March 9, 2025 • 37 mins
(00:37) What does it take to transform a simple culinary skill into a social media sensation with almost 8 million followers? Ryan Peters, known across platforms as Peters Pasta, reveals the extraordinary journey that took him from professional chef to content creator powerhouse.
Ryan's path wasn't planned. After years in prestigious kitchens like Salt of the Earth and Ocean Reef Club, a casual six-second video of him making cavatelli pasta unexpectedly garnered half a million views overnight. This one video would completely transform his career and impact countless lives.
(08:12) We explore Ryan's Knead to Know podcast, where he interviews influential guests like Larry Fitzgerald and Derek Shelton while cooking pasta, creating yet another dimension to his constantly evolving brand. For anyone fascinated by the intersection of culinary arts, social media, and entrepreneurship, Ryan's story offers valuable insights into finding your unique voice in a crowded digital landscape.
(11:42) Ryan has leveraged his platform for creativity with a humanitarian impact. When his egg-doubling challenge videos created massive amounts of pasta (eventually reaching a 10,000-egg collaboration with Mr. Beast), Ryan partnered with Outreached Arms to ensure the food reached those in need, while reducing food waste – combining viral entertainment with meaningful action.
(17:11) Our conversation delves into Ryan's innovative approach to content creation – particularly his viral series where he makes pasta in wildly unexpected locations. From NFL stadiums and NASCAR tracks to the Empire State Building, Ryan has turned "making pasta where you shouldn't" into a collaboration strategy that's opened doors with major sports teams nationwide. When industry experts warned him against niching down too specifically, Ryan proved them wrong by creating a unique lane that's attracted millions.
(30:30) Later in the show, Becca Hansborough takes us to brunch at Balvanera, and HongChing Cheung shares a beloved family dish from her Hong Kong roots. Enjoy this episode's culinary roundup of creativity and flavor.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Doug (00:01):
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
How does making homemade pastacaptivate millions?
We'll learn all about it fromthis week's guest.
Where are you brunching lately?
For Becca Hansborough, it'sBalvanera.
And if you're coveting eggsright now for dishes that you
(00:25):
deem worthy, we have acomforting family recipe from
Hong Ching Chung.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
Thank you so much for comingover and for being on the show.
Of course, would you introduceyourself to our listeners and
what you have going on right nowin the world of food.
Ryan (00:46):
Yeah, so my name is Ryan Peters.
Most everyone on the internetknows me as Peters Pasta.
I'm a former chef turnedcontent creator.
That's just kind of found my mylane in this world of sharing
my passion for pasta with theworld and being able to do that
in a unique way, in a way that'skind of just, you know, built
this brand for myself.
(01:06):
That, you know, even five yearsago I never thought was
possible, so just allowed me todo.
You know, a lot of cooldifferent things around the
country and but it all kind ofcomes back to pasta, which is
where I wanted it to be.
Yeah.
Doug (01:20):
It's at the core.
Yeah, all right, ryan, that wasa great introduction.
I do just want to say for anyof our listeners out there that
are slightly in the dark aboutyou yeah, almost 8 million
people follow you across all ofyour socials.
I have told you this face toface before.
I don't understand, yeah, Idon't understand.
(01:41):
I mean, I love it for you, Ilove it so much, but the main
action in your video is you'remaking usually egg yolk pasta.
Yep, and I had another sidequestion when do all the whites
go?
Ryan (01:54):
Yeah, so I eat a lot of egg whites.
I've got a chest freezer in mystudio.
It's just little pintcontainers full of egg whites,
yeah.
Doug (02:00):
Yeah, and across the socials.
I think it's like 5 million onTikTok, like two and a half
million on YouTube.
I mean the rest everywhere else.
You're getting close to 800,000on Instagram right now.
It was like the bit of researchI did.
Ryan (02:12):
I love it.
Doug (02:14):
But I think it's such an interesting story because you
were you were a little boredright During COVID that things
were locked down.
Is that when you started doingthese videos?
So?
Ryan (02:23):
it happened right before the pandemic began.
I was working in restaurantsand I'd always been really,
really good at documentingeverything I did as a chef,
whether that be through you knowlittle journal notebook that I
had at work, or photos or videos, or whatever it was.
I just love to document what Idid, even just for to post on
Instagram and get you know.
Rebecca (02:44):
50 likes you know I wasn't doing it for that.
Ryan (02:47):
So I kind of had this backlog of content that I didn't
realize was content.
This was summer of 2019 and myyounger brother was out here
visiting my wife and I and allhe was talking about was TikTok.
Oh, I had never heard of it,but I'm starting to now hear
about it a lot.
At that point, yeah.
So I was like, oh, that'sinteresting, had never heard of
it, but I'm starting to now hearabout it a lot.
At that point, yeah.
So I was like, oh, that'sinteresting.
(03:08):
So I decided to download it andI posted my first video ever on
TikTok at least.
It was a six second clip of memaking cavatelli on a gnocchi
board, and that video got half amillion views overnight.
That's crazy, and that's justkind of where it all began and
it's snowballed into where we'reat today.
Doug (03:27):
Gosh, yeah, and we should probably take a step back.
But I do want to talk moreabout your social climb in the
creator space.
You have been a professionalchef for years.
You went to IUP, indianaUniversity of Pennsylvania.
Ryan (03:41):
Yep In Punxsutawney home of Groundhog's Day.
Doug (03:43):
Did you grow up in the local area?
No, university of Pennsylvania,yep In Punxsutawney, home of
Groundhog's Day.
Ryan (03:45):
Did you grow up in the local area?
No, so I grew up in ReddingPennsylvania Okay, about an hour
outside of Philadelphia, andfrom a very, very young age all
I ever wanted to do was be achef.
Yeah, not really sure wherethat came from, but you know,
new from a young age that's whatI wanted to do.
So in high school went to avo-tech school and then went to
IUP for their one-year culinaryprogram and then just started
(04:06):
working out kind of all over thecountry in different
restaurants and clubs andresorts and things.
You took a long stint down inFlorida, right, yep, I went down
to the Ocean Reef Club in KeyLargo it's the number one
private club in the countryWorked there for one season on
my externship left, came toPittsburgh for the first time
actually and then ended up goingback there for about four years
(04:27):
working as a banquet chef downthere.
Doug (04:29):
Okay, and then there was some Sunday evening in I think
it was 2017, I was having dinner, yeah, outside on the seats in
front of Tako downtown, and thislovely blonde girl.
Ryan (04:44):
Which, by the way, I'll tell you.
I told my wife last night thatI was coming over here today.
I was like I don't know ifyou're gonna remember this guy.
So I showed her you and she'slike, oh, I remember him.
So, yeah, go ahead.
Doug (04:51):
I'm sorry for cutting you off, no no, that's good, I
should have you tell this story.
Yeah, so I was new but I did.
And then I looked over and Isaw this woman take a picture of
her food.
And it was your wife and westruck up a conversation and you
(05:13):
two were about to open yourfirst concept.
Remind us the name.
It was called Brunois, insideof Smallman Galley yeah, one of
the first galley locations herein Pittsburgh, and I love that
space.
It was fantastic, thegrittiness and the whole decor.
Papa J's is in there now, yep.
Ryan (05:30):
And you guys were open for a solid year, right?
Yep, we did a one year.
It was the one year term thatthey had for the class of chefs
at that time and, yeah, it was awhirlwind for sure.
Doug (05:36):
I bet you two were always there.
Your wife is in culinary aswell pastry background.
Ryan (05:41):
So she was yeah, she was my right-hand lady right there
with me and yeah, it was a full,full year of just hard work.
You guys had a solid burger.
Doug (05:50):
I had had that burger several times.
When you guys were open.
Ryan (05:53):
Thank you, yeah, we had some good hits there, for sure.
It was a fun time.
Doug (05:57):
I think it's a great concept for folks to figure out.
Do I want to do this?
How much scale do I want toactually have?
And this is just like the firstbaby steps.
Ryan (06:04):
Yeah, just kind of, let you kind of try things out, test
things, see if you know yourconcept is what you want it to
do, see if owning a restaurantwas what you want it to do, just
because at that point too Iremember, you know, coming from
working in different restaurantsand clubs.
I was never, of course.
I was thinking about, you knowmoney and budget when I was
doing things, but you know,versus then, when it was my own
money.
I'm thinking about, like, whyare we going through two cases
(06:26):
of paper towels this week versusone.
You know what I mean this is avery, very alarming thing, so
definitely eyeopening for sure.
Doug (06:33):
It's so sort of fundamental to get that business
sense.
I remember you didn't havetomato on the burger because
that was sort of a it's out ofseason cost a lot Like why are
we going to put something onthis, meh?
A season yeah, it costs a lot.
Like.
Why are we going to putsomething on this, meh?
Yeah, I like that decision.
You actually told me that once.
Ryan (06:46):
Yeah, my whole idea with that concept not to go too deep
into it was just kind of takethe fine dining approach that I
had and kind of, you know, fusethat with the fast, casual
concept that the galley groupwas, and, um, you know, there
was pros and cons to that.
For sure, we were kind of alittle too ambitious in some
things.
But, um, little things likethat, like the burger, like
there was a lot of techniquethat went into that, but at the
(07:08):
end of the day it was, it washamburger.
It was good, though, yeah itwas really good.
Doug (07:12):
Uh, I do miss that place.
Overall, we'll move on allright.
So you jump around a little bit, even locally in Pittsburgh.
I know you, you did some workover at Ironborn, F ish nor Fowl
.
Yep, that's right.
And then I don't know if I'mmissing.
You know, fill in the patcheshere.
Ryan (07:29):
So then that was the most recent.
I worked my first time inPittsburgh.
I worked at Salt of the Earth,that's right.
That was the first job I everhad in the city.
At that time I wasn't familiarwith Pittsburgh at all.
It was my first time here and Ijust Googled best restaurant in
the city and that was it so.
I applied and kind of worked myway up there.
But then, yeah, salt of theEarth, the Deschantz restaurant
group, Ironborn.
(07:50):
Yeah, it's been a good littlerun.
Doug (07:52):
Yeah, and now you're.
I'd love to ask you how youdescribe to friends and family
what you do now for work,because I have a struggle.
I say I do food media.
I don't really say contentcreation.
I say I do food media, I don'treally say content creation.
Ryan (08:04):
What do you say?
I just content creation, or Ijust make food videos for the
internet?
You know, it's really thatsimple.
Doug (08:08):
And it pays all the bills it does, thankfully Crazy.
Yeah, you have a few otherthings going on.
I mean you've sort of expandedfrom just making egg pasta, and
I should never belittle thatit's not just making egg pasta
People love it.
But you have your own podcast.
I do Tell us a little bit aboutthat.
Ryan (08:24):
Yeah.
So the Knead to Know podcast issomething that I started this
past summer as really just a wayto kind of get out of just
having to do these 45, 60 secondvideos.
You know, obviously I lovedoing those videos I'll always
do those videos but I wanted away to have longer conversations
.
But I wanted a way to havelonger conversations and also,
(08:46):
with that said, over the pastfive years of doing this, I've
been fortunate enough to meetand connect with some really
really incredible people that alot of I really consider really
great friends now, and I wanteda way to kind of bring all those
people together, kind of bringall those people together.
And at the end of the day, Ifound that the one thing that
connects everyone whetherthey're an athlete or a CEO,
(09:08):
another creator, a celebrity andwhatever background they come
from, everybody connects withfood.
Yes, and especially, even moreso, pasta.
Everybody loves pasta,everybody loves pasta.
Yeah.
So it was a way for me to kindof bring all those things
together, bring theseconnections I made, bring my
love for pasta, love for justhaving conversation, and bring
that together with a plate ofpasta.
(09:29):
So it's been fun.
We're about eight episodes inright now and just having fun
with it.
Doug (09:34):
I have to say, as someone that's doing a podcast, you are
a couple levels beyond what Iwould take a bite out of.
You are doing audio and video.
It's mainly more video and it'sentertaining.
And if folks haven't caught anyof the episodes, in most of the
videos you're cooking pasta,you're cooking a dish from
(09:55):
scratch and sometimes you don'teven know what you're going to
cook for them now.
Ryan (10:00):
Yeah, yeah it's.
It was definitely a challengeand it was definitely a a big
undertaking, but I knew I had avision for what I wanted when I
launched it, and there's areason why.
Like I mean, I'm sure somepeople have wondered why we've
only put out the amount ofepisodes that we have and, um,
it's really just come come downto being able to facilitate with
the guests that we're goingafter.
(10:20):
Um, I've, you know, had thestandard that, for the guests
that I bring on the podcast, Iwant them to be one of the best,
most influential people intheir field, and that's a very,
very aggressive stance to takeagainst getting guests.
Yes, and so it's definitelybeen difficult, it hasn't been
easy, but at the same time,we've really landed some
incredible guests that I'm verygrateful for.
Doug (10:47):
And I think that if we can keep on that path, it's just
it's really something special.
Ryan (10:49):
Let's remind listeners some of the guests you've had on
so far, yeah, so we've had,I've been.
We've had Larry Fitzgerald wehad him as his the first
interview that he had on the daythat he got inducted into the
hall of fame.
We had Derek Shelton in themiddle of the pirates baseball
season, the pirates manager Abbyand Josh Herbert, Katie Feeney
she's a social media phenom.
Doug (11:04):
All those folks are local here as well.
Pittsburgh State College rightYep exactly.
Ryan (11:08):
We just recently had Farmer Lee Jones, who we had
chatted about In the culinaryworld specifically.
He's just an icon, oh my goshyeah he's One of my favorites so
far.
Doug (11:17):
just secretly, because I need to go there, I'm going to
bring you out there.
Oh my gosh, I would love that.
Ryan (11:22):
You would absolutely love it.
It's a culinary wonderland.
It's really incredible.
Doug (11:27):
I'm so happy for you in all of these things, I mean, I
really have to say, since thatchance encounter to just see
your growth and then this crazysuccess that the internet and
social media can provide us, butI do want to sort of pivot to
that.
You've done a lot of thesewonderful creative things, but
you've also done some stuff likegiving back.
(11:48):
So, I especially noticedOutreached Arms.
I've worked there too.
Can you tell folks a little bitabout that and how you got
involved with them?
Ryan (11:56):
Yeah, so it's going to be a long way to get to that answer
, but I have to give the context.
So in January of last year I soin my studio at home where I
film all my videos, I have arefrigerator that sole purpose
is just to keep eggs.
I go through so many eggs that Ineed one just for eggs.
So January of last year I forsome reason only had one dozen
(12:18):
eggs in that fridge and I waslike, what am I going to do?
I need to make a video withthis.
So I decided to make a videowith one egg yolk and I would
spin the voiceover as I'm goingto double it every day and
whatever See where it goes, notthinking how fast that would
compound, yes, the math nerdsout there were like, oh, this is
going to get good yeah.
I'm good at pasta.
I'm not good at math Me neitherso I did that one.
(12:40):
The video went insanely viral,so I just I kept going.
I did one, I did two andwhatever, so on and so forth,
and when we got to 512 eggs, Irealized at that point, if I
wanted to do that one, I need tofind a way to offload this
pasta, because at that point, upuntil then I was just obviously
eating it my family, friends,neighbors, whatever.
(13:00):
But especially, coming from aculinary background, I do
everything I can to limit foodwaste there's gonna there's
gonna be food waste and contentcreation there is, but I think
that we can do what we can tolimit that, and so I couldn't,
with a clear, conscious, do 512egg pasta without a way to use
that pasta right.
So I reached out to a coupleorganizations here in pittsburgh
(13:21):
and got linked up with outreacharms and I got on the phone
with Rob, the director there,and I don't think he realized
what I was doing or anything,obviously not.
And I was just like hey man, I'mmaking a big batch of pasta.
I hear you guys can feedhomeless, can feed those who
need food.
Can we link up on this?
And so it worked out.
(13:42):
They were able to take all thatpasta from that batch and then
from there forward we were justkind of able to link with them
and facilitate getting all thisfood out.
Doug (13:52):
You've done it more than once now, or more than one
events with them.
Ryan (13:55):
Yeah, we did 512 that went to them.
We did one when we did the 1000egg batch.
We ended up filming that attheir location downtown.
Um, we did the 2 000 egg batchthere and then we also did 4 000
egg batch there.
So what, yeah?
Doug (14:10):
goodness, a lot of pasta.
That is a lot, wow.
And you end up linking up withmr beast for some ungodly amount
of eggs, right?
Yeah, that one was wild.
Ryan (14:20):
We after we did the 4 000 I mean actually after we did a
thousand I told everybody myvideographers, everybody like,
hey, we're done, yeah, I can'tdo anymore, because everyone
sees the 45 second video.
But they don't realize theamount of work that like goes
into that.
Doug (14:33):
It's no painstakingly hard work I have to just tell you as
a side note, when I makesomething like um pastry cream
and I'm dealing with a bunch ofeggs, I kind of get a little
wheezy after a while.
So I don't know how you do it,yeah.
Ryan (14:46):
I've built it up now, um, so I told everybody we were done
.
And then, after we did 4,000,again I told everybody we're
done.
But I joked with my team.
I was like, unless Mr Beastreaches out, biggest creator in
the world like that's, you know,the only way it's possible.
And sure enough, we posted thatvideo and two days later they
reached out and said, hey, like,we want to do it, but we want
(15:09):
to round up to 10,000 eggs, like, are you interested?
And I was like, yeah, of course, like, so, yeah, then again, of
course, we've made this giant,giant, 10,000 egg pasta video.
Um, and then we're able to feedthousands of people with that
food.
So it's really, reallyincredible.
Doug (15:22):
Where did you shoot?
Ryan (15:23):
the this big one with, so that we went down to his
headquarters in Greenville,north Carolina.
Yes, uh, we were there forabout a week or so.
Um got linked up with some soupkitchens down there and it's a
win win all around.
Great content, but then alsojust doing something really
really good.
I love it.
Yeah, this is Ryan Peters ofPeters Pasta and you're
listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (15:43):
Ryan, I want to pivot a little bit too.
You know you've made some greatconnections with these other,
like mega creators, yeah.
But you also have such a strongconnection you hinted at it
earlier with the sportscommunity, yeah.
Has sports always been justlike a big thing in your life?
I love sports, of course.
I'm a sports fanatic.
Ryan (16:00):
You are, and it's funny too, because growing up outside
of Philadelphia, I grew upPhiladelphia sports fan.
Yeah.
Doug (16:08):
You don't want to say that too loud around.
Ryan (16:10):
Pittsburgh Exactly, you know.
But once I started working inrestaurants and things I you
know I was working so much as achef that I really wasn't even
paying attention to sportsanymore.
So I kind of got removed fromthat for nearly 10 years and
then, as I then moved back toPittsburgh and started to have
some more time, I just kind offell in love with the Pittsburgh
sports culture.
And so when I launched my brandof Peter's pasta to kind of tie
(16:33):
into sports, there was twothings that I wanted people to
always think of when theythought of my page was pasta,
obviously, but then alsoPittsburgh, and then so to be
able to tie in Pittsburgh sportsteams but then also now dozens
of other sports organizationsaround the country, was really,
really fun for me, just as a fanof the sport.
Doug (16:50):
Well, we should expand upon this.
So somehow you were able to goto a lot of different stadiums,
stadiums and fields and makepasta, like on the field or on
the sideline or somewhere likehow, how does this get going?
Ryan (17:04):
yeah, so there's two, two parts to it, and I won't go too
deep and tell me to shut upwhenever you know, I love it I
love it.
um, so I kind of had this bigsuccess, this big blow up on
social media during the pandemic, when we're all stuck at home,
right.
And here I was thinking, man,I'm like the man right now, but
I can't go to hollywood or anyof these cool things that I see
every influencer doing andthings, and so I was like, all
(17:26):
right, well, how can I the pastaguy do cool stuff?
Yeah, what's your niche.
Everybody kind of told me thatlike, oh, like, forget about it.
Like, unless you're doing stuffbesides pasta, like you're not
going to be successful.
So I was like, all right, cool.
So as things started to open upfrom the pandemic and things
were happening again, I reachedout to I think I already had a
(17:47):
connection with the Steelerssocial media team.
So I reached out to them andwas like, hey, I have this crazy
idea.
Let me come to the field andmake a batch of pasta at the
stadium.
And I wish I like stillremembered word for word what
they said.
But they were definitely likethat's really weird.
But they said, yes, that's theonly thing I needed, that's the
(18:09):
only thing you needed, right?
So I went there and very, verypoorly shot video, just not good
at all, but I did it.
And the video didn't even likeperform that well, but I now had
the first one done.
And then I did it with thepittsburgh penguins as well and
I was like all right, that wasfun, I enjoyed that.
It was kind of getting me outof the kitchen per se, yeah, um,
(18:29):
but you're still doing thething you love, exactly, you're
at places you love, right?
So I look at that as a way toreally turn that into something
more than just like a one or twooff thing.
So a couple other teams aroundthe country saw those videos and
I'll never forget.
The Chicago Bears reached out tome after one of them and was
like hey, like we'd love for youto come out to our preseason
(18:50):
fan fest thing, do your thinghere.
And I was like all right, cool,like how does this work?
You pay me, do you fly me out?
And they're like no, none ofthat.
No, okay.
And I was like, uh, I just forsome reason I had a gut feeling
that I should go, that I need tojust pay my way out there.
(19:10):
So I remember going upstairs toour bedroom to my wife and I
was like, hey, babe, I'm goingto go to Chicago to do a collab
with the bears.
And she got all excited.
She's like that's awesome.
Like when are they flying youout?
I was like they're not.
I was like I'm going to driveout there and I think it's going
to work.
So I ended up packing up thecar, drove to Chicago, did a
collab with the Bears While Iwas out there, when I was going
to rest stops and stuff, I wasjust DMing other Chicago teams
(19:31):
and stuff, trying to double downon this.
Yeah, while you're there,exactly.
So while I was there, I did theBears.
I was able to get in contactwith the Chicago White Sox
baseball team, did a collab withthem, did a collab with the
Chicago Bulls, then on the driveback I stopped in Detroit, did
(19:52):
a collab with the Detroit Tigers.
So I was able to hit four teamsin a two-day period.
So smart, yeah.
And then that's when it reallyblew up.
And I think now we've been toprobably two or three dozen
different stadiums.
I've done it besides justsports too.
We've done it on top of theempire state building, in the
middle of a Walmart, um, golfcourses, nascar tracks, cruise
ships.
Really, the whole idea behindthat whole series is just making
(20:12):
pasta where you shouldn't makepasta.
Doug (20:15):
And it's allowed me, from a business perspective, to like
blend what I do with anythingLike you actually kind of
triumphed what you heard earlieras a negative, like oh, you're
not going to make it if youdon't do exactly doing your same
thing or do something else, Yep.
And I think you also hinted ata couple of things that are kind
of strange in the creator space, Like yes, we can get monetized
(20:37):
on some of the social mediaplatforms, but then you start
getting offered things, but dothey pay and don't they pay?
And then how do you developyour own self-worth and advocate
for yourself?
To say no to someone in theearly stages?
It's super hard, right.
Ryan (20:53):
Yeah, it's very, very hard , just kind of believing in what
you're doing and knowing yourworth, and I think too, I just
want to make a note on, likewhen people would tell me that,
um, and still people to this daytell people like, hey, you
shouldn't like niche down toohard or whatever.
I think I disagree with thatbecause I think that you can.
You just have to be smarter andhave a better strategy for what
(21:14):
you do, because I think mostpeople on paper would look at a
pasta creator collaborating withthe nfl or with a cruise line
or whatever.
It just doesn't make sense.
But I think that if you can,you know, present it in a way
that is different and unique andjust resonates with the
audience, then proof is in theconcept and it just if it works,
it works.
Doug (21:35):
I have to say as a marketing thought, because it
doesn't make sense is why itmakes sense to me, like it's
just crazy.
Why is this guy here?
Ryan (21:42):
Yeah, and then honestly, once I started doing a couple of
them, the audience was just soenamored with where is he going
to be next and they becameinvolved with it and it just
became this really, reallyorganic thing.
That was just a lot of fun.
I love it.
Doug (21:54):
You know you're making your way now into this great
creator space, all of thesefollowers, and coming back to
sort of the soul of it all, Iwant to talk a little bit about
your love of pasta.
You mentioned you grew up inReading.
What was food life like growingup?
I mean, did you cook from anearly age or were people cooking
for you?
(22:14):
When did that start before theculinary?
Ryan (22:19):
experience.
So I grew up a single mother.
She cooked a ton.
That was very important for her.
It was just kind of alwaysmaking sure that we had a home
cooked meal nearly every singlenight and I'll give her credit.
I mean she was working a tonand that's mad credit.
Yeah, it's not great.
I mean I have trouble sometimeand you know, making food for my
wife and my son and so, yeah, Igive her a ton of credit that.
(22:40):
And it's not like she wasmaking these fine dining crazy
things.
She was making home-cookedmeals but they were fantastic
and so I would always, you know,bobble around the kitchen
helping her and things like that.
And then as I got older, youknow, maybe seven, eight, nine,
I'd start, you know, playingrestaurant and cooking.
You know something for her,whatever it may be.
But yeah, I mean food.
(23:00):
For me as a kid growing up, itwas just very, very simple.
It wasn't.
It wasn't anything special toit.
I mean it was special, you know.
Yeah.
But, not elaborate yet CorrectNothing crazy.
Yeah, it took quite a few yearsfor it to really develop, do
you remember?
Your first memories of pasta?
Like did your mom makespaghetti at home?
(23:21):
Like, where did this come from?
I love you, mom, but I don'tremember you making fresh pasta.
Doug (23:24):
Oh, my family never did.
I can remember like at age Ithink it was eight or nine I
knew how to boil the box ofpasta and heat up the sauce in
what we would call like doctorit up, which was meaning to add
sugar and garlic salt.
Ryan (23:37):
Some Italian seasoning or something.
Yeah, I mean, I don't rememberhaving a moment where I had that
pasta moment.
So is this adulthood?
I don't remember having amoment where I had that pasta
moment, yeah, so is thisadulthood?
Doug (23:46):
Is this like something from the culinary experience?
I think it would be adulthood.
I'm going to learn this and I'mgoing to champion this and yeah
, well, so that story comes soin.
Ryan (23:55):
I want to say I don't remember what year it was.
It was probably 2017, 2018,maybe 20, probably 2018.
Maybe 20, probably 2018.
I was, and at that point I hadmade pasta countless times in
restaurants and stuff, but neverreally thought much of it.
I just I knew how to do it, Iwas good at it, but it was just
another task of the day, right.
(24:16):
But at one point in 2018, I wasat home with my wife and I and
I made a batch of pasta fordinner, made some sauce and, for
whatever reason, that pastaturned out great, it was
delicious, we both enjoyed it.
And so I woke up the next dayand I made another pound of
pasta.
I went to work, came home,rolled it out, made it into a
shape.
I was like, oh, that's good.
(24:37):
I went 64 days in a row ofmaking a pound of pasta every
day, every day at home.
Row of making a pound of pastaevery day, every day at home,
every single day.
Wow, and that was the switch ofmy career where, you know, I
think a lot of young chefs andcooks struggle with finding
where they want to placethemselves in this world.
You know, uh, which is hard.
There's so many different lanesthat you can go in and I had
(24:57):
found, like that was that lightbulb moment for me.
It was like I'm going to be apasta chef.
Doug (25:01):
This is my place in the food world.
This is it, yeah.
Ryan (25:04):
I had found my like real, like obviously passion, like my
passion was food and cooking,but this was like, really,
really it yeah.
So I took those 64 days, gotobsessed with it and that's when
it things started shifting andI was like, all right, I'm going
to find, you know, italianrestaurants and pasta focused
restaurants to work in and justreally kind of fell in love with
the art and craft of pastamaking, because I think that so
(25:26):
many people, when they think ofit or when they make it, it's
just flour and eggs or flour andwater.
It's this very simple thingthat, yeah, on paper it's simple
, but it really is very, verydeep and very, very complex that
I just fell in love with.
Doug (25:41):
Usually when it's the fewer ingredients, it has to be
like technique and love.
That kind of comes in andactually makes that whole dish
shine.
Ryan (25:49):
I tell people all the time that, like with a pasta dish,
people ask me like the key tomaking really, really great
pasta, and I tell them it's tohave the best flour and the best
eggs you can get, because thisisn't, you know, a braised
French red wine dish where youcan hide behind red wine and
butter and aromatics and things.
Pasta is simple and you have tohave great ingredients and
(26:10):
great technique and, like yousaid, simplicity is it's easy to
mess up.
Easy to mess up yeah.
Doug (26:16):
It's hard to really nail, it's hard to perfect it Exactly
yeah, okay, ryan, so I think I'mgonna move us forward a little
bit.
So you have a lot still goingon right now.
Yeah, but I would love to askuh, what's on the horizon for
you?
What's what's ahead?
Any new goals, any new eventsor projects coming up?
Ryan (26:34):
man, there's a ton um, I think it's hard for me to like
put out actual goals.
Sounds weird to say, but Idon't do it either.
I just want to keep doing that.
That's I don't do it either.
I just want to keep doing that,that's.
The thing is for me is like Ijust want to keep like
progressing and keep gettingbetter and keep pushing out more
, and so I think the goal isjust that is, to keep growing
(26:54):
the brand um in a lot ofdifferent ways.
That's not just content.
That's the podcast, that's longform content, that's, you know,
products that can be on theshelves or whatever it may be
Cookbooks.
I think there's a lot ofdifferent ways.
I I I've been doing this nowfor almost six years, and yet I
still feel like I'm just gettingstarted.
Yeah, so I feel like I justthere's still so much I can do.
(27:18):
Really, though, in the next 12months, um, I just expect a lot
of growth from all aspects ofthe business, not just the
content that everyone seesforward facing that there's just
kind of always stuff going onin the background to keep things
growing.
Doug (27:33):
I love it.
Yeah, so we will see more needto know podcast episodes.
We will still see some morepasta making videos, maybe with
some sauce.
Yep, I just noticed one, ohyeah, and it looked really good.
It was fantastic.
Ryan, if there is someone outthere under a rock that's not
following you right now, couldyou remind us all of your social
(27:54):
handles or your website?
Ryan (27:56):
Yep, it's just.
I mean, if you search PetersPasta anywhere, that's the best
way to find it.
Instagram is the only onethat's the curve ball.
It's Ryan Peters.
Anywhere, that's the best wayto find it.
Instagram is the only onethat's the curveball, it's ryan
peters pgh.
Uh, but even still, I have madeit now that on instagram, if
you search peters pasta, I'm thefirst one that comes up.
So, uh, peters pasta everywhereis the the best way to find me
and the need to know podcast hasits own handle.
Doug (28:16):
Correct, instagram is right.
Yeah, need to uh poof I?
Ryan (28:19):
I don't even know, I have it I have it.
Doug (28:22):
I did, I did my, I did slight research.
Rebecca (28:24):
That's why I need you so and the knead to know
podcasts.
Doug (28:28):
handle is knead to know podcast and the word knead is
like kneading dough.
Ryan (28:33):
Correct, that's right.
Yeah, it'll play on words.
I love it.
Doug (28:37):
Ryan, I always have an ending question for our guests.
The name of the show is thePittsburgh Dish.
Yeah, what's the best dishyou've eaten this past week?
Ryan (28:48):
Ooh you're probably gonna have to edit around this a
little bit, because I gottathink it happens every time.
Yeah, big pause, and I honestlyI was.
I've listened to enough of yourepisodes that I was prepared
for, but I also wasn't at thesame time.
Like I, I usually try to likeget myself ready for podcasts,
like questions that I know thatthey always ask and I forgot
this time.
(29:08):
Um, well, we don't eat out.
That much is the problemanymore.
Ever since we we had a kid, wejust don't.
It's okay.
Home food counts, okay.
So it's hard for me to say thebest thing I've eaten is well,
it's not hard for me to say that, but ever since our son was
born, we just don't eat outanymore.
Before our son, we used to eatout nearly every single night.
(29:30):
We would just have a rotationof restaurants that were our
go-to.
Every single night, we wouldjust have a rotation of
restaurants that were our go-to.
So if it was a couple of yearsago, I'd pick one of those, but
that's not the case.
So I would say the best thingin the past week is and this
will be a little promo teaserfor a video that might even be
out by the time this comes out,but I just made an incredible.
I have a really nice pizza ovenat home and we made a video on
(29:53):
a Detroit style pizza that Imade and it was topped with
pepperoni, burrata, hot honeyand pesto and it was fantastic.
Doug (30:04):
It sounds amazing it was so good.
Ryan (30:06):
It was really really good.
I just like I don't always naileverything I make, but I nailed
this one.
It was just, it was really good.
Doug (30:13):
I love Detroit pizza because I love the crust, so
crispy on the edges, yeah.
And hot honey might be my newfavorite thing on pizza.
It's so good, wow.
Yeah, ryan Peters, thank you somuch for being on the
Pittsburgh Dish, of course.
Thank you for having me Up next.
Where are you brunching lately?
For Rebecca Hansborough, it's ahot spot in the Strip District.
(30:36):
Hey everybody, we're joinedtoday with Rebecca Hansborough
of The_41_chew on Instagram and,Rebecca, I was wondering have
you been anywhere recently, sayfor brunch?
That was a real standout to you.
Rebecca (30:50):
Yeah, so not too long ago, with some foodie friends
actually, I went to Balvanera oh, down in the strip district,
yeah, in the strip district forbrunch and it was absolutely
delicious.
Doug (31:00):
So they're an Argentinian restaurant.
I've known about them fordinner, but I don't think I know
about them doing brunch.
Rebecca (31:07):
Yeah, their brunch is really good.
I feel like they have a goodamount of options like the
standards.
I got like an eggs benedictdish that was very good and for
me, when I get eggs benedict,for me the most important part
is obviously the egg.
Do you pass the egg test andpass the egg test and as soon as
I cut it, you know it was kindof dripping off the side of the
toast, and that's, that'sdefinitely what you want to see
(31:28):
it needs to be that soft poach.
Yes, it has to be like theperfect amount.
It was a perfect amount.
It was really good.
Um, I think there was anotherperson that got steak and eggs,
which is a classic which lookedreally good yes um.
The eggs looked like perfectover easy, which I feel like is
typically really hard forrestaurants to get especially
because, like if you've evermade an egg before, especially
(31:50):
over easy, by the time you'releaving the kitchen it's
probably gonna get pretty hard.
Doug (31:54):
I can't make an over easy.
By the time you're leaving thekitchen, it's probably going to
get pretty hard.
HongChing (31:57):
I can't make an over easy egg.
Oh, I can't I make eggsterribly.
Rebecca (31:59):
So, yeah, that definitely stood out to me.
And then they had some reallygood drinks.
I think I had an espressomartini.
That was pretty tasty.
That would be perfect.
So yeah, it was just like aperfect, like yeah, I've been
experience oh yeah, I love that.
Doug (32:12):
Well, I have also, uh, been there once for sort of some
small bites and cocktails, andthey do in-house meat like cured
meats, and yes, I did stufflike yeah, I actually got a
chorizo plate.
Rebecca (32:24):
Um, it was very good, but I was this was all on me.
I take full responsibility.
I thought that it was going tobe kind of like, um, I guess
like a thicker chorizo.
Yes, maybe the sausage, and thisis more like almost like a deli
cut this is a deli cut yeah soit was very funny because when I
got I kind of wanted to get itas a shareable but it kind of
(32:45):
came out looking like themissing piece of a charcuterie
board.
Yes, um.
So the rest of the girls werekind of like I don't know if
that goes with anything theywere eating.
So I ended up the the pieces ofchorizo and putting them on top
of my Benedict's and it wasactually very tasty.
Doug (33:02):
You might've started something new there.
And they might say do you wantto add a chorizo flight on top
of the?
Rebecca (33:07):
call it the 41chew please.
Doug (33:09):
Exactly.
Rebecca (33:09):
Um, I would love that, I would love to take full credit
, but yeah, it's, it's, but yeah, it's a really nice place.
Doug (33:14):
I love it and you know, sometimes an ordering mistake is
not a mistake.
Rebecca (33:17):
Yeah, no, that's right, it was perfect.
It was.
I just pivoted.
I was like you know what?
This is out here.
It's delicious.
Let's just combine the flavorsand see what I have.
So it was very good.
Doug (33:28):
So Balvanera in the Strip District.
They're great for dinner, buttry them for brunch.
Try them brunch, yeah, so good.
Thanks so much.
Absolutely.
You can follow Rebecca onInstagram at the41chew.
That's the underscore 41underscore chew.
If you're holding on to eggslately for dishes that you deem
(33:51):
worthy, Hong Ching Cheung ofHealthy Heartbeets has one
that's worth the splurge.
Hey everybody, we're back withHong Ching Cheung of Healthy
Heartbeets.
Hong Ching, last time we werehere, we were talking about some
of the cuisine that your dadmade.
So do you have a recipe for usthat's like a family dish?
Or you mentioned your familywas from Hong Kong Any dish that
(34:12):
you still like to make at home.
HongChing (34:15):
Yes, so there is a specific dish that I love to
make, and everyone makes itslightly differently, but this
is the way we made it at home.
When I was younger and I waslearning to cook, this was one
of the first dish that I evermade, and it was tomatoes with
eggs.
It sounds simple and it reallyis.
You top it over rice.
(34:36):
And so simple as it is.
We use tomatoes, cut it up intoslices and you kind of like fry
a little bit, get warmed up inthe pan, you add some oil to it
Sometimes you can add sesame oilor keep it simple like olive
oil and then what you do next isyou add.
(34:57):
One of the secret ingredients Ifound out after making it
several times was actuallyadding the oyster sauce.
Rebecca (35:03):
Oh.
HongChing (35:03):
Yeah, oyster sauce and ketchup, those are the two
main Both.
Whoa yes To bring out thattomato flavoring.
After adding that to it, youkind of like on the side, would
whisk up some eggs so they'rescrambled a bit scramble a bit,
yes, and of course, like before,you kind of pour the eggs in we
.
Doug (35:24):
We personally also are big fan of cornstarch okay, yeah,
in so many of our sauces it's athickener.
HongChing (35:29):
In so many sauces, yes so we would put cornstarch
and water, mix it up togetherand then we'll add it to the
tomatoes.
Doug (35:37):
Yes, tomato paste, that little slurry will thicken
everything up.
HongChing (35:40):
So after that like heats up a bit, that's when you
add in the egg and you mix it in.
So it becomes this, like Idon't know, like this slurry,
this, like you know how, likecurry has?
Doug (35:49):
that kind of thickening, it's like that In the best way,
in the best way, yeah.
HongChing (35:53):
And then you top it a little bit with soy sauce and
white pepper, specifically whitepepper.
Doug (35:58):
Okay.
HongChing (35:59):
And it's simple as that A cozy dish.
I eat it all the time.
Doug (36:04):
Is this for any time of day breakfast, lunch or dinner?
HongChing (36:07):
Yeah, it could be breakfast, lunch or dinner.
I typically eat it for lunch.
Okay it for lunch, okay, soit's like I'm rediscovering some
roots of hong kong right, andthis is something that you eat
at like a diner.
Oh yeah, um, I don't know howto describe it, but it's.
What is that?
Doug (36:24):
word.
It's food for everyone, foreveryone, yeah and it's.
HongChing (36:27):
It's a diner kind of food where, um, I guess, when
you like, go in.
If you're like a constructionworker or something, you're
picking up food.
It's like one of the takeoutboxes.
Doug (36:38):
Yes, that will be your simple meal.
I love that.
Keep doing it, rediscoveringyour roots from cuisine of Hong
Kong.
HongChing (36:46):
Yes, thank you.
Doug (36:48):
Hong Ching.
Thank you so much for sharingthat recipe and thanks for being
on the Pittsburgh Dish.
HongChing (36:52):
Thank you for having us, Doug
Doug (36:56):
You can find Hong Ching Cheung and Julian Figaretti's
Healthy Heartbeats product atlocal markets around Pittsburgh
and give them a follow atHealthy Heartbeets.
That's B-E-E-T-S.
Do you have a recipe?
Share it with us?
Just visit our website at www.
pittsburghdish.
com and look for our share arecipe form.
(37:16):
If you enjoyed the show,consider buying us a coffee for
this episode or supporting theshow monthly.
You can find links to thoseoptions at the bottom of our
show description.
And if you want to follow myown food adventures, you can
find me on social media at DougCooking.
That's our show for this week.
Media at DougCooking.
(37:36):
That's our show for this week.
Thanks again to all of ourguests and contributors and to
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 The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
How does making homemade pastacaptivate millions?
We'll learn all about it fromthis week's guest.
Where are you brunching lately?
For Becca Hansborough, it'sBalvanera.
And if you're coveting eggsright now for dishes that you
(00:25):
deem worthy, we have acomforting family recipe from
Hong Ching Chung.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
Thank you so much for comingover and for being on the show.
Of course, would you introduceyourself to our listeners and
what you have going on right nowin the world of food.
Ryan (00:46):
Yeah, so my name is Ryan Peters.
Most everyone on the internetknows me as Peters Pasta.
I'm a former chef turnedcontent creator.
That's just kind of found my mylane in this world of sharing
my passion for pasta with theworld and being able to do that
in a unique way, in a way that'skind of just, you know, built
this brand for myself.
(01:06):
That, you know, even five yearsago I never thought was
possible, so just allowed me todo.
You know, a lot of cooldifferent things around the
country and but it all kind ofcomes back to pasta, which is
where I wanted it to be.
Yeah.
Doug (01:20):
It's at the core.
Yeah, all right, ryan, that wasa great introduction.
I do just want to say for anyof our listeners out there that
are slightly in the dark aboutyou yeah, almost 8 million
people follow you across all ofyour socials.
I have told you this face toface before.
I don't understand, yeah, Idon't understand.
(01:41):
I mean, I love it for you, Ilove it so much, but the main
action in your video is you'remaking usually egg yolk pasta.
Yep, and I had another sidequestion when do all the whites
go?
Ryan (01:54):
Yeah, so I eat a lot of egg whites.
I've got a chest freezer in mystudio.
It's just little pintcontainers full of egg whites,
yeah.
Doug (02:00):
Yeah, and across the socials.
I think it's like 5 million onTikTok, like two and a half
million on YouTube.
I mean the rest everywhere else.
You're getting close to 800,000on Instagram right now.
It was like the bit of researchI did.
Ryan (02:12):
I love it.
Doug (02:14):
But I think it's such an interesting story because you
were you were a little boredright During COVID that things
were locked down.
Is that when you started doingthese videos?
So?
Ryan (02:23):
it happened right before the pandemic began.
I was working in restaurantsand I'd always been really,
really good at documentingeverything I did as a chef,
whether that be through you knowlittle journal notebook that I
had at work, or photos or videos, or whatever it was.
I just love to document what Idid, even just for to post on
Instagram and get you know.
Rebecca (02:44):
50 likes you know I wasn't doing it for that.
Ryan (02:47):
So I kind of had this backlog of content that I didn't
realize was content.
This was summer of 2019 and myyounger brother was out here
visiting my wife and I and allhe was talking about was TikTok.
Oh, I had never heard of it,but I'm starting to now hear
about it a lot.
At that point, yeah.
So I was like, oh, that'sinteresting, had never heard of
it, but I'm starting to now hearabout it a lot.
At that point, yeah.
So I was like, oh, that'sinteresting.
(03:08):
So I decided to download it andI posted my first video ever on
TikTok at least.
It was a six second clip of memaking cavatelli on a gnocchi
board, and that video got half amillion views overnight.
That's crazy, and that's justkind of where it all began and
it's snowballed into where we'reat today.
Doug (03:27):
Gosh, yeah, and we should probably take a step back.
But I do want to talk moreabout your social climb in the
creator space.
You have been a professionalchef for years.
You went to IUP, indianaUniversity of Pennsylvania.
Ryan (03:41):
Yep In Punxsutawney home of Groundhog's Day.
Doug (03:43):
Did you grow up in the local area?
No, university of Pennsylvania,yep In Punxsutawney, home of
Groundhog's Day.
Ryan (03:45):
Did you grow up in the local area?
No, so I grew up in ReddingPennsylvania Okay, about an hour
outside of Philadelphia, andfrom a very, very young age all
I ever wanted to do was be achef.
Yeah, not really sure wherethat came from, but you know,
new from a young age that's whatI wanted to do.
So in high school went to avo-tech school and then went to
IUP for their one-year culinaryprogram and then just started
(04:06):
working out kind of all over thecountry in different
restaurants and clubs andresorts and things.
You took a long stint down inFlorida, right, yep, I went down
to the Ocean Reef Club in KeyLargo it's the number one
private club in the countryWorked there for one season on
my externship left, came toPittsburgh for the first time
actually and then ended up goingback there for about four years
(04:27):
working as a banquet chef downthere.
Doug (04:29):
Okay, and then there was some Sunday evening in I think
it was 2017, I was having dinner, yeah, outside on the seats in
front of Tako downtown, and thislovely blonde girl.
Ryan (04:44):
Which, by the way, I'll tell you.
I told my wife last night thatI was coming over here today.
I was like I don't know ifyou're gonna remember this guy.
So I showed her you and she'slike, oh, I remember him.
So, yeah, go ahead.
Doug (04:51):
I'm sorry for cutting you off, no no, that's good, I
should have you tell this story.
Yeah, so I was new but I did.
And then I looked over and Isaw this woman take a picture of
her food.
And it was your wife and westruck up a conversation and you
(05:13):
two were about to open yourfirst concept.
Remind us the name.
It was called Brunois, insideof Smallman Galley yeah, one of
the first galley locations herein Pittsburgh, and I love that
space.
It was fantastic, thegrittiness and the whole decor.
Papa J's is in there now, yep.
Ryan (05:30):
And you guys were open for a solid year, right?
Yep, we did a one year.
It was the one year term thatthey had for the class of chefs
at that time and, yeah, it was awhirlwind for sure.
Doug (05:36):
I bet you two were always there.
Your wife is in culinary aswell pastry background.
Ryan (05:41):
So she was yeah, she was my right-hand lady right there
with me and yeah, it was a full,full year of just hard work.
You guys had a solid burger.
Doug (05:50):
I had had that burger several times.
When you guys were open.
Ryan (05:53):
Thank you, yeah, we had some good hits there, for sure.
It was a fun time.
Doug (05:57):
I think it's a great concept for folks to figure out.
Do I want to do this?
How much scale do I want toactually have?
And this is just like the firstbaby steps.
Ryan (06:04):
Yeah, just kind of, let you kind of try things out, test
things, see if you know yourconcept is what you want it to
do, see if owning a restaurantwas what you want it to do, just
because at that point too Iremember, you know, coming from
working in different restaurantsand clubs.
I was never, of course.
I was thinking about, you knowmoney and budget when I was
doing things, but you know,versus then, when it was my own
money.
I'm thinking about, like, whyare we going through two cases
(06:26):
of paper towels this week versusone.
You know what I mean this is avery, very alarming thing, so
definitely eyeopening for sure.
Doug (06:33):
It's so sort of fundamental to get that business
sense.
I remember you didn't havetomato on the burger because
that was sort of a it's out ofseason cost a lot Like why are
we going to put something onthis, meh?
A season yeah, it costs a lot.
Like.
Why are we going to putsomething on this, meh?
Yeah, I like that decision.
You actually told me that once.
Ryan (06:46):
Yeah, my whole idea with that concept not to go too deep
into it was just kind of takethe fine dining approach that I
had and kind of, you know, fusethat with the fast, casual
concept that the galley groupwas, and, um, you know, there
was pros and cons to that.
For sure, we were kind of alittle too ambitious in some
things.
But, um, little things likethat, like the burger, like
there was a lot of techniquethat went into that, but at the
(07:08):
end of the day it was, it washamburger.
It was good, though, yeah itwas really good.
Doug (07:12):
Uh, I do miss that place.
Overall, we'll move on allright.
So you jump around a little bit, even locally in Pittsburgh.
I know you, you did some workover at Ironborn, F ish nor Fowl
.
Yep, that's right.
And then I don't know if I'mmissing.
You know, fill in the patcheshere.
Ryan (07:29):
So then that was the most recent.
I worked my first time inPittsburgh.
I worked at Salt of the Earth,that's right.
That was the first job I everhad in the city.
At that time I wasn't familiarwith Pittsburgh at all.
It was my first time here and Ijust Googled best restaurant in
the city and that was it so.
I applied and kind of worked myway up there.
But then, yeah, salt of theEarth, the Deschantz restaurant
group, Ironborn.
(07:50):
Yeah, it's been a good littlerun.
Doug (07:52):
Yeah, and now you're.
I'd love to ask you how youdescribe to friends and family
what you do now for work,because I have a struggle.
I say I do food media.
I don't really say contentcreation.
I say I do food media, I don'treally say content creation.
Ryan (08:04):
What do you say?
I just content creation, or Ijust make food videos for the
internet?
You know, it's really thatsimple.
Doug (08:08):
And it pays all the bills it does, thankfully Crazy.
Yeah, you have a few otherthings going on.
I mean you've sort of expandedfrom just making egg pasta, and
I should never belittle thatit's not just making egg pasta
People love it.
But you have your own podcast.
I do Tell us a little bit aboutthat.
Ryan (08:24):
Yeah.
So the Knead to Know podcast issomething that I started this
past summer as really just a wayto kind of get out of just
having to do these 45, 60 secondvideos.
You know, obviously I lovedoing those videos I'll always
do those videos but I wanted away to have longer conversations
.
But I wanted a way to havelonger conversations and also,
(08:46):
with that said, over the pastfive years of doing this, I've
been fortunate enough to meetand connect with some really
really incredible people that alot of I really consider really
great friends now, and I wanteda way to kind of bring all those
people together, kind of bringall those people together.
And at the end of the day, Ifound that the one thing that
connects everyone whetherthey're an athlete or a CEO,
(09:08):
another creator, a celebrity andwhatever background they come
from, everybody connects withfood.
Yes, and especially, even moreso, pasta.
Everybody loves pasta,everybody loves pasta.
Yeah.
So it was a way for me to kindof bring all those things
together, bring theseconnections I made, bring my
love for pasta, love for justhaving conversation, and bring
that together with a plate ofpasta.
(09:29):
So it's been fun.
We're about eight episodes inright now and just having fun
with it.
Doug (09:34):
I have to say, as someone that's doing a podcast, you are
a couple levels beyond what Iwould take a bite out of.
You are doing audio and video.
It's mainly more video and it'sentertaining.
And if folks haven't caught anyof the episodes, in most of the
videos you're cooking pasta,you're cooking a dish from
(09:55):
scratch and sometimes you don'teven know what you're going to
cook for them now.
Ryan (10:00):
Yeah, yeah it's.
It was definitely a challengeand it was definitely a a big
undertaking, but I knew I had avision for what I wanted when I
launched it, and there's areason why.
Like I mean, I'm sure somepeople have wondered why we've
only put out the amount ofepisodes that we have and, um,
it's really just come come downto being able to facilitate with
the guests that we're goingafter.
(10:20):
Um, I've, you know, had thestandard that, for the guests
that I bring on the podcast, Iwant them to be one of the best,
most influential people intheir field, and that's a very,
very aggressive stance to takeagainst getting guests.
Yes, and so it's definitelybeen difficult, it hasn't been
easy, but at the same time,we've really landed some
incredible guests that I'm verygrateful for.
Doug (10:47):
And I think that if we can keep on that path, it's just
it's really something special.
Ryan (10:49):
Let's remind listeners some of the guests you've had on
so far, yeah, so we've had,I've been.
We've had Larry Fitzgerald wehad him as his the first
interview that he had on the daythat he got inducted into the
hall of fame.
We had Derek Shelton in themiddle of the pirates baseball
season, the pirates manager Abbyand Josh Herbert, Katie Feeney
she's a social media phenom.
Doug (11:04):
All those folks are local here as well.
Pittsburgh State College rightYep exactly.
Ryan (11:08):
We just recently had Farmer Lee Jones, who we had
chatted about In the culinaryworld specifically.
He's just an icon, oh my goshyeah he's One of my favorites so
far.
Doug (11:17):
just secretly, because I need to go there, I'm going to
bring you out there.
Oh my gosh, I would love that.
Ryan (11:22):
You would absolutely love it.
It's a culinary wonderland.
It's really incredible.
Doug (11:27):
I'm so happy for you in all of these things, I mean, I
really have to say, since thatchance encounter to just see
your growth and then this crazysuccess that the internet and
social media can provide us, butI do want to sort of pivot to
that.
You've done a lot of thesewonderful creative things, but
you've also done some stuff likegiving back.
(11:48):
So, I especially noticedOutreached Arms.
I've worked there too.
Can you tell folks a little bitabout that and how you got
involved with them?
Ryan (11:56):
Yeah, so it's going to be a long way to get to that answer
, but I have to give the context.
So in January of last year I soin my studio at home where I
film all my videos, I have arefrigerator that sole purpose
is just to keep eggs.
I go through so many eggs that Ineed one just for eggs.
So January of last year I forsome reason only had one dozen
(12:18):
eggs in that fridge and I waslike, what am I going to do?
I need to make a video withthis.
So I decided to make a videowith one egg yolk and I would
spin the voiceover as I'm goingto double it every day and
whatever See where it goes, notthinking how fast that would
compound, yes, the math nerdsout there were like, oh, this is
going to get good yeah.
I'm good at pasta.
I'm not good at math Me neitherso I did that one.
(12:40):
The video went insanely viral,so I just I kept going.
I did one, I did two andwhatever, so on and so forth,
and when we got to 512 eggs, Irealized at that point, if I
wanted to do that one, I need tofind a way to offload this
pasta, because at that point, upuntil then I was just obviously
eating it my family, friends,neighbors, whatever.
(13:00):
But especially, coming from aculinary background, I do
everything I can to limit foodwaste there's gonna there's
gonna be food waste and contentcreation there is, but I think
that we can do what we can tolimit that, and so I couldn't,
with a clear, conscious, do 512egg pasta without a way to use
that pasta right.
So I reached out to a coupleorganizations here in pittsburgh
(13:21):
and got linked up with outreacharms and I got on the phone
with Rob, the director there,and I don't think he realized
what I was doing or anything,obviously not.
And I was just like hey man, I'mmaking a big batch of pasta.
I hear you guys can feedhomeless, can feed those who
need food.
Can we link up on this?
And so it worked out.
(13:42):
They were able to take all thatpasta from that batch and then
from there forward we were justkind of able to link with them
and facilitate getting all thisfood out.
Doug (13:52):
You've done it more than once now, or more than one
events with them.
Ryan (13:55):
Yeah, we did 512 that went to them.
We did one when we did the 1000egg batch.
We ended up filming that attheir location downtown.
Um, we did the 2 000 egg batchthere and then we also did 4 000
egg batch there.
So what, yeah?
Doug (14:10):
goodness, a lot of pasta.
That is a lot, wow.
And you end up linking up withmr beast for some ungodly amount
of eggs, right?
Yeah, that one was wild.
Ryan (14:20):
We after we did the 4 000 I mean actually after we did a
thousand I told everybody myvideographers, everybody like,
hey, we're done, yeah, I can'tdo anymore, because everyone
sees the 45 second video.
But they don't realize theamount of work that like goes
into that.
Doug (14:33):
It's no painstakingly hard work I have to just tell you as
a side note, when I makesomething like um pastry cream
and I'm dealing with a bunch ofeggs, I kind of get a little
wheezy after a while.
So I don't know how you do it,yeah.
Ryan (14:46):
I've built it up now, um, so I told everybody we were done
.
And then, after we did 4,000,again I told everybody we're
done.
But I joked with my team.
I was like, unless Mr Beastreaches out, biggest creator in
the world like that's, you know,the only way it's possible.
And sure enough, we posted thatvideo and two days later they
reached out and said, hey, like,we want to do it, but we want
(15:09):
to round up to 10,000 eggs, like, are you interested?
And I was like, yeah, of course, like, so, yeah, then again, of
course, we've made this giant,giant, 10,000 egg pasta video.
Um, and then we're able to feedthousands of people with that
food.
So it's really, reallyincredible.
Doug (15:22):
Where did you shoot?
Ryan (15:23):
the this big one with, so that we went down to his
headquarters in Greenville,north Carolina.
Yes, uh, we were there forabout a week or so.
Um got linked up with some soupkitchens down there and it's a
win win all around.
Great content, but then alsojust doing something really
really good.
I love it.
Yeah, this is Ryan Peters ofPeters Pasta and you're
listening to The Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (15:43):
Ryan, I want to pivot a little bit too.
You know you've made some greatconnections with these other,
like mega creators, yeah.
But you also have such a strongconnection you hinted at it
earlier with the sportscommunity, yeah.
Has sports always been justlike a big thing in your life?
I love sports, of course.
I'm a sports fanatic.
Ryan (16:00):
You are, and it's funny too, because growing up outside
of Philadelphia, I grew upPhiladelphia sports fan.
Yeah.
Doug (16:08):
You don't want to say that too loud around.
Ryan (16:10):
Pittsburgh Exactly, you know.
But once I started working inrestaurants and things I you
know I was working so much as achef that I really wasn't even
paying attention to sportsanymore.
So I kind of got removed fromthat for nearly 10 years and
then, as I then moved back toPittsburgh and started to have
some more time, I just kind offell in love with the Pittsburgh
sports culture.
And so when I launched my brandof Peter's pasta to kind of tie
(16:33):
into sports, there was twothings that I wanted people to
always think of when theythought of my page was pasta,
obviously, but then alsoPittsburgh, and then so to be
able to tie in Pittsburgh sportsteams but then also now dozens
of other sports organizationsaround the country, was really,
really fun for me, just as a fanof the sport.
Doug (16:50):
Well, we should expand upon this.
So somehow you were able to goto a lot of different stadiums,
stadiums and fields and makepasta, like on the field or on
the sideline or somewhere likehow, how does this get going?
Ryan (17:04):
yeah, so there's two, two parts to it, and I won't go too
deep and tell me to shut upwhenever you know, I love it I
love it.
um, so I kind of had this bigsuccess, this big blow up on
social media during the pandemic, when we're all stuck at home,
right.
And here I was thinking, man,I'm like the man right now, but
I can't go to hollywood or anyof these cool things that I see
every influencer doing andthings, and so I was like, all
(17:26):
right, well, how can I the pastaguy do cool stuff?
Yeah, what's your niche.
Everybody kind of told me thatlike, oh, like, forget about it.
Like, unless you're doing stuffbesides pasta, like you're not
going to be successful.
So I was like, all right, cool.
So as things started to open upfrom the pandemic and things
were happening again, I reachedout to I think I already had a
(17:47):
connection with the Steelerssocial media team.
So I reached out to them andwas like, hey, I have this crazy
idea.
Let me come to the field andmake a batch of pasta at the
stadium.
And I wish I like stillremembered word for word what
they said.
But they were definitely likethat's really weird.
But they said, yes, that's theonly thing I needed, that's the
(18:09):
only thing you needed, right?
So I went there and very, verypoorly shot video, just not good
at all, but I did it.
And the video didn't even likeperform that well, but I now had
the first one done.
And then I did it with thepittsburgh penguins as well and
I was like all right, that wasfun, I enjoyed that.
It was kind of getting me outof the kitchen per se, yeah, um,
(18:29):
but you're still doing thething you love, exactly, you're
at places you love, right?
So I look at that as a way toreally turn that into something
more than just like a one or twooff thing.
So a couple other teams aroundthe country saw those videos and
I'll never forget.
The Chicago Bears reached out tome after one of them and was
like hey, like we'd love for youto come out to our preseason
(18:50):
fan fest thing, do your thinghere.
And I was like all right, cool,like how does this work?
You pay me, do you fly me out?
And they're like no, none ofthat.
No, okay.
And I was like, uh, I just forsome reason I had a gut feeling
that I should go, that I need tojust pay my way out there.
(19:10):
So I remember going upstairs toour bedroom to my wife and I
was like, hey, babe, I'm goingto go to Chicago to do a collab
with the bears.
And she got all excited.
She's like that's awesome.
Like when are they flying youout?
I was like they're not.
I was like I'm going to driveout there and I think it's going
to work.
So I ended up packing up thecar, drove to Chicago, did a
collab with the Bears While Iwas out there, when I was going
to rest stops and stuff, I wasjust DMing other Chicago teams
(19:31):
and stuff, trying to double downon this.
Yeah, while you're there,exactly.
So while I was there, I did theBears.
I was able to get in contactwith the Chicago White Sox
baseball team, did a collab withthem, did a collab with the
Chicago Bulls, then on the driveback I stopped in Detroit, did
(19:52):
a collab with the Detroit Tigers.
So I was able to hit four teamsin a two-day period.
So smart, yeah.
And then that's when it reallyblew up.
And I think now we've been toprobably two or three dozen
different stadiums.
I've done it besides justsports too.
We've done it on top of theempire state building, in the
middle of a Walmart, um, golfcourses, nascar tracks, cruise
ships.
Really, the whole idea behindthat whole series is just making
(20:12):
pasta where you shouldn't makepasta.
Doug (20:15):
And it's allowed me, from a business perspective, to like
blend what I do with anythingLike you actually kind of
triumphed what you heard earlieras a negative, like oh, you're
not going to make it if youdon't do exactly doing your same
thing or do something else, Yep.
And I think you also hinted ata couple of things that are kind
of strange in the creator space, Like yes, we can get monetized
(20:37):
on some of the social mediaplatforms, but then you start
getting offered things, but dothey pay and don't they pay?
And then how do you developyour own self-worth and advocate
for yourself?
To say no to someone in theearly stages?
It's super hard, right.
Ryan (20:53):
Yeah, it's very, very hard , just kind of believing in what
you're doing and knowing yourworth, and I think too, I just
want to make a note on, likewhen people would tell me that,
um, and still people to this daytell people like, hey, you
shouldn't like niche down toohard or whatever.
I think I disagree with thatbecause I think that you can.
You just have to be smarter andhave a better strategy for what
(21:14):
you do, because I think mostpeople on paper would look at a
pasta creator collaborating withthe nfl or with a cruise line
or whatever.
It just doesn't make sense.
But I think that if you can,you know, present it in a way
that is different and unique andjust resonates with the
audience, then proof is in theconcept and it just if it works,
it works.
Doug (21:35):
I have to say as a marketing thought, because it
doesn't make sense is why itmakes sense to me, like it's
just crazy.
Why is this guy here?
Ryan (21:42):
Yeah, and then honestly, once I started doing a couple of
them, the audience was just soenamored with where is he going
to be next and they becameinvolved with it and it just
became this really, reallyorganic thing.
That was just a lot of fun.
I love it.
Doug (21:54):
You know you're making your way now into this great
creator space, all of thesefollowers, and coming back to
sort of the soul of it all, Iwant to talk a little bit about
your love of pasta.
You mentioned you grew up inReading.
What was food life like growingup?
I mean, did you cook from anearly age or were people cooking
for you?
(22:14):
When did that start before theculinary?
Ryan (22:19):
experience.
So I grew up a single mother.
She cooked a ton.
That was very important for her.
It was just kind of alwaysmaking sure that we had a home
cooked meal nearly every singlenight and I'll give her credit.
I mean she was working a tonand that's mad credit.
Yeah, it's not great.
I mean I have trouble sometimeand you know, making food for my
wife and my son and so, yeah, Igive her a ton of credit that.
(22:40):
And it's not like she wasmaking these fine dining crazy
things.
She was making home-cookedmeals but they were fantastic
and so I would always, you know,bobble around the kitchen
helping her and things like that.
And then as I got older, youknow, maybe seven, eight, nine,
I'd start, you know, playingrestaurant and cooking.
You know something for her,whatever it may be.
But yeah, I mean food.
(23:00):
For me as a kid growing up, itwas just very, very simple.
It wasn't.
It wasn't anything special toit.
I mean it was special, you know.
Yeah.
But, not elaborate yet CorrectNothing crazy.
Yeah, it took quite a few yearsfor it to really develop, do
you remember?
Your first memories of pasta?
Like did your mom makespaghetti at home?
(23:21):
Like, where did this come from?
I love you, mom, but I don'tremember you making fresh pasta.
Doug (23:24):
Oh, my family never did.
I can remember like at age Ithink it was eight or nine I
knew how to boil the box ofpasta and heat up the sauce in
what we would call like doctorit up, which was meaning to add
sugar and garlic salt.
Ryan (23:37):
Some Italian seasoning or something.
Yeah, I mean, I don't rememberhaving a moment where I had that
pasta moment.
So is this adulthood?
I don't remember having amoment where I had that pasta
moment, yeah, so is thisadulthood?
Doug (23:46):
Is this like something from the culinary experience?
I think it would be adulthood.
I'm going to learn this and I'mgoing to champion this and yeah
, well, so that story comes soin.
Ryan (23:55):
I want to say I don't remember what year it was.
It was probably 2017, 2018,maybe 20, probably 2018.
Maybe 20, probably 2018.
I was, and at that point I hadmade pasta countless times in
restaurants and stuff, but neverreally thought much of it.
I just I knew how to do it, Iwas good at it, but it was just
another task of the day, right.
(24:16):
But at one point in 2018, I wasat home with my wife and I and
I made a batch of pasta fordinner, made some sauce and, for
whatever reason, that pastaturned out great, it was
delicious, we both enjoyed it.
And so I woke up the next dayand I made another pound of
pasta.
I went to work, came home,rolled it out, made it into a
shape.
I was like, oh, that's good.
(24:37):
I went 64 days in a row ofmaking a pound of pasta every
day, every day at home.
Row of making a pound of pastaevery day, every day at home,
every single day.
Wow, and that was the switch ofmy career where, you know, I
think a lot of young chefs andcooks struggle with finding
where they want to placethemselves in this world.
You know, uh, which is hard.
There's so many different lanesthat you can go in and I had
(24:57):
found, like that was that lightbulb moment for me.
It was like I'm going to be apasta chef.
Doug (25:01):
This is my place in the food world.
This is it, yeah.
Ryan (25:04):
I had found my like real, like obviously passion, like my
passion was food and cooking,but this was like, really,
really it yeah.
So I took those 64 days, gotobsessed with it and that's when
it things started shifting andI was like, all right, I'm going
to find, you know, italianrestaurants and pasta focused
restaurants to work in and justreally kind of fell in love with
the art and craft of pastamaking, because I think that so
(25:26):
many people, when they think ofit or when they make it, it's
just flour and eggs or flour andwater.
It's this very simple thingthat, yeah, on paper it's simple
, but it really is very, verydeep and very, very complex that
I just fell in love with.
Doug (25:41):
Usually when it's the fewer ingredients, it has to be
like technique and love.
That kind of comes in andactually makes that whole dish
shine.
Ryan (25:49):
I tell people all the time that, like with a pasta dish,
people ask me like the key tomaking really, really great
pasta, and I tell them it's tohave the best flour and the best
eggs you can get, because thisisn't, you know, a braised
French red wine dish where youcan hide behind red wine and
butter and aromatics and things.
Pasta is simple and you have tohave great ingredients and
(26:10):
great technique and, like yousaid, simplicity is it's easy to
mess up.
Easy to mess up yeah.
Doug (26:16):
It's hard to really nail, it's hard to perfect it Exactly
yeah, okay, ryan, so I think I'mgonna move us forward a little
bit.
So you have a lot still goingon right now.
Yeah, but I would love to askuh, what's on the horizon for
you?
What's what's ahead?
Any new goals, any new eventsor projects coming up?
Ryan (26:34):
man, there's a ton um, I think it's hard for me to like
put out actual goals.
Sounds weird to say, but Idon't do it either.
I just want to keep doing that.
That's I don't do it either.
I just want to keep doing that,that's.
The thing is for me is like Ijust want to keep like
progressing and keep gettingbetter and keep pushing out more
, and so I think the goal isjust that is, to keep growing
(26:54):
the brand um in a lot ofdifferent ways.
That's not just content.
That's the podcast, that's longform content, that's, you know,
products that can be on theshelves or whatever it may be
Cookbooks.
I think there's a lot ofdifferent ways.
I I I've been doing this nowfor almost six years, and yet I
still feel like I'm just gettingstarted.
Yeah, so I feel like I justthere's still so much I can do.
(27:18):
Really, though, in the next 12months, um, I just expect a lot
of growth from all aspects ofthe business, not just the
content that everyone seesforward facing that there's just
kind of always stuff going onin the background to keep things
growing.
Doug (27:33):
I love it.
Yeah, so we will see more needto know podcast episodes.
We will still see some morepasta making videos, maybe with
some sauce.
Yep, I just noticed one, ohyeah, and it looked really good.
It was fantastic.
Ryan, if there is someone outthere under a rock that's not
following you right now, couldyou remind us all of your social
(27:54):
handles or your website?
Ryan (27:56):
Yep, it's just.
I mean, if you search PetersPasta anywhere, that's the best
way to find it.
Instagram is the only onethat's the curve ball.
It's Ryan Peters.
Anywhere, that's the best wayto find it.
Instagram is the only onethat's the curveball, it's ryan
peters pgh.
Uh, but even still, I have madeit now that on instagram, if
you search peters pasta, I'm thefirst one that comes up.
So, uh, peters pasta everywhereis the the best way to find me
and the need to know podcast hasits own handle.
Doug (28:16):
Correct, instagram is right.
Yeah, need to uh poof I?
Ryan (28:19):
I don't even know, I have it I have it.
Doug (28:22):
I did, I did my, I did slight research.
Rebecca (28:24):
That's why I need you so and the knead to know
podcasts.
Doug (28:28):
handle is knead to know podcast and the word knead is
like kneading dough.
Ryan (28:33):
Correct, that's right.
Yeah, it'll play on words.
I love it.
Doug (28:37):
Ryan, I always have an ending question for our guests.
The name of the show is thePittsburgh Dish.
Yeah, what's the best dishyou've eaten this past week?
Ryan (28:48):
Ooh you're probably gonna have to edit around this a
little bit, because I gottathink it happens every time.
Yeah, big pause, and I honestlyI was.
I've listened to enough of yourepisodes that I was prepared
for, but I also wasn't at thesame time.
Like I, I usually try to likeget myself ready for podcasts,
like questions that I know thatthey always ask and I forgot
this time.
(29:08):
Um, well, we don't eat out.
That much is the problemanymore.
Ever since we we had a kid, wejust don't.
It's okay.
Home food counts, okay.
So it's hard for me to say thebest thing I've eaten is well,
it's not hard for me to say that, but ever since our son was
born, we just don't eat outanymore.
Before our son, we used to eatout nearly every single night.
(29:30):
We would just have a rotationof restaurants that were our
go-to.
Every single night, we wouldjust have a rotation of
restaurants that were our go-to.
So if it was a couple of yearsago, I'd pick one of those, but
that's not the case.
So I would say the best thingin the past week is and this
will be a little promo teaserfor a video that might even be
out by the time this comes out,but I just made an incredible.
I have a really nice pizza ovenat home and we made a video on
(29:53):
a Detroit style pizza that Imade and it was topped with
pepperoni, burrata, hot honeyand pesto and it was fantastic.
Doug (30:04):
It sounds amazing it was so good.
Ryan (30:06):
It was really really good.
I just like I don't always naileverything I make, but I nailed
this one.
It was just, it was really good.
Doug (30:13):
I love Detroit pizza because I love the crust, so
crispy on the edges, yeah.
And hot honey might be my newfavorite thing on pizza.
It's so good, wow.
Yeah, ryan Peters, thank you somuch for being on the
Pittsburgh Dish, of course.
Thank you for having me Up next.
Where are you brunching lately?
For Rebecca Hansborough, it's ahot spot in the Strip District.
(30:36):
Hey everybody, we're joinedtoday with Rebecca Hansborough
of The_41_chew on Instagram and,Rebecca, I was wondering have
you been anywhere recently, sayfor brunch?
That was a real standout to you.
Rebecca (30:50):
Yeah, so not too long ago, with some foodie friends
actually, I went to Balvanera oh, down in the strip district,
yeah, in the strip district forbrunch and it was absolutely
delicious.
Doug (31:00):
So they're an Argentinian restaurant.
I've known about them fordinner, but I don't think I know
about them doing brunch.
Rebecca (31:07):
Yeah, their brunch is really good.
I feel like they have a goodamount of options like the
standards.
I got like an eggs benedictdish that was very good and for
me, when I get eggs benedict,for me the most important part
is obviously the egg.
Do you pass the egg test andpass the egg test and as soon as
I cut it, you know it was kindof dripping off the side of the
toast, and that's, that'sdefinitely what you want to see
(31:28):
it needs to be that soft poach.
Yes, it has to be like theperfect amount.
It was a perfect amount.
It was really good.
Um, I think there was anotherperson that got steak and eggs,
which is a classic which lookedreally good yes um.
The eggs looked like perfectover easy, which I feel like is
typically really hard forrestaurants to get especially
because, like if you've evermade an egg before, especially
(31:50):
over easy, by the time you'releaving the kitchen it's
probably gonna get pretty hard.
Doug (31:54):
I can't make an over easy.
By the time you're leaving thekitchen, it's probably going to
get pretty hard.
HongChing (31:57):
I can't make an over easy egg.
Oh, I can't I make eggsterribly.
Rebecca (31:59):
So, yeah, that definitely stood out to me.
And then they had some reallygood drinks.
I think I had an espressomartini.
That was pretty tasty.
That would be perfect.
So yeah, it was just like aperfect, like yeah, I've been
experience oh yeah, I love that.
Doug (32:12):
Well, I have also, uh, been there once for sort of some
small bites and cocktails, andthey do in-house meat like cured
meats, and yes, I did stufflike yeah, I actually got a
chorizo plate.
Rebecca (32:24):
Um, it was very good, but I was this was all on me.
I take full responsibility.
I thought that it was going tobe kind of like, um, I guess
like a thicker chorizo.
Yes, maybe the sausage, and thisis more like almost like a deli
cut this is a deli cut yeah soit was very funny because when I
got I kind of wanted to get itas a shareable but it kind of
(32:45):
came out looking like themissing piece of a charcuterie
board.
Yes, um.
So the rest of the girls werekind of like I don't know if
that goes with anything theywere eating.
So I ended up the the pieces ofchorizo and putting them on top
of my Benedict's and it wasactually very tasty.
Doug (33:02):
You might've started something new there.
And they might say do you wantto add a chorizo flight on top
of the?
Rebecca (33:07):
call it the 41chew please.
Doug (33:09):
Exactly.
Rebecca (33:09):
Um, I would love that, I would love to take full credit
, but yeah, it's, it's, but yeah, it's a really nice place.
Doug (33:14):
I love it and you know, sometimes an ordering mistake is
not a mistake.
Rebecca (33:17):
Yeah, no, that's right, it was perfect.
It was.
I just pivoted.
I was like you know what?
This is out here.
It's delicious.
Let's just combine the flavorsand see what I have.
So it was very good.
Doug (33:28):
So Balvanera in the Strip District.
They're great for dinner, buttry them for brunch.
Try them brunch, yeah, so good.
Thanks so much.
Absolutely.
You can follow Rebecca onInstagram at the41chew.
That's the underscore 41underscore chew.
If you're holding on to eggslately for dishes that you deem
(33:51):
worthy, Hong Ching Cheung ofHealthy Heartbeets has one
that's worth the splurge.
Hey everybody, we're back withHong Ching Cheung of Healthy
Heartbeets.
Hong Ching, last time we werehere, we were talking about some
of the cuisine that your dadmade.
So do you have a recipe for usthat's like a family dish?
Or you mentioned your familywas from Hong Kong Any dish that
(34:12):
you still like to make at home.
HongChing (34:15):
Yes, so there is a specific dish that I love to
make, and everyone makes itslightly differently, but this
is the way we made it at home.
When I was younger and I waslearning to cook, this was one
of the first dish that I evermade, and it was tomatoes with
eggs.
It sounds simple and it reallyis.
You top it over rice.
(34:36):
And so simple as it is.
We use tomatoes, cut it up intoslices and you kind of like fry
a little bit, get warmed up inthe pan, you add some oil to it
Sometimes you can add sesame oilor keep it simple like olive
oil and then what you do next isyou add.
(34:57):
One of the secret ingredients Ifound out after making it
several times was actuallyadding the oyster sauce.
Rebecca (35:03):
Oh.
HongChing (35:03):
Yeah, oyster sauce and ketchup, those are the two
main Both.
Whoa yes To bring out thattomato flavoring.
After adding that to it, youkind of like on the side, would
whisk up some eggs so they'rescrambled a bit scramble a bit,
yes, and of course, like before,you kind of pour the eggs in we
.
Doug (35:24):
We personally also are big fan of cornstarch okay, yeah,
in so many of our sauces it's athickener.
HongChing (35:29):
In so many sauces, yes so we would put cornstarch
and water, mix it up togetherand then we'll add it to the
tomatoes.
Doug (35:37):
Yes, tomato paste, that little slurry will thicken
everything up.
HongChing (35:40):
So after that like heats up a bit, that's when you
add in the egg and you mix it in.
So it becomes this, like Idon't know, like this slurry,
this, like you know how, likecurry has?
Doug (35:49):
that kind of thickening, it's like that In the best way,
in the best way, yeah.
HongChing (35:53):
And then you top it a little bit with soy sauce and
white pepper, specifically whitepepper.
Doug (35:58):
Okay.
HongChing (35:59):
And it's simple as that A cozy dish.
I eat it all the time.
Doug (36:04):
Is this for any time of day breakfast, lunch or dinner?
HongChing (36:07):
Yeah, it could be breakfast, lunch or dinner.
I typically eat it for lunch.
Okay it for lunch, okay, soit's like I'm rediscovering some
roots of hong kong right, andthis is something that you eat
at like a diner.
Oh yeah, um, I don't know howto describe it, but it's.
What is that?
Doug (36:24):
word.
It's food for everyone, foreveryone, yeah and it's.
HongChing (36:27):
It's a diner kind of food where, um, I guess, when
you like, go in.
If you're like a constructionworker or something, you're
picking up food.
It's like one of the takeoutboxes.
Doug (36:38):
Yes, that will be your simple meal.
I love that.
Keep doing it, rediscoveringyour roots from cuisine of Hong
Kong.
HongChing (36:46):
Yes, thank you.
Doug (36:48):
Hong Ching.
Thank you so much for sharingthat recipe and thanks for being
on the Pittsburgh Dish.
HongChing (36:52):
Thank you for having us, Doug
Doug (36:56):
You can find Hong Ching Cheung and Julian Figaretti's
Healthy Heartbeats product atlocal markets around Pittsburgh
and give them a follow atHealthy Heartbeets.
That's B-E-E-T-S.
Do you have a recipe?
Share it with us?
Just visit our website at www.
pittsburghdish.
com and look for our share arecipe form.
(37:16):
If you enjoyed the show,consider buying us a coffee for
this episode or supporting theshow monthly.
You can find links to thoseoptions at the bottom of our
show description.
And if you want to follow myown food adventures, you can
find me on social media at DougCooking.
That's our show for this week.
Media at DougCooking.
(37:36):
That's our show for this week.
Thanks again to all of ourguests and contributors and to
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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