works, let's see how
we can spread it out to the restof our guests.
Doug (11:50):
Yeah, we talked with your colleague, Paul Abbott about
just what they bring into MarketDistrict and right away.
It already is the leader inlocal new and you're doing the
same thing in that sort ofprepared food, fresh food zone
that you're making in-house.
Ben (12:04):
Yeah, one of our goals is to kind of be ahead of the curve
or at the top of it, introducethose items and see how they
work, and if it takes, thengreat, let's find a way to
spread it.
If not, that's okay.
Again, you can't always makeeverything that everybody's
going to like too.
Everybody's palates are sounique and different, and it's
also the audience you're playingto.
(12:24):
Are they looking for a familyto feed?
Is it somebody who needs aquick grab a bite for lunch?
Is it somebody that wants hotfood because they're going out?
So again, it is a work inprogress.
It is consistent.
We're trying to find the answer.
There's not a silver bulletthere.
That's like a one-size-fits-allwhere we can please everybody
(12:45):
all the time and food tastes.
Doug (12:47):
preferences are changing, Even lifestyle dynamics.
The family, work and lifebalance is always changing.
I think if we stopped, you'd beout of a job.
Ben (12:56):
Right Evolution is the way forward, and so we've tried to
adapt and we have our valuecustomers who are really looking
for a great deal, and then wehave our people that really just
they don't really are consciousof price.
Doug (13:10):
And they just want.
Ben (13:11):
I want a great food because I'm willing to pay for that.
Doug (13:13):
That's interesting, yeah, different, I guess customer
demographics there right in playCorrect.
They don't care so much aboutwhat it costs, they just want
something.
That is kind of amazing.
Knock their socks off.
Ben (13:24):
Yeah, they just want a great food experience, just like
if you go out to a restaurant,the food can be great, but I
find it's the entire experienceis what goes through it.
It's it's the were you, wereyou happy to be there?
Were you just rushing through?
Were you with the friends orfamily that you wanted to be
with?
You know, was the service great, the timing, all that kind of
goes into a great experience andthat's something we try to do
at Market District.
(13:44):
It's to have the great food,but I want you to have a clean
store, great shopping experience.
That's how you should kind oftreat everything you do is.
The end goal is to come homeand have food Right.
No-transcript, I had a greatday.
Doug (14:00):
It shouldn't be drudgery going to that store.
It should feel like a greatexperience as well.
Ben (14:05):
Correct and a lot of people like to shop online and use
Curbside Express and all thatkind of stuff to maybe skip that
.
But I find that I still love togo into different markets and
stores Me too and be hands-onyeah, and touch my pepper and
you know and look at the shelvesand see the new products and
get the smells and the feels andthe sounds.
That's what I used to do incollege.
(14:26):
Is for fun is that before I wasworking at Giant Eagle is, I
was going into grocery storesand just exploring, like start
with the ad, see what's on sale,because I was on a budget and
then just go and just check outall this cool stuff.
And that's really where Ihonestly fell in love with the
grocery.
It's very weird to say it'slike I love being in grocery
stores but like one of myfavorite parts is going
different states or areas andjust checking out what they have
(14:48):
to do.
Doug (14:48):
And seeing what's different or new or inspiring.
Ben (14:53):
Not even like getting ideas sometimes, it's just this.
They did a great job here LikeI applaud them.
Doug (14:57):
Yeah, ben, you're leading me to my next question.
Where did a career in foodstart for you?
Ben (15:06):
Actually it started at home at like four or five.
I was making food because myparents they cook a couple
dishes, like four or five dishesreally.
Well, right, and so I startedmaking like crudités, platters
and spaghetti and kind of thevery easy things from a very
young age.
Wow, that really just inspiredme and I knew I think it was
like first, first grade, and itwas like what do you want to be
when you grow up?
And it was like chef, but Iremember I spelled it wrong, so
(15:28):
it said chief.
I remember that and so fromthere I just was around food all
the time.
And then Food Network becamepopular in the 2000s and did a
mom and pop restaurant, workedat Giant Eagle for a stint in
college, just as like a meatapprentice, and I went to
Johnson Wells University inRhode Island.
Okay, and I have a degree inculinary nutrition.
(15:49):
You do so from there.
Yeah, that was my backgroundand I also I knew I wanted to
work within food, but notnecessarily in restaurants,
because I came up doing that.
And then I found a corporationthat you know I fell in love
with and that's where I am now.
Doug (16:05):
That journey resonates with me.
I never really had the bigdesire to work in restaurants.
I did a little bit ofinstitutional restaurant work in
college, but I went fornutrition because I wasn't
really sure, and now I do this.
Ben (16:16):
You know, but that's I like .
The a lot of people that I workwith are different careers.
They went for marketing and nowthey run this.
And they went for food sciencebut now they're writing books.
There's a lot of that.
That just because you startedthat way doesn't mean you can't
adapt and find your passion inlife.
Doug (16:29):
That's right.
Ben (16:30):
I just luckily I found mine very early and it's been very
beneficial.
Doug (16:33):
It's very rare.
You're one of the few peopleI've talked to that knew from
such a young age that chef wouldbe somewhere in the future.
Ben (16:45):
I do want to take just a quick step back.
Did I hear the term meatapprentice?
Yeah, it was.
It was a what do you call it?
Like butcher in training?
Yeah, but it wasn't.
I didn't really do theapprenticeship, it was like a
service clerk.
I packed meat and made somestuff.
I was working for my uncle atan independent Giant Eagle a
couple of summers and and itwas- like I wasn't allowed to
use the knives, but I wasallowed to do all the other
stuff, yeah.
So I kind of did the cleanup andkind of watching all that.
(17:06):
So that was really my firstventure with Giant Eagle.
Oh wow, hi, this is Ben D'Amicowith Market District and you're
listening to the PittsburghDish.
Doug (17:15):
You've been in your career path for so long in such a
lucky way, so many folks don'tfigure it out.
I'm sure along the way therehave been some other friends or
mentors that you've met.
Is there anyone locally thathas really helped you along the
way?
Ben (17:28):
Well, that's the great thing, I think, is working for a
larger company.
You do run into so many peopleand so many experience and we've
had a lot of people from thekind of the start of their
careers to the middle or the endof their careers come through.
So I've worked with a lot ofpeople and I have a lot of great
mentors.
A lot of people have comethrough that have now owned
their own businesses or havekind of have evolved, and just a
(17:52):
couple I know you've had EricWhite on your podcast- oh,
that's right.
Doug (17:54):
Pittsburgh.
Ben (17:55):
Dumplings.
Yeah, and so him and I worktogether at.
Market District Pete Tolman,who owns.
Ironborn Pizza yeah him and Iwork together, and then Mark
Larimer, who owns Trust Brewing.
Again, these are all peoplethat have we spent a lot of time
together and they went off andkind of did their own thing.
They got some experience andthey all run successful
businesses in and aroundPittsburgh.
So that's the connection withmy Pittsburgh group.
(18:18):
But one of the things thatworking is we have a lot of
great chefs and people in thestores.
Some of those people that havecome from restaurants are like
kind of best in class in myopinion, yes, that they don't
always get the credit or thecall outs that they deserve
because they're behind thescenes making all this stuff
happen, right.
So there are some big likeworkhorses and people that
(18:38):
inspire me every day that justlike wake up, put their boots on
, and some of these stores aredoing really, really big
business and these people arerunning teams of you know 30, 50
people.
They're running like kind ofwhat full restaurants would do
and you're getting covered bythe company, so the individual
kind of dissolves or meshes inthere.
Doug (18:55):
Yeah, that spotlight's just not there for that one
person, correct.
Ben (18:58):
And we have so many great people that you couldn't
highlight them all.
But that connection is, I thinkthere's a lot of great people
in the stores and that's one ofthe differentiators that I found
.
Working is.
One of the things I love goingto work for is the conversations
with the people, and they're invarious positions.
Some are, you know, dishwashersand porters and some are the
executive chefs.
So it's that wide range ofkitchen culture that you find
(19:20):
and I love to go to work everyday because of those people.
Doug (19:23):
Do you personally have a team that work under you?
Ben (19:26):
No, I've actually never had a team.
I've been solo for my entirecareer.
Doug (19:30):
You're just this creative at the top.
Ben (19:33):
I'm just there, yeah, but we find inspiration from the
store.
So again, they give ussuggestions, recommendations all
the time, and again there'sreally two or three of us that
I've worked with over the yearsthat we just talk and ideas are
very organic.
It's that's what I find is thebest ideas somebody thinks of is
like I think we could sell that.
I think that'd be a great item,where if it's forced on you,
(19:54):
sometimes it's gonna, it'sharder to do.
I think it's easier when it's alittle more kind of that aha
moment.
It feels genuine, yes, yes.
It feels like I'm not justtrying to sell something to make
money, I'm trying to makesomebody's lives better by
feeding them, or like I thinkthat's a delicious item.
More people should experienceand try this.
Doug (20:12):
I love that I did notice.
Coming back to some of yourcolleagues, that maybe do get a
spotlight Chef Crystal I've metCrystal Baldwin on KDKA, but
before that you did a lot ofKDKA work.
Is that right?
That is correct.
Ben (20:26):
Chef Crystal and I worked together at Market District in
the South Hills for a long time,and I did PTL for almost 10
years.
Oh my goodness, I did almost100 episodes with Christine
Sorensen and then.
Doug (20:39):
Heather.
Ben (20:39):
Abraham came and took over and Crystal and I were kind of
co-partners we would do everyother month or every other week.
And then my son was born andCOVID hit like the same time and
I kind of backed away from itand Crystal has taken over and
does a great job there.
So that was a great experiencebecause I really didn't do
anything with TV and I lovethose segments and I love
(20:59):
working with KDKA and PittsburghToday Live and that was a very
unique experience to go in.
You cook for six to sevenminutes, you get to showcase
your wares.
I also had full creativecontrol when I was doing it,
which was great.
So it would be.
What do you want to make today?
What are we doing?
What recipe are we sharing?
So I always made items thatwere very unique for TV.
It wasn't trying to promote orpush anything.
It was more about theentertainment value of what do I
(21:21):
think the audience wants to seehere and what can you know
Heather, christine and I kind oftalk about and make it fun and
entertaining.
Doug (21:27):
I love that I'm right there with you.
I've only been coming up on twoyears and I know the energy it
takes to go on there and doeverything within that.
You said six to seven minutes.
I'm usually thinking five.
They tell me go for four and ahalf, so I might have stretched
my time in the past because theyusually do the wrap it up kind
(21:48):
of.
Ben (21:48):
And.
I'm like, so I try to cut itclose, but I always had so much
to say, yeah.
Doug (21:53):
But back to your point.
I think it's a way of inspiringpeople at home to try something
new.
For me, I want to teach themmaybe a new technique or
something, even with a commoningredient, like apples or
whatever, or introduce them tosomething they maybe have never
heard of, like halloumi cheese,and you're just kind of planting
a new idea and with thatthey're probably going to go to
(22:14):
Market District and buy thatproduct and try it.
Ben (22:17):
Sometimes it's the simple ingredients.
If you start with greatingredients, you can't introduce
a recipe with 10 new things tosomebody.
They're not going to understandit, they're going to be a
little scared.
So if you start with one or two, really if you just have a
great ingredient, whether it'sfresh or local or just something
that's up and coming, that'ssometimes the spark of
inspiration and then you letkind of the audience, the guests
(22:39):
, grow and make their owninterpretations.
Doug (22:41):
That's right.
Ben (22:41):
Research.
Yes, you're not forcing it down, I mean just more or less
introducing it to them and say,hey, if you, if you think about
it, maybe try this, pick this upsometime, support this company,
and if they love it, and thenmaybe there's something else,
then you build that trust inthat relationship and then they
look at you as the food expertand then you can say, well, you
like this one to try this nextone.
So it leads them down thisjourney and this exploration of
(23:01):
food, which again, is one of ourkind of core values, perfect.
Doug (23:06):
Well, since we were talking that, you did move away
from PTL and you've been doingall of this other great work at
Market District, there are a fewother things maybe coming up,
even in the near term thatyou're doing.
When I talked with HeatherAbraham on this show recently,
we talked a little bit aboutBest Buddies and do I understand
you're doing that this year?
Ben (23:24):
Yes, Best Buddies is a great program that it's now my
second year working with them.
Best Buddies is a great programthat it's now my second year
working with them.
So Best Buddies is a globalorganization that works with
individuals with IDD, which isintellectual and developmental
disabilities, and they have alarge Pittsburgh chapter here
and there's an event that I'mparticularly doing it's called
(23:47):
Taste Buds, yes, which happenson December 9th down at the
convention center, david LLawrence Convention Center.
Doug (23:52):
And we should say it's dozens of chefs, 35 chefs and
restaurants, yeah, throughoutthe city.
It's not a market district onlything.
I looked at the list thismorning before you came over and
it's just a ton of greatrestaurants.
You guys and describe to thelisteners how it works, you get
paired up with anotherindividual as your sous chef.
Is that right, correct?
Ben (24:12):
So my sous chef is Tori and she is my buddy and she is very
, very energetic and we balanceourselves out very, very well.
So we spend five to sixsessions a season and she'll
come up at the market districtand we'll spend time in the
cooking school and we'll work onour recipe, and then we'll also
just work on skills and we'lljust have a good time with food.
(24:35):
We one of our favorite thingsis we always love to eat sushi
for lunch.
We always try to taste some newfoods, whether it's something
new or exotic or a limitedrelease or something just we
haven't been exposed to her or I, and so really it's just
spending time with each otherand being a friend.
Doug (24:50):
And so I just want to jump in here.
This isn't just about this onenight called Taste Buds.
You've been working with yourbuddy throughout this whole year
, really developing arelationship with this person
and exposing them to your world,to new foods, and giving them
some skills to take along theway, right.
Ben (25:09):
Correct.
It's not a one and done.
It's not just, hey, you're apartner to promote your
restaurant or your food facility.
It is to build a relationshipand an experience that hopefully
lasts for a long time.
And one of the great thingswhen I was introduced to Best
Buddies is the other restaurantsthere.
I was kind of surprised.
I really didn't realize thatmost of these really nice
restaurants all aroundPittsburgh were doing this.
(25:31):
And the first time we went, uh,they said how many people are
new?
And you know I raised my handand then it was um, people have
been here five years and youknow a dozen raise their hand
and have you been here 10 to 15years?
And there was a lot that I waslike, wow, these restaurants
have been doing this for a longtime with, uh, either the the
the same buddy for the most part, that they've built this
relationship with, and some havebecome like family, and it's
(25:52):
not just spending time in thekitchen, it's also become let's
go and hang out or let's go toan event or something else.
So that's what they encourageis more or less a buddy for life
.
Yeah, that's beyond just thisTaste Buds event.
How special.
Doug (26:07):
And how many years have you been participating?
Ben (26:09):
Two Okay, this will be my second year.
And yeah, tori and I just metlast week to kind of come up
with our recipe for this year'sevent.
Doug (26:16):
And you can't reveal it yet, right?
Ben (26:17):
Oh, I can, you can, yeah.
So last year we did Tori's kindof favorite.
So she liked Chinese cuisine,she liked the color purple, so
we built something that was kindof based off of that.
It's a small plate andappetizer.
This year she just came backwith her family from Italy and
Greece.
Chris (26:35):
Oh.
Ben (26:39):
And we talked about both being Italian and making pasta
and doing some other stuff.
So we are doing a pasta dishwith a harissa marinara, a
arugula walnut pesto and alemon-whipped ricotta.
That sounds amazing.
So, it was something colorful,something that Tori and I
developed together, hand in hand, and something that inspired
just something she wanted to do.
So that's where I take theinspiration from her.
Doug (27:02):
I can't wait.
Let's remind listeners againthis is Taste Buds.
It's the event by Best Buddies.
It's at the David L LawrenceConvention Center and coming up
on December 9th.
Correct, All right.
Ben (27:15):
And you can get tickets on bestbuddies.
org and just search Best Buddiesand then TasteBuds Pittsburgh
and you'll be able to find theinformation.
Doug (27:22):
Thank you so much.
Ben Ben, you mentioned you'reItalian.
Did you grow up in Pittsburgh?
Ben (27:28):
Yeah, I'm from Monongahela, okay, yeah, so I currently live
in 84, and I've been here myentire life, except for the four
years I went to Rhode Island tolive.
So I'm Pittsburgh-adjacent bornand raised, but you know, you
tell if you're anywhere outsideof the city, you say you're from
Pittsburgh.
So I've always wanted to comeback here and live and work and
that's something that drew mewas whether it was the sports
(27:49):
teams or the food or just thefriends and family around here.
I just always, I never, wantedto be anywhere else.
Doug (27:55):
So, coming from an Italian family, you said that you
started cooking at like four orfive, six.
Are there any other like familydishes that you continue to
make, that you hold dear?
Ben (28:04):
Yes, so, coming from a large Italian and Slovak family,
we had very, very largegatherings and family reunions.
And so, as time went by, a lotof those generational people
that kept the kind of the oldworld traditions they've died
off, they've moved away.
So I found that there's notmany holders of traditions left.
And from a younger generation,everybody kind of wants to
(28:26):
either do their own thing or ah,these people aren't here, let's
do something different.
But he kind of wants to eitherdo their own thing or, ah, these
people aren't here, let's dosomething different.
And I have found it importantfor some of those to keep those
traditions going, whether it'sstill a small group, but it's
kind of like you're keepingtheir memory alive.
So the big one we do is theFeast of the Seven Fishes.
Oh, yes, that used to be myfavorite one growing up and it
(28:51):
was very traditional with theeel and the calamari and the
smelts and all of those dishes.
And as it time evolved, some ofthose we've stopped doing, not
because I I don't want to makethem, but nobody eats bacala
anymore and in our family justmy dad's the only one that'll do
it.
But everybody will eat thecalamari, so we'll stew the
calamari and that's my auntrose's old recipe, that that I
took from that.
So I try to keep the memoryalive and the spirit of the
items.
We still do no meat, I staystrict to that and everybody's
(29:15):
like well, you can have ham andyou can do this.
No, no, no, no.
That's the challenge and theimportant part and the spirit of
the tradition.
So that is by far my favoritefamily tradition that I kind of
take as the flame holder yeah,you take the lead.
Yeah, and I want to keep doingthat forever.
It doesn't happen on ChristmasEve anymore.
(29:36):
It hasn't because of trying toget all the timing together, but
I've introduced it to myin-laws and they come and it's
become something that we'regoing to keep doing forever.
Doug (29:44):
Keep doing it.
You know I did have one morefamily question.
You said you have a son and Idid want to ask a question
regarding your wife.
Could you tell our listenersabout Harvey's Hamburgers?
Ben (29:59):
That's really good.
So my son is almost five and mywife would tell him stories at
bedtime.
Yeah, stories at bedtime andshe had many, many stories and
one was called Harvey'sHamburgers and it was about a
dinosaur who wanted to open afood truck.
With this food truck, he washaving a hard time to get the
(30:22):
other dinosaurs to buy into it,and so it kind of tells the
story of sharing food andacceptance and trying something
different, and so this was astory that my wife told my son
that she recently had published.
Yeah yeah, it just launched alittle bit a month ago and it's
available pretty much everywherebooks are sold On Amazon
(30:43):
Harvey's Hamburgers so peoplecan look that up.
Doug (30:45):
Great childhood story, but probably lessons for adults in
there too.
All right, ben, we're comingtowards the end of our time.
I always like to give folks amoment to plug anything that
they'd like folks to find orfollow.
If you wanted folks to followmore about what you're doing,
where would you point themtowards?
Ben (31:06):
So marketdistrict.
com is kind of our landing pagefor all things Market District.
Honestly, I'm in the storesmost of the time, so just get
out there.
You can come see me every oncein a while, just say hello, I
don't know, I just want peopleto get out there and explore.
I don't have a lot of.
I don't do my own Instagram.
Doug (31:22):
You're not doing Instagram , I don't do my own social
medias.
Ben (31:25):
I really I put 110% of my effort into what I do at work
and what I do with Best Buddiesand the other charitable
organizations I work with.
I don't self-promote.
I want to promote who I workwith and people and kind of
shine a light on everybody else.
I've never been outed for theglory or the public view.
(31:45):
It's really all the people thatmake every day happen, the
everyday heroes.
You're trying to shine thatspotlight on everybody else.
Everybody should get somecredit for all the hard work
they do, because there's so manyhardworking, great people out
there that are just kicking buttevery day.
Doug (31:58):
Well, let's do this.
So definitely.
They can probably find some ofyour work or your teammates work
at Market District on Instagramand if they're interested in
finding out more about BestBuddies, as we said, it's
bestbuddiesorg.
Yes, I always have one finalquestion for our guests.
The name of the show is thePittsburgh Dish.
What's one of the best dishesyou've eaten this past week?
Ben (32:24):
This past week.
Oh wow, okay, it was cold inthe morning, it's warm in the
evening.
So as soon as I know that, Iknow it's soup season.
So I'm going to say it's one ofthe soups I've made and this is
going to sound very mundane,but it was a chili and it was a
chicken noodle soup withoutchicken.
(32:45):
Oh, I mean, it was a chickenbroth.
Those I made them and Inormally don't get super excited
about soup, but I was like thisis really good.
My wife had some last night.
She said this is really thebest soup she made.
So I think that was probablysimple ingredients that just
made well, that I'm going to sayit was the chili and the
chickenless chicken noodle soupI made this week that were my
(33:06):
best dishes Best bites this weekChickenless chicken soup, you
might be onto something new.
I didn't have chicken in thehouse, it was a necessity.
Well, this is it, this is whatchefs do?
Doug (33:15):
You figure it out and you do what you can.
Chef Ben D'Amico, thank you somuch for being on The Pittsburgh
Dish.
Thank you Up next.
If you're looking to expandyour flavors and spice with your
next dining adventure, Chantaland Alex Huff have just the
place.
Hey everybody, we're joined byAlex and Chantal Huff of the
(33:36):
Hungry Huffs.
I've been wondering have youtried a new restaurant lately
that really kind of blew youaway?
Chantal (33:45):
We have.
Yeah, we just went to Reva lastnight.
Oh, you know, I have heard ofReva, it's over in East Liberty
right.
Yes, it's a modern Indiancuisine and it might be my
favorite Indian in Pittsburgh.
Doug (33:57):
Wow.
So, Alex, why don't we startwith you?
What did you guys have?
Alex (34:02):
So we had the chicken biryani, the jalfrezi, we had
the achari paneer, we had.
What else did we have?
We had the butter chicken aswell as the garlic, naan and
roti.
So quite a bit of food.
Chantal (34:14):
Yeah, we overordered.
Doug (34:15):
The full spread.
Yeah, so tell me a little bitabout the experience and the
bites, what really stood out foryou?
Chantal (34:23):
Well, they had a sweet potato chaat, which was amazing.
Such a good choice.
I don't think I've ever hadsweet potato in a chop before,
and it was so refreshing.
It was presented beautifully.
Couldn't recommend that more.
They have a couple of options.
I'm excited to go back to trytheir Punjabi samosa as well, so
definitely don't skip on theappetizers there.
Doug (34:41):
I would say Can I just interject too?
I have heard of a chop beingkind of referred to as like an
Indian snack.
Chantal (34:49):
Yes, Is that?
Doug (34:50):
right yes, app that right yes.
Appetizer, perfect appetizer.
Chantal (34:52):
Absolutely Super refreshing too for the summer.
Chris (34:56):
And after the chicken, biryani was definitely the best
we've had in Pittsburgh, like itwas super spicy, and one thing
that I liked was at Reva wasyou're able to choose your spice
level, so we're able to geteverything like super hot, super
spicy and everything was likebeyond flavorful.
Doug (35:09):
So you guys like spice.
Alex (35:10):
Yes.
Doug (35:11):
All right.
So do you guys know what thehours are right now?
Alex (35:15):
Yeah, so I think they're open every day, starting at 11
am, so all seven days a week,which is, you know, nice,
considering quite a bit ofplaces are closed on Mondays and
they have great things, I think, for their lunch menu, like
cutty rolls and you knowdifferent options that are
perfect for lunch.
Doug (35:29):
Wonderful Yep Reva over in East Liberty.
Thank you both so much.
Thank you for having us.
You can follow Chantal and Alexon Instagram at Hungry Huffs.
I recently sat down for a chatwith Chris Fenimore of WQED and
we got to talking about holidaycooking of WQED.
(35:52):
And we got to talking aboutholiday cooking.
When I asked him if he had anytips or tricks, he shared this
update on a recipe.
Chris (35:55):
When he does the Feast of the Seven Fishes, let's have a
listen, it's just not theholiday, especially, you know,
surrounding the concept of theFeast of the Seven Fishes.
Oh yes, you all do, you all dothat yeah, yeah, unless we have
bacala and this is the salteddried yes, but here's the tip
(36:16):
okay, when, when I was growingup, my grandmother would buy the
bacala, they came in likesheets, yes, and she would soak
them for three or four days inthe basement, changing the water
constantly to get the salt outof it.
My father.
(36:37):
He looked at that.
He was amazed.
He said it looks like anironing board.
Now we're going to cook and eatthat.
It really did not look edible,no, and it smelled horrendous.
Oh my, yes, you know there arepeople who you know they have
trout and they go.
This is fishy, you know.
Well, they don't know whatthey're talking about.
Doug (36:57):
They don't know bacala.
Chris (36:57):
They don't know bacala.
If they think that trout isfishy, when she made it he would
eat the potatoes that were init and he'd leave the bacala
behind, because it was was, eventhough it was thought out and
um prepared prepared it wasstill sort of chewy and dense
(37:19):
I'm sure it changes the texture.
Doug (37:21):
It's almost jerkied.
Chris (37:22):
Yeah exactly yeah, so one time I was trying to make the
feast of the seven fishes and Iwas running out of time and
dishes and I thought I'll makethe baklava.
Then I thought you don't havethree days to do that, so I just
got some fresh cod.
I made the recipe.
It was fabulous.
(37:43):
Even my dad would have lovedthis.
Yeah, and all you get is acouple of loins of cod and cut
it up into three-inch pieces andit was perfect tender.
The fish just flakes apart.
Of course, you know it hasolives and it has celery and it
(38:04):
has a lot of potatoes andtomatoes and that's pretty much
it.
It's just a big stew.
Doug (38:11):
So if you are substituting with the cod, would you start
the whole dish and kind of keepthe cod back till the potatoes
were close to being done, orwould you put them?
Chris (38:21):
in.
I just put them in.
It might help the cod, althoughI got to say it was still great
.
It was still great, and nowthat's the only way I make it.
I never buy the bakala anymore.
Swap it for cod.
Swapped it for cod?
Well, because it is cod, it is,it's just fresh.
Doug (38:37):
It's salt yeah.
Chris (38:38):
Instead of salted, it's just fresh.
Doug (38:40):
What a great tip yeah.
Chris (38:41):
So that's what, that would be my tip for the holiday.
Doug (38:44):
Chris.
Thanks so much and happyholidays.
Happy holidays, happy holidays.
If you have a recipe, share itwith us.
Just go to our website at www.
pittsburghdish.
com and look for our Share aRecipe form.
That's our show for this week.
We'd like to thank all of ourguests and contributors, and to
(39:04):
Kevin Solecki of CarnegieAccordion Company for providing
the music to our show.
We'll be back again next weekwith another fresh episode.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to he Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, doug Howman.
What does it take to be thecreative chef of a large-format
grocery chain?
We get the inside scoop fromthis week's guest.
Looking to shake up someflavors with your next
restaurant, visit Chantal andAlex Huff, take us to Reva
(00:23):
modern Indian cuisine.
And if you're a fan of seafoodor your family celebrates the
Feast of the Seven Fishes, ourfriend Chris Fenimore shares a
tip to update one of his familyrecipes.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
Well, thank you so much forcoming over and for being on the
show.
(00:43):
Well, thank you so much forcoming over and for being on the
show.
Would you introduce yourselfand what you have going on right
now in the world of food?
Ben (00:51):
Sure, I'm Ben D'Amico.
I'm the executive developmentchef for Giant Eagle, focusing
on the market district stores,and as far as what I have going
on with food, it's very vast.
Every day is somethingdifferent and I don't know.
I'm exploring all sorts ofactivities and events and food
every single day.
Doug (01:09):
I can't imagine.
You know we've talked to a lotof cooks and chefs on the show
before but not a lot of folksthat work in a huge you know
everyday grocery marketsituation.
I can imagine it's verydifferent than the restaurant
situation.
Ben (01:25):
It is very different than restaurants, but in some ways
it's the same.
Okay, so I grew up inrestaurants, came up through
them, and I've been working atGiant Eagle, focused on Market
District, for 16 years almost 17years.
And there are elements ofrestaurant in there with the
large corporation.
So you have kind of the best ofboth worlds, is you have a lot
of focused food efforts going on, with the power of a huge
(01:49):
corporation kind of to make someof that happen.
So it's an interesting balanceI find.
Doug (01:54):
So been with Market District Giant Eagle for over 16
years.
Yes, always in a chef capacity.
Ben (02:01):
Always, yeah, actually, as a development chef.
I started as an intern, okay,and I worked my way up through.
So I've always been behind thescenes, focused on the prepared
foods areas, but I've worked inall the different other fresh
departments.
So it's mostly the hot and thecold meals you see at Market
District.
I've had my hands in probably99% of those items, oh wow.
Doug (02:23):
Well, I first actually noticed you more recently
because you were working with myneighbor, Ana Ana Eats
Pittsburgh and you did a flightsand bites menu with some of her
favorite foods, which I know isThai.
You also snuck in somestrawberry jello pretzel salad.
I imagine flights and bites isjust one of many
responsibilities.
Ben (02:40):
That is correct.
That's one of the projects Iget to work on and I actually
design the menu and the conceptfor each of those.
So we do it's going to be oncea month.
It's the third Friday of everymonth and the Ana was a
collaboration we did where wehave a partnership with her and
we said, hey, let's actually trysomething here.
So that was the first time weactually built a menu specific
for her and she always said hermom's best dessert was the
(03:03):
strawberry pretzel salad, so itwas all her favorite Thai foods
along with that.
That was our firstcollaboration we did.
Doug (03:09):
It was great, yeah, that's where we met.
I was there.
Ben (03:12):
That's right.
That's one of the kind of sideprojects I do.
Most of my work is probablylike 50% on the computer, 50% in
the kitchens and we have 24locations at Market District.
So I'm doing everything fromkind of training and setup and
designing the food and the itemsto the execution and items like
flights and bites or our tasteof the holidays events or kind
(03:33):
of that in-store.
So I get the best of bothworlds with the corporate side
and then the kind of the storeside to do those experience
things.
Doug (03:41):
While you're leading me into my next question, I sort of
wanted to ask what is a day inthe life of a corporate chef for
a large grocery store chain?
I don't know where to start,yeah.
Ben (03:54):
Again, it can be very vast, because you're talking about a
grocery store with all sorts ofyou know, thousands and
thousands of items, and evenwithin prepared food.
Sometimes we're selling up to500 different items within those
different stores, in preparedfoods, in the prepared foods yes
, and just to clarify too,you're responsible for all of
the market districts, all 24market districts.
I do some with the Giant Eagle,but most of my focus has been
(04:14):
with market district and it's avery small team, there's three
of us.
Really.
That focus and it's interestinghow the ideas come up is I
usually get a text or a phonecall from my coworker, lisa, and
it's usually starts off workhours and it's like hey, I saw
this on Instagram, I saw thisitem or this is coming up in a
trend and we'll kind of just say, hey, let's look it up and come
up with a new idea.
But but we're focused on a lotof cold.
(04:34):
I'd say probably 90% of what wesell is is cold items.
Okay, so the package, take mealsyou're kind of single
ingredients, your salads andsandwiches, and then we'll kind
of take some different ethnicroots with here's your Italian
(04:56):
set, your kind of Latin Americanset, and we'll make decisions
based on those groupings as towhere we think the consumers,
our guests, would want, wouldwant to purchase something,
where the need is, of course,and then we'll we'll come up and
we'll do some testing andreally just that's the beautiful
part of my job is playing withfood and really just sharing
that with other people andtrying to find something that's
(05:16):
successful.
And I'll tell you, doug, wehave a lot of items that do not
work.
We have a lot of again, youcan't always hit home runs, but
we have a kind of a concept iskind of fail fast, yeah.
So let's try it.
See how the guests react.
If they love it, great.
If they don't, that's okay.
Let's go on to the next thing.
(05:43):
I find a lot of times, chefs arevery sensitive.
We're very art, artistic insteadof on people with a taste, with
an experience, and that's kindof something in the back of our
heads when we develop food istrying to satisfy those people.
So it's again you're trying tomake money, but then you're also
trying to make a memory or anexperience or have something
Somebody's like I want to buy.
(06:03):
That again, that was great, itsolved the need and that's
honestly like what drives ourpassion to like keep doing stuff
and keep introducing new items.
Doug (06:12):
I'm sure that the emotional side of that
creativity is a little funky,because I came from the sales
world before I did all thisstuff and when you say fail fast
, it's like we would say go forthe no, let's keep trying some
stuff and get all the no's so weget those yeses.
Those people that want to comeback and do more, buy more,
experience, more.
I'm sure there's many foodsthat you want to create and
(06:34):
maybe they just don't translatewell to like a takeaway, grab
and go.
Maybe they get soggy, butthey're supposed to be crisp, is
that?
Ben (06:42):
A hundred percent Nail on the head.
Yeah, a lot of food it goesthrough.
If I can make it and I make adish and it's beautiful, it
doesn't mean it's going to holdor be refrigerated for a couple
of days without just something'sgoing to go wrong with it or
you're not going to have thegreat quality experience.
So we have to do shelf lifetesting and quality testing just
to make sure that thatexperience from day one to day
(07:04):
five for the guest is going tobe the same.
So whether you're coming atnine o'clock in the morning or
five o'clock in the evening, Iwant the guests to have the same
experience.
Doug (07:13):
When you're talking about the dishes that have been
successful, can you think of acouple dishes that really stand
out in your head and tell us alittle bit about them?
Ben (07:26):
Yeah, I think our salads we do a lot of grab and go salads
and years ago these werenon-existent and we did an item
where let's make something fresh, let's make it bigger, we make
it in store, let's hit all ofour metrics that we think the
guests would want to do.
And it's a huge salad.
If you ever see them, they'rebig and it's something very
simplistic, but it's one ofthose that we can't make enough
of in our stores.
(07:46):
It's become a signature itemand I would have never thought
I'm going to hang my hat on asalad, but it's something that's
stood the test of time for thelast 10 years.
Wow.
And there's items that again,giant Eagle's famous for the
chicken right.
Everybody knows we have friedchicken.
That's what we do and that's agreat part of our business.
But I had no, that's not.
Chantal (08:02):
That was generations before me, that's before you
came, yeah.
Ben (08:06):
So so that item we also we pride ourselves on the store
made.
Now, you know, with with the,the people in the store.
A lot of my job is to startwith the idea and then figure
out a way that 24 locations canmake it.
And make it the same.
Make it the same and we have acommissary and we do some of
(08:27):
that.
But a lot of what MarketDistrict prides itself on is the
in-house experience of we makeit here.
You know, we make it fresh,take it home and enjoy it.
So we have to build items andwe kind of start with a funnel,
the top of the idea.
Here's all the ideas thattrickle down, and then we have
to say is the quality going towork?
And then we would say the teammember, are they going to be
able to make this and replicatethis without too many steps, too
many ingredients?
Not because we're kind ofdumbing it down more or less,
(08:47):
because we just want it veryconsistent.
Doug (08:49):
Right, can I ask just a couple that are coming on the
top of my head like meatloaf?
Is that made in the commissaryor in-house in the store that?
Ben (08:58):
was made in stores for a long time.
We sent that out to amanufacturer to be made, but now
we're bringing it back fromMarket District.
Actually, that just came up acouple weeks ago.
Doug (09:07):
That's so funny.
Ben (09:07):
As we saw that our guests are reacting at Market District
to get that back in store.
Yeah, so that is coming out.
We do items like we roast ourown turkeys, right, and we fry
the chicken and we do a lot ofour meals.
A lot of those components aremade in, but there is a balance
of stuff that our commissarywill make or components that
we'll assemble.
So it's that balance you haveto find.
It'd be great to makeeverything from scratch 100%.
(09:30):
It's just not really realisticnowadays with the volumes that
we do and the workload that thestores have.
Doug (09:38):
Do you have any idea how many pounds tons of food that
you or your team are helping tocreate that are moving out?
Ben (09:46):
It's a lot.
It depends on the store.
But we have, like, our Robinson, Market Districts one of our
biggest movers?
Yeah, that's right down theroad.
That's a big, big mover ofstuff.
I couldn't put a number to it,honestly.
But some stores also, they havethese special accounts with
either corporate partners orsports teams, collegiate and
professional.
So some of those stores do waymore volume because they have
(10:07):
these different accounts thatthey're cooking for, are you?
Doug (10:11):
ever tasked with designing something more custom to that
group, like a corporation orsports team.
Ben (10:18):
Yes, that usually actually does come up to me, so the
stores will handle a lot of theday-to-day when there's a bigger
account.
We just had a university comeup to us and ask to do meals for
their sports teams for afterpost-game meals.
So we've done a couple of theirteams that started with just
their soccer teams and moved onto football and moved into
volleyball and softball.
So we're actually partneringwith them to try to find a
(10:40):
nutritious, delicious meal thatworks for them.
So that would be some of mytask in my jobs.
Which is kind of the fun partis designing an item that we're
really selling to a veryspecific audience or customer.
Doug (10:52):
Oh, that's incredible.
I did have another little sidequestion Are you allowed to tell
us where is the commissary?
There's a commissary somewherein the world, right?
Ben (11:00):
Yeah, it's in Freedom Road in Cranberry.
It's in Cranberry.
It's in Cranberry.
Yeah, we call it Fresh FoodManufacturing.
We've operated that for 10 to15 years and they cook all of
the market district soups.
They cook our pastas, they cooksome of our chicken.
They do a lot of components forus for what you'll find in
Giant Eagle and Market District.
I work with those guys up thereand we design and develop food
(11:20):
and we're working on a couple ofnew things with them now.
So that is a consistent, justanother tool in your pocket, and
it's a way for you to controlall of that in-house Correct?
In-house and we control thequality, we make sure everybody
gets it, and that's kind of.
One of Market District's goalswas to be the innovator for food
within Giant Eagle, and thenGiant Eagle is adapting some of
(11:41):
those pieces that we find to besuccessful.
So we're kind of like theplayground, the testing ground,
if you will, yes, but then kindof, if it works, let's see how
we can spread it out to the restof our guests.
Doug (11:50):
Yeah, we talked with your colleague, Paul Abbott about
just what they bring into MarketDistrict and right away.
It already is the leader inlocal new and you're doing the
same thing in that sort ofprepared food, fresh food zone
that you're making in-house.
Ben (12:04):
Yeah, one of our goals is to kind of be ahead of the curve
or at the top of it, introducethose items and see how they
work, and if it takes, thengreat, let's find a way to
spread it.
If not, that's okay.
Again, you can't always makeeverything that everybody's
going to like too.
Everybody's palates are sounique and different, and it's
also the audience you're playingto.
(12:24):
Are they looking for a familyto feed?
Is it somebody who needs aquick grab a bite for lunch?
Is it somebody that wants hotfood because they're going out?
So again, it is a work inprogress.
It is consistent.
We're trying to find the answer.
There's not a silver bulletthere.
That's like a one-size-fits-allwhere we can please everybody
(12:45):
all the time and food tastes.
Doug (12:47):
preferences are changing, Even lifestyle dynamics.
The family, work and lifebalance is always changing.
I think if we stopped, you'd beout of a job.
Ben (12:56):
Right Evolution is the way forward, and so we've tried to
adapt and we have our valuecustomers who are really looking
for a great deal, and then wehave our people that really just
they don't really are consciousof price.
Doug (13:10):
And they just want.
Ben (13:11):
I want a great food because I'm willing to pay for that.
Doug (13:13):
That's interesting, yeah, different, I guess customer
demographics there right in playCorrect.
They don't care so much aboutwhat it costs, they just want
something.
That is kind of amazing.
Knock their socks off.
Ben (13:24):
Yeah, they just want a great food experience, just like
if you go out to a restaurant,the food can be great, but I
find it's the entire experienceis what goes through it.
It's it's the were you, wereyou happy to be there?
Were you just rushing through?
Were you with the friends orfamily that you wanted to be
with?
You know, was the service great, the timing, all that kind of
goes into a great experience andthat's something we try to do
at Market District.
(13:44):
It's to have the great food,but I want you to have a clean
store, great shopping experience.
That's how you should kind oftreat everything you do is.
The end goal is to come homeand have food Right.
No-transcript, I had a greatday.
Doug (14:00):
It shouldn't be drudgery going to that store.
It should feel like a greatexperience as well.
Ben (14:05):
Correct and a lot of people like to shop online and use
Curbside Express and all thatkind of stuff to maybe skip that
.
But I find that I still love togo into different markets and
stores Me too and be hands-onyeah, and touch my pepper and
you know and look at the shelvesand see the new products and
get the smells and the feels andthe sounds.
That's what I used to do incollege.
(14:26):
Is for fun is that before I wasworking at Giant Eagle is, I
was going into grocery storesand just exploring, like start
with the ad, see what's on sale,because I was on a budget and
then just go and just check outall this cool stuff.
And that's really where Ihonestly fell in love with the
grocery.
It's very weird to say it'slike I love being in grocery
stores but like one of myfavorite parts is going
different states or areas andjust checking out what they have
(14:48):
to do.
Doug (14:48):
And seeing what's different or new or inspiring.
Ben (14:53):
Not even like getting ideas sometimes, it's just this.
They did a great job here LikeI applaud them.
Doug (14:57):
Yeah, ben, you're leading me to my next question.
Where did a career in foodstart for you?
Ben (15:06):
Actually it started at home at like four or five.
I was making food because myparents they cook a couple
dishes, like four or five dishesreally.
Well, right, and so I startedmaking like crudités, platters
and spaghetti and kind of thevery easy things from a very
young age.
Wow, that really just inspiredme and I knew I think it was
like first, first grade, and itwas like what do you want to be
when you grow up?
And it was like chef, but Iremember I spelled it wrong, so
(15:28):
it said chief.
I remember that and so fromthere I just was around food all
the time.
And then Food Network becamepopular in the 2000s and did a
mom and pop restaurant, workedat Giant Eagle for a stint in
college, just as like a meatapprentice, and I went to
Johnson Wells University inRhode Island.
Okay, and I have a degree inculinary nutrition.
(15:49):
You do so from there.
Yeah, that was my backgroundand I also I knew I wanted to
work within food, but notnecessarily in restaurants,
because I came up doing that.
And then I found a corporationthat you know I fell in love
with and that's where I am now.
Doug (16:05):
That journey resonates with me.
I never really had the bigdesire to work in restaurants.
I did a little bit ofinstitutional restaurant work in
college, but I went fornutrition because I wasn't
really sure, and now I do this.
Ben (16:16):
You know, but that's I like .
The a lot of people that I workwith are different careers.
They went for marketing and nowthey run this.
And they went for food sciencebut now they're writing books.
There's a lot of that.
That just because you startedthat way doesn't mean you can't
adapt and find your passion inlife.
Doug (16:29):
That's right.
Ben (16:30):
I just luckily I found mine very early and it's been very
beneficial.
Doug (16:33):
It's very rare.
You're one of the few peopleI've talked to that knew from
such a young age that chef wouldbe somewhere in the future.
Ben (16:45):
I do want to take just a quick step back.
Did I hear the term meatapprentice?
Yeah, it was.
It was a what do you call it?
Like butcher in training?
Yeah, but it wasn't.
I didn't really do theapprenticeship, it was like a
service clerk.
I packed meat and made somestuff.
I was working for my uncle atan independent Giant Eagle a
couple of summers and and itwas- like I wasn't allowed to
use the knives, but I wasallowed to do all the other
stuff, yeah.
So I kind of did the cleanup andkind of watching all that.
(17:06):
So that was really my firstventure with Giant Eagle.
Oh wow, hi, this is Ben D'Amicowith Market District and you're
listening to the PittsburghDish.
Doug (17:15):
You've been in your career path for so long in such a
lucky way, so many folks don'tfigure it out.
I'm sure along the way therehave been some other friends or
mentors that you've met.
Is there anyone locally thathas really helped you along the
way?
Ben (17:28):
Well, that's the great thing, I think, is working for a
larger company.
You do run into so many peopleand so many experience and we've
had a lot of people from thekind of the start of their
careers to the middle or the endof their careers come through.
So I've worked with a lot ofpeople and I have a lot of great
mentors.
A lot of people have comethrough that have now owned
their own businesses or havekind of have evolved, and just a
(17:52):
couple I know you've had EricWhite on your podcast- oh,
that's right.
Doug (17:54):
Pittsburgh.
Ben (17:55):
Dumplings.
Yeah, and so him and I worktogether at.
Market District Pete Tolman,who owns.
Ironborn Pizza yeah him and Iwork together, and then Mark
Larimer, who owns Trust Brewing.
Again, these are all peoplethat have we spent a lot of time
together and they went off andkind of did their own thing.
They got some experience andthey all run successful
businesses in and aroundPittsburgh.
So that's the connection withmy Pittsburgh group.
(18:18):
But one of the things thatworking is we have a lot of
great chefs and people in thestores.
Some of those people that havecome from restaurants are like
kind of best in class in myopinion, yes, that they don't
always get the credit or thecall outs that they deserve
because they're behind thescenes making all this stuff
happen, right.
So there are some big likeworkhorses and people that
(18:38):
inspire me every day that justlike wake up, put their boots on
, and some of these stores aredoing really, really big
business and these people arerunning teams of you know 30, 50
people.
They're running like kind ofwhat full restaurants would do
and you're getting covered bythe company, so the individual
kind of dissolves or meshes inthere.
Doug (18:55):
Yeah, that spotlight's just not there for that one
person, correct.
Ben (18:58):
And we have so many great people that you couldn't
highlight them all.
But that connection is, I thinkthere's a lot of great people
in the stores and that's one ofthe differentiators that I found
.
Working is.
One of the things I love goingto work for is the conversations
with the people, and they're invarious positions.
Some are, you know, dishwashersand porters and some are the
executive chefs.
So it's that wide range ofkitchen culture that you find
(19:20):
and I love to go to work everyday because of those people.
Doug (19:23):
Do you personally have a team that work under you?
Ben (19:26):
No, I've actually never had a team.
I've been solo for my entirecareer.
Doug (19:30):
You're just this creative at the top.
Ben (19:33):
I'm just there, yeah, but we find inspiration from the
store.
So again, they give ussuggestions, recommendations all
the time, and again there'sreally two or three of us that
I've worked with over the yearsthat we just talk and ideas are
very organic.
It's that's what I find is thebest ideas somebody thinks of is
like I think we could sell that.
I think that'd be a great item,where if it's forced on you,
(19:54):
sometimes it's gonna, it'sharder to do.
I think it's easier when it's alittle more kind of that aha
moment.
It feels genuine, yes, yes.
It feels like I'm not justtrying to sell something to make
money, I'm trying to makesomebody's lives better by
feeding them, or like I thinkthat's a delicious item.
More people should experienceand try this.
Doug (20:12):
I love that I did notice.
Coming back to some of yourcolleagues, that maybe do get a
spotlight Chef Crystal I've metCrystal Baldwin on KDKA, but
before that you did a lot ofKDKA work.
Is that right?
That is correct.
Ben (20:26):
Chef Crystal and I worked together at Market District in
the South Hills for a long time,and I did PTL for almost 10
years.
Oh my goodness, I did almost100 episodes with Christine
Sorensen and then.
Doug (20:39):
Heather.
Ben (20:39):
Abraham came and took over and Crystal and I were kind of
co-partners we would do everyother month or every other week.
And then my son was born andCOVID hit like the same time and
I kind of backed away from itand Crystal has taken over and
does a great job there.
So that was a great experiencebecause I really didn't do
anything with TV and I lovethose segments and I love
(20:59):
working with KDKA and PittsburghToday Live and that was a very
unique experience to go in.
You cook for six to sevenminutes, you get to showcase
your wares.
I also had full creativecontrol when I was doing it,
which was great.
So it would be.
What do you want to make today?
What are we doing?
What recipe are we sharing?
So I always made items thatwere very unique for TV.
It wasn't trying to promote orpush anything.
It was more about theentertainment value of what do I
(21:21):
think the audience wants to seehere and what can you know
Heather, christine and I kind oftalk about and make it fun and
entertaining.
Doug (21:27):
I love that I'm right there with you.
I've only been coming up on twoyears and I know the energy it
takes to go on there and doeverything within that.
You said six to seven minutes.
I'm usually thinking five.
They tell me go for four and ahalf, so I might have stretched
my time in the past because theyusually do the wrap it up kind
(21:48):
of.
Ben (21:48):
And.
I'm like, so I try to cut itclose, but I always had so much
to say, yeah.
Doug (21:53):
But back to your point.
I think it's a way of inspiringpeople at home to try something
new.
For me, I want to teach themmaybe a new technique or
something, even with a commoningredient, like apples or
whatever, or introduce them tosomething they maybe have never
heard of, like halloumi cheese,and you're just kind of planting
a new idea and with thatthey're probably going to go to
(22:14):
Market District and buy thatproduct and try it.
Ben (22:17):
Sometimes it's the simple ingredients.
If you start with greatingredients, you can't introduce
a recipe with 10 new things tosomebody.
They're not going to understandit, they're going to be a
little scared.
So if you start with one or two, really if you just have a
great ingredient, whether it'sfresh or local or just something
that's up and coming, that'ssometimes the spark of
inspiration and then you letkind of the audience, the guests
(22:39):
, grow and make their owninterpretations.
Doug (22:41):
That's right.
Ben (22:41):
Research.
Yes, you're not forcing it down, I mean just more or less
introducing it to them and say,hey, if you, if you think about
it, maybe try this, pick this upsometime, support this company,
and if they love it, and thenmaybe there's something else,
then you build that trust inthat relationship and then they
look at you as the food expertand then you can say, well, you
like this one to try this nextone.
So it leads them down thisjourney and this exploration of
(23:01):
food, which again, is one of ourkind of core values, perfect.
Doug (23:06):
Well, since we were talking that, you did move away
from PTL and you've been doingall of this other great work at
Market District, there are a fewother things maybe coming up,
even in the near term thatyou're doing.
When I talked with HeatherAbraham on this show recently,
we talked a little bit aboutBest Buddies and do I understand
you're doing that this year?
Ben (23:24):
Yes, Best Buddies is a great program that it's now my
second year working with them.
Best Buddies is a great programthat it's now my second year
working with them.
So Best Buddies is a globalorganization that works with
individuals with IDD, which isintellectual and developmental
disabilities, and they have alarge Pittsburgh chapter here
and there's an event that I'mparticularly doing it's called
(23:47):
Taste Buds, yes, which happenson December 9th down at the
convention center, david LLawrence Convention Center.
Doug (23:52):
And we should say it's dozens of chefs, 35 chefs and
restaurants, yeah, throughoutthe city.
It's not a market district onlything.
I looked at the list thismorning before you came over and
it's just a ton of greatrestaurants.
You guys and describe to thelisteners how it works, you get
paired up with anotherindividual as your sous chef.
Is that right, correct?
Ben (24:12):
So my sous chef is Tori and she is my buddy and she is very
, very energetic and we balanceourselves out very, very well.
So we spend five to sixsessions a season and she'll
come up at the market districtand we'll spend time in the
cooking school and we'll work onour recipe, and then we'll also
just work on skills and we'lljust have a good time with food.
(24:35):
We one of our favorite thingsis we always love to eat sushi
for lunch.
We always try to taste some newfoods, whether it's something
new or exotic or a limitedrelease or something just we
haven't been exposed to her or I, and so really it's just
spending time with each otherand being a friend.
Doug (24:50):
And so I just want to jump in here.
This isn't just about this onenight called Taste Buds.
You've been working with yourbuddy throughout this whole year
, really developing arelationship with this person
and exposing them to your world,to new foods, and giving them
some skills to take along theway, right.
Ben (25:09):
Correct.
It's not a one and done.
It's not just, hey, you're apartner to promote your
restaurant or your food facility.
It is to build a relationshipand an experience that hopefully
lasts for a long time.
And one of the great thingswhen I was introduced to Best
Buddies is the other restaurantsthere.
I was kind of surprised.
I really didn't realize thatmost of these really nice
restaurants all aroundPittsburgh were doing this.
(25:31):
And the first time we went, uh,they said how many people are
new?
And you know I raised my handand then it was um, people have
been here five years and youknow a dozen raise their hand
and have you been here 10 to 15years?
And there was a lot that I waslike, wow, these restaurants
have been doing this for a longtime with, uh, either the the
the same buddy for the most part, that they've built this
relationship with, and some havebecome like family, and it's
(25:52):
not just spending time in thekitchen, it's also become let's
go and hang out or let's go toan event or something else.
So that's what they encourageis more or less a buddy for life
.
Yeah, that's beyond just thisTaste Buds event.
How special.
Doug (26:07):
And how many years have you been participating?
Ben (26:09):
Two Okay, this will be my second year.
And yeah, tori and I just metlast week to kind of come up
with our recipe for this year'sevent.
Doug (26:16):
And you can't reveal it yet, right?
Ben (26:17):
Oh, I can, you can, yeah.
So last year we did Tori's kindof favorite.
So she liked Chinese cuisine,she liked the color purple, so
we built something that was kindof based off of that.
It's a small plate andappetizer.
This year she just came backwith her family from Italy and
Greece.
Chris (26:35):
Oh.
Ben (26:39):
And we talked about both being Italian and making pasta
and doing some other stuff.
So we are doing a pasta dishwith a harissa marinara, a
arugula walnut pesto and alemon-whipped ricotta.
That sounds amazing.
So, it was something colorful,something that Tori and I
developed together, hand in hand, and something that inspired
just something she wanted to do.
So that's where I take theinspiration from her.
Doug (27:02):
I can't wait.
Let's remind listeners againthis is Taste Buds.
It's the event by Best Buddies.
It's at the David L LawrenceConvention Center and coming up
on December 9th.
Correct, All right.
Ben (27:15):
And you can get tickets on bestbuddies.
org and just search Best Buddiesand then TasteBuds Pittsburgh
and you'll be able to find theinformation.
Doug (27:22):
Thank you so much.
Ben Ben, you mentioned you'reItalian.
Did you grow up in Pittsburgh?
Ben (27:28):
Yeah, I'm from Monongahela, okay, yeah, so I currently live
in 84, and I've been here myentire life, except for the four
years I went to Rhode Island tolive.
So I'm Pittsburgh-adjacent bornand raised, but you know, you
tell if you're anywhere outsideof the city, you say you're from
Pittsburgh.
So I've always wanted to comeback here and live and work and
that's something that drew mewas whether it was the sports
(27:49):
teams or the food or just thefriends and family around here.
I just always, I never, wantedto be anywhere else.
Doug (27:55):
So, coming from an Italian family, you said that you
started cooking at like four orfive, six.
Are there any other like familydishes that you continue to
make, that you hold dear?
Ben (28:04):
Yes, so, coming from a large Italian and Slovak family,
we had very, very largegatherings and family reunions.
And so, as time went by, a lotof those generational people
that kept the kind of the oldworld traditions they've died
off, they've moved away.
So I found that there's notmany holders of traditions left.
And from a younger generation,everybody kind of wants to
(28:26):
either do their own thing or ah,these people aren't here, let's
do something different.
But he kind of wants to eitherdo their own thing or, ah, these
people aren't here, let's dosomething different.
And I have found it importantfor some of those to keep those
traditions going, whether it'sstill a small group, but it's
kind of like you're keepingtheir memory alive.
So the big one we do is theFeast of the Seven Fishes.
Oh, yes, that used to be myfavorite one growing up and it
(28:51):
was very traditional with theeel and the calamari and the
smelts and all of those dishes.
And as it time evolved, some ofthose we've stopped doing, not
because I I don't want to makethem, but nobody eats bacala
anymore and in our family justmy dad's the only one that'll do
it.
But everybody will eat thecalamari, so we'll stew the
calamari and that's my auntrose's old recipe, that that I
took from that.
So I try to keep the memoryalive and the spirit of the
items.
We still do no meat, I staystrict to that and everybody's
(29:15):
like well, you can have ham andyou can do this.
No, no, no, no.
That's the challenge and theimportant part and the spirit of
the tradition.
So that is by far my favoritefamily tradition that I kind of
take as the flame holder yeah,you take the lead.
Yeah, and I want to keep doingthat forever.
It doesn't happen on ChristmasEve anymore.
(29:36):
It hasn't because of trying toget all the timing together, but
I've introduced it to myin-laws and they come and it's
become something that we'regoing to keep doing forever.
Doug (29:44):
Keep doing it.
You know I did have one morefamily question.
You said you have a son and Idid want to ask a question
regarding your wife.
Could you tell our listenersabout Harvey's Hamburgers?
Ben (29:59):
That's really good.
So my son is almost five and mywife would tell him stories at
bedtime.
Yeah, stories at bedtime andshe had many, many stories and
one was called Harvey'sHamburgers and it was about a
dinosaur who wanted to open afood truck.
With this food truck, he washaving a hard time to get the
(30:22):
other dinosaurs to buy into it,and so it kind of tells the
story of sharing food andacceptance and trying something
different, and so this was astory that my wife told my son
that she recently had published.
Yeah yeah, it just launched alittle bit a month ago and it's
available pretty much everywherebooks are sold On Amazon
(30:43):
Harvey's Hamburgers so peoplecan look that up.
Doug (30:45):
Great childhood story, but probably lessons for adults in
there too.
All right, ben, we're comingtowards the end of our time.
I always like to give folks amoment to plug anything that
they'd like folks to find orfollow.
If you wanted folks to followmore about what you're doing,
where would you point themtowards?
Ben (31:06):
So marketdistrict.
com is kind of our landing pagefor all things Market District.
Honestly, I'm in the storesmost of the time, so just get
out there.
You can come see me every oncein a while, just say hello, I
don't know, I just want peopleto get out there and explore.
I don't have a lot of.
I don't do my own Instagram.
Doug (31:22):
You're not doing Instagram , I don't do my own social
medias.
Ben (31:25):
I really I put 110% of my effort into what I do at work
and what I do with Best Buddiesand the other charitable
organizations I work with.
I don't self-promote.
I want to promote who I workwith and people and kind of
shine a light on everybody else.
I've never been outed for theglory or the public view.
(31:45):
It's really all the people thatmake every day happen, the
everyday heroes.
You're trying to shine thatspotlight on everybody else.
Everybody should get somecredit for all the hard work
they do, because there's so manyhardworking, great people out
there that are just kicking buttevery day.
Doug (31:58):
Well, let's do this.
So definitely.
They can probably find some ofyour work or your teammates work
at Market District on Instagramand if they're interested in
finding out more about BestBuddies, as we said, it's
bestbuddiesorg.
Yes, I always have one finalquestion for our guests.
The name of the show is thePittsburgh Dish.
What's one of the best dishesyou've eaten this past week?
Ben (32:24):
This past week.
Oh wow, okay, it was cold inthe morning, it's warm in the
evening.
So as soon as I know that, Iknow it's soup season.
So I'm going to say it's one ofthe soups I've made and this is
going to sound very mundane,but it was a chili and it was a
chicken noodle soup withoutchicken.
(32:45):
Oh, I mean, it was a chickenbroth.
Those I made them and Inormally don't get super excited
about soup, but I was like thisis really good.
My wife had some last night.
She said this is really thebest soup she made.
So I think that was probablysimple ingredients that just
made well, that I'm going to sayit was the chili and the
chickenless chicken noodle soupI made this week that were my
(33:06):
best dishes Best bites this weekChickenless chicken soup, you
might be onto something new.
I didn't have chicken in thehouse, it was a necessity.
Well, this is it, this is whatchefs do?
Doug (33:15):
You figure it out and you do what you can.
Chef Ben D'Amico, thank you somuch for being on The Pittsburgh
Dish.
Thank you Up next.
If you're looking to expandyour flavors and spice with your
next dining adventure, Chantaland Alex Huff have just the
place.
Hey everybody, we're joined byAlex and Chantal Huff of the
(33:36):
Hungry Huffs.
I've been wondering have youtried a new restaurant lately
that really kind of blew youaway?
Chantal (33:45):
We have.
Yeah, we just went to Reva lastnight.
Oh, you know, I have heard ofReva, it's over in East Liberty
right.
Yes, it's a modern Indiancuisine and it might be my
favorite Indian in Pittsburgh.
Doug (33:57):
Wow.
So, Alex, why don't we startwith you?
What did you guys have?
Alex (34:02):
So we had the chicken biryani, the jalfrezi, we had
the achari paneer, we had.
What else did we have?
We had the butter chicken aswell as the garlic, naan and
roti.
So quite a bit of food.
Chantal (34:14):
Yeah, we overordered.
Doug (34:15):
The full spread.
Yeah, so tell me a little bitabout the experience and the
bites, what really stood out foryou?
Chantal (34:23):
Well, they had a sweet potato chaat, which was amazing.
Such a good choice.
I don't think I've ever hadsweet potato in a chop before,
and it was so refreshing.
It was presented beautifully.
Couldn't recommend that more.
They have a couple of options.
I'm excited to go back to trytheir Punjabi samosa as well, so
definitely don't skip on theappetizers there.
Doug (34:41):
I would say Can I just interject too?
I have heard of a chop beingkind of referred to as like an
Indian snack.
Chantal (34:49):
Yes, Is that?
Doug (34:50):
right yes, app that right yes.
Appetizer, perfect appetizer.
Chantal (34:52):
Absolutely Super refreshing too for the summer.
Chris (34:56):
And after the chicken, biryani was definitely the best
we've had in Pittsburgh, like itwas super spicy, and one thing
that I liked was at Reva wasyou're able to choose your spice
level, so we're able to geteverything like super hot, super
spicy and everything was likebeyond flavorful.
Doug (35:09):
So you guys like spice.
Alex (35:10):
Yes.
Doug (35:11):
All right.
So do you guys know what thehours are right now?
Alex (35:15):
Yeah, so I think they're open every day, starting at 11
am, so all seven days a week,which is, you know, nice,
considering quite a bit ofplaces are closed on Mondays and
they have great things, I think, for their lunch menu, like
cutty rolls and you knowdifferent options that are
perfect for lunch.
Doug (35:29):
Wonderful Yep Reva over in East Liberty.
Thank you both so much.
Thank you for having us.
You can follow Chantal and Alexon Instagram at Hungry Huffs.
I recently sat down for a chatwith Chris Fenimore of WQED and
we got to talking about holidaycooking of WQED.
(35:52):
And we got to talking aboutholiday cooking.
When I asked him if he had anytips or tricks, he shared this
update on a recipe.
Chris (35:55):
When he does the Feast of the Seven Fishes, let's have a
listen, it's just not theholiday, especially, you know,
surrounding the concept of theFeast of the Seven Fishes.
Oh yes, you all do, you all dothat yeah, yeah, unless we have
bacala and this is the salteddried yes, but here's the tip
(36:16):
okay, when, when I was growingup, my grandmother would buy the
bacala, they came in likesheets, yes, and she would soak
them for three or four days inthe basement, changing the water
constantly to get the salt outof it.
My father.
(36:37):
He looked at that.
He was amazed.
He said it looks like anironing board.
Now we're going to cook and eatthat.
It really did not look edible,no, and it smelled horrendous.
Oh my, yes, you know there arepeople who you know they have
trout and they go.
This is fishy, you know.
Well, they don't know whatthey're talking about.
Doug (36:57):
They don't know bacala.
Chris (36:57):
They don't know bacala.
If they think that trout isfishy, when she made it he would
eat the potatoes that were init and he'd leave the bacala
behind, because it was was, eventhough it was thought out and
um prepared prepared it wasstill sort of chewy and dense
(37:19):
I'm sure it changes the texture.
Doug (37:21):
It's almost jerkied.
Chris (37:22):
Yeah exactly yeah, so one time I was trying to make the
feast of the seven fishes and Iwas running out of time and
dishes and I thought I'll makethe baklava.
Then I thought you don't havethree days to do that, so I just
got some fresh cod.
I made the recipe.
It was fabulous.
(37:43):
Even my dad would have lovedthis.
Yeah, and all you get is acouple of loins of cod and cut
it up into three-inch pieces andit was perfect tender.
The fish just flakes apart.
Of course, you know it hasolives and it has celery and it
(38:04):
has a lot of potatoes andtomatoes and that's pretty much
it.
It's just a big stew.
Doug (38:11):
So if you are substituting with the cod, would you start
the whole dish and kind of keepthe cod back till the potatoes
were close to being done, orwould you put them?
Chris (38:21):
in.
I just put them in.
It might help the cod, althoughI got to say it was still great
.
It was still great, and nowthat's the only way I make it.
I never buy the bakala anymore.
Swap it for cod.
Swapped it for cod?
Well, because it is cod, it is,it's just fresh.
Doug (38:37):
It's salt yeah.
Chris (38:38):
Instead of salted, it's just fresh.
Doug (38:40):
What a great tip yeah.
Chris (38:41):
So that's what, that would be my tip for the holiday.
Doug (38:44):
Chris.
Thanks so much and happyholidays.
Happy holidays, happy holidays.
If you have a recipe, share itwith us.
Just go to our website at www.
pittsburghdish.
com and look for our Share aRecipe form.
That's our show for this week.
We'd like to thank all of ourguests and contributors, and to
(39:04):
Kevin Solecki of CarnegieAccordion Company for providing
the music to our show.
We'll be back again next weekwith another fresh episode.
Stay tuned.
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