@ForkReport Hour 1 | We welcome back Sandra from Amour

Technique of the Week: Hotdogs. Sandra from Amour complete last week’s interview promoting their Wednesday Jazz Nights.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, it's Neil Savedra. You'relistening to kfi EM six forty the fore
Purport on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Hey everybody, it's the Fore Report,
all Things Food, beverage beyond.I am your well Fed host,
Neil Savedra. How do you do? Happy Saturday to you? A little
different of a Saturday, Holy smokes. Last weekend we had to pivot hard

(00:20):
for breaking news the assassination attempt onDonald Trump at his rally. But today
is a new day and we tipour hat to the family that lost a
husband, a dad, a son, and at all and all the garbage
that comes with that man, allthe conspiracy theories and all the craziness.

(00:43):
Well, today we're moving to theside of all of that with prayers and
thoughts to those that were affected,and we're celebrating life. We're celebrating life
today as we do every weekend,and celebrating one of the things that makes
life worth living, and that's goodfood. Right. So for Technique of
the Week today, since we kindof had to, you know, recreate

(01:04):
things, we're gonna have some folksthat didn't get to join us last week,
like Doghouse, and we'll talk aboutthem coming in, so we'll have
some hot dogs. Of course,July being hot Dog National hot Dog Month,
I thought I'm gonna do I'm gonnatalk about hot dogs a little bit
because I think they're one of thosethings that that people kind of put aside

(01:29):
and they go, yeah, it'sa sausage and it's tasty, and they
put it in a bunt and everything'sgood. So let's talk about hot dogs,
shall we. We love them herein America, and we've had an
affair with this sausage for a longtime and they out sell a lot of
other foods. And it's no surprisebecause they're very easy to grab and go.

(01:52):
You dress them up, you dressthem down, you grill them,
you boil them, you broil them, tons of ways to cook them.
So here's the question, what exactlyis a hot thug. Well, it's
a sausage. But the thing thatmakes it different from a sausage and the

(02:13):
sausages you might be used to,is that it's been finely ground and mixed
with spices. Then it's cooked.It's got a smooth texture inside, and
that's about how it's made. Thisis similar to balogney. This is similar
to brats because when you look atother types of sausages, they're chopped or

(02:38):
diced meat inside mixed with fat andseasoning, right, and they are in
the casing, either natural or manufactured, and they're cooked that way. If
I'm cooking a sausage on the grill, for instance, I don't cut it,

(02:59):
open, poke it, I don'tdo anything because the juices will come
out of it. But what youhave with a hot dog is a mulcification.
That means it's blended in such away that the fats and the lean
is mixed together. So if you'veever seen me cook hot dog, you

(03:20):
know that I do the crosshatching.I cut it on the side. Sometimes
I'll do a spiral cut. Someof that I got from my dad used
to do the same thing too.I never knew why. But the purpose
of it is one it won't spillthe juices out because it's a mulcified on
the inside. The same texture islike blogna, right. And the second
thing is it causes more surface.When you create more surface, you create

(03:44):
more opportunity for flavoring through the cookingprocess. So that's what I do.
But that really sets them apart.Because other sausages, if you cut them,
poke them, or do anything,all that flavor is going to come
out. Not the same with thehot dogs. So when it comes to
picking the perfect hot dog, qualityis gonna matter. Look for all natural

(04:06):
ones made of beef, pork ora mix of both. Now, as
far as the things that are putinto hot dogs, you're gonna have to
do a deep dive as to whatyou're looking for and why. You can
go and you can break down allof the different flavorings or fillers. Some

(04:27):
have fillers or these types of things, And I'm telling you it's good to
take the time to look and learnabout that. But once you've got that
hot dog, then you shift.It's all about the bun, right,
Some swear by soft steamed buns.Not strangely enough, that was my nickname
in prison. Oh boy, herecomes soft steam buns again. All right,

(04:53):
break it up, fellas. It'sa little bit too much of a
visual so you get that bud.I like it softer personally. Sometimes you
can grill the inside of the bottom, fine for that. What I don't
like is when it gets too dryon the outside of the bunt and breaks
up a little bit that's that's notmy jam. Some people like a pretzel

(05:13):
bun. Some people like that littleextra chew or that bite that comes through
the process of making a pretzel,which is the boiling process prior to baking
it off. And then you haveto stand by the method of how you're
going to actually cook the hot dog. And this is where you know,

(05:34):
everything wonderful in life has division controversyfor whatever reason. So how you cook
it and the toppings you put onit that identifies you and what you like
starts getting busted down a bit.So when you're cooking that dog, keep
in mind that the vast majority ofhot dogs are going to be pre cooked,

(05:59):
so you're just forming them up orcausing a little caramelization or some smoke,
additional smoke because a lot of themare smoked, and those types of
things. If you're feeling fancy,you can even deep fry hot dog.
Have you ever had a deep friedhot dog? Good night? Good night?
Just a little little hot oil bath, for it gets crispy on the

(06:21):
outside and just that soft, juicydeliciousness on the inside. I want a
hot dog so bad right now.And you start breaking these things down and
it starts making the perfect hot dog. When you come back, I'll tell
you a couple of different types ofcooking methods, including one called dirty water.
Now, I know a dirty waterdog may not sound delicious to you,

(06:44):
but I'll tell you why it isa good method. And I find
people that are like, no,you never boil a hot dog. It's
like, I remember, Mom,I'm doing that all the time. They're
delicious. I'll tell you a famousguy, a famous Italian and somebody who
put out cookbooks that would boil hishot dogs. When we come back.

(07:05):
You're listening to The Fork Report withNeil Savedra on demand from KFI AM six
forty. Neil Savedra here with theFork Report. Everybody, Howdy, howdy,
howdy, Happy Saturday to you.I can't believe it. The twentieth
of July, the fifty fifth anniversaryof the moon landing today, and you

(07:27):
are being talked to by a manby the name of Neil Edwin Savedra born
in about eight days fifty five yearsago. So I was named after Neil
Armstrong, the first man on themoon, and Edwin buzz Aldrin, the
second man on the moon. Almostnamed Neil Edwin Michael, but my brother
had Michael. My brother Craig hadMichael is his middle name, so they

(07:51):
nixed. That would have been coolto have all three. I'll take them.
But so it's always a day that'sbeen special in my heart and the
thought that we put up a manon the moon and I'll pause for the
crazies to go, no, wedid it. Yeah, we did infinity.
And so it's a very cool dayand something to think about what an

(08:13):
amazing accomplishment that was and what elseyou pivot from that to another great American
thing, like a hot dog talkingabout hot dogs for Technique of the Week,
And it's kind of a hot dogday because we've got Doghouse coming in
and Adam Gertler there, Vurstmacher anda friend's been on the show many many
times here. We love the folksat Doghouse. And I get to sit

(08:37):
down with Henry from he's the presidentof Hoffee Brands, and he invited me
to come out this past week andtour and it just it was insane and
having the opportunity to sit down andtalk to him is pretty amazing, great
insights. Love the guy's energy inthe way he thinks about business as a

(09:01):
service, Like really one of thoseguys is that it or leaders that is,
like all we want to do iswhatever we do has to be the
best. That's it. That's it, and I love that. So we'll
get into that coming up later.But a lot of hot dog stuff,
So that's what we're talking about.So as far as cooking hot dogs,

(09:24):
there's a term called dirty water dogs, and it's just fancy name for simmering
your hot dog in seasoned water,bit of flavor, no real fuss,
and it actually could be incredibly tasty. And a boiled dog is not a
problem for me because the seasoning ison the inside of the dog. But
there's nothing wrong with doing two differentthings. The dog's already cooked, you

(09:46):
can some people will boil it andthen they'll throw it onto a grill or
flat top. But you can deepfry a dog, you can put it
on a flat flattop, you canbroil a dog, you can rill it.
And whatever works for you and whateverbrings the flavor you desire is right

(10:07):
as far as toppings enjoy yourself.Listen, I know that there's all kinds
of crap rules, like if you'reover eight, you shouldn't be putting ketchup
on your hot dog. I don'tcare. I'm gonna put ketchup on my
hot dog. The tastiness of it. I like cold ketchup on a hot

(10:28):
hot dog is nice. I likea little bit of that tang, the
acidity of the vinegar in there.I'm happy with that. Now. Do
I like mustard? Yeah? Classicmustard on their onions? Great? I
even like mail on a hot dog. If I'm putting all those things on
it. If you want sour kraut, good on you, I like that.
Even kim chi depends on my mood. I like grilled peppers on it.

(10:50):
I like grilled onions. I likea good Chicago dog pick pickles,
peppers, or the Sonoran dog ohMan wrapped in bacon. By the way,
I know we're going to be talkingto the folks from Hoffee Brands coming
up. You know they make hotdogs that are pre wrapped in bacon.

(11:11):
Yeah, that's the proper response.OMG. And you can get those and
they're good to go. They're readyto go. You just throw them on
the grill. Sonoran dogs Man.You go to Arizona and the like,
and it really is like somebody said, what do we have in the back
room that's edible? Put it onthat hot dog. But no matter how

(11:35):
you dress it up, a goodhot dog is all about balance. You
want those things together, the texturesright, something creamy like those condiments,
something crunchy, maybe a little bitof spice to tie it all together,
and you know, make it deliciousand fun. And I know they're not
just an American thing, although welove them. People all over the world
have their versions. Sweden does theirswith mashed potatoes, which doesn't sound half

(12:00):
bad. Well in Germany they lovecurry wurst with curry ketchup. That sounds
good as well. So next timeyou're going to cook up some hot dogs
and enjoy them, maybe today youcan experiment a little bit. Nothing wrong
with that. Try different toppings,maybe a new cooking method, a fun
way to enjoy that classic dish.As we all love hot dogs, I

(12:22):
even like a Plaine hot dog.You know, sometimes one of those ones
has been wrapped up at for aminute, like you get at the at
the ballgame, or you get ata park somewhere and the bread's a little
soft, yeah, because it wasI like a burnt one, like one
that's burnt on the grill. Ohthat's my favorite kind a well done hot
dogs. Yeah it's tarred. Soyou wait till everybody gets theirs, and

(12:43):
then you stare and wait for yours. It's a little shriveling, yes it
okay, no judgment. I thinkwe eat what we eat and we enjoy
it. All right, stick around, We've got more to come. Fum.
You're listening to the Fork Report withNil Savedra on demand from how do
you Do this is? It's anice day out today, a beautiful Saturday.

(13:07):
Last Saturday, as you know,there was breaking news and we had
to shift things around. So ina moment, I'm going to bring Sondra
back on. She is the generalmanager of a Moore in West Hollywood.
Or yeah, West Hollywood. Nowe hope we hoe no ho so ho
mahome aeny meanie money no West Hollywood. And will bring on in a moment.

(13:31):
But I forgot to tell you afamous person who wrote cookbooks who liked
to boil his hot dogs. AndI forgot to mention Dom Deloise, the
beloved Dom Delaize, who was adear friend of mine and was very sad
when he passed. He and Ibecame friends because I was a sidekick with

(13:54):
him on KFI when he did afood show like all long, long,
long, long long time ago.And the first time I went to meet
him at his home, he hada big pan filled with boiled hot dogs.
And that was the way I grewup. My mom would throw him
in there and she'd boil them.And it doesn't mean that we didn't grill
them or you know, roast themor broil them or any of those things,

(14:18):
because we did all those things.But I remember that and I was
like, he's basically eating them theway I did. I don't even think
he had buns. It was justlike dipped and ketchup. So that's I
wanted to It reminded me of DomDeluiz, and I wanted to share that
with you, a very very neatman. I'll have to post a picture
of us together. He was gazinginto my bald head like it was a

(14:43):
crystal ball. Makes me laugh tothis day. All Right, So we
got interrupted last week and we weretalking with Sondra and Chef from Amore talking
about Bastille Day, which was laston the fourteenth, last Sunday. But
we really. I mean I hadto to pick at the food during breaking
news and it was fantastic. Butthey've got other stuff going on at the

(15:07):
restaurant. So we brought Sondra back. Welcome back to the Fork Report.
Thanks for having me again. Mypleasure. So I know, everything got
so crazy. The funny thing lastweek was Sondra actually saw over my shoulders
stuff happening that I didn't see becausemy attention was on her and chef talking.

(15:30):
So it was interesting the way everythingwent down. But you have jazz
nights on Wednesdays. Tell us alittle bit about some of the things and
then we'll get into the food again. But some of the things that you're
excited about, like Wednesday jazz nights. Yeah, so we have a wonderful

(15:50):
artist that comes out on Wednesday.His name is Ron and he is behind
Lamara Swings and so he specializes inlike thirty forties jifty jazz kind of jazz
and he'll bring a friend sometimes toplay with him. So last night last
week we actually had well Forbstiage.We had an accordion player with him and

(16:12):
he plays the guitar, the clarinetand ovo around and it's really fun.
And it's just so beautiful and tiesup into the decor so well. So
it's just been really fun seeing that, you know, Wednesday night come alive
with the music. So the WestHollywood is a vibe onto itself. It's

(16:34):
got its own vibe and with aMoore there in West Hollywood, you have
different rooms. Tell us about thethree rooms or the three options or places
where people can experience all that Amorehas to offer. Definitely, So we

(16:56):
have an inside as well as anout or patio, and they're both so
different. And it's funny because italso depends on the time of the day,
and each time of the day we'lloffer, you know, a different
vibe. So the garden really feelsyou know, bright and lively when you

(17:17):
come for the earlier thoughts, andthen at night it comes very it becomes
very you know, dim, veryromantic, and the inside very romantic.
We also have like a little hiddenlibrary where you can write a little note
at the end of your you know, your meal and slide into one of
the books just for keepsaking and tryto find it the next time. I
always tell people write a note toyour future self so you can find it

(17:41):
next time you come in. Wow, write it when you're drunk, so
you can see what you were thinkingwhen you're sober. But it does one
is you know in the day isgoing to be this bright, vibrant,
fresh and at night it gets veryromantic. But looking at the lighting is
so powerful. And some of thewater features, like in the garden that

(18:06):
change. There's even a fireplace whichroom has the fireplace in it. So
when you come through our front door, there's going to be a little hallway
which has a fountain which is kindof like leads into our patio and right
before we have what we called thelounge area, and we have a beautiful
table that actually if you want,you can always request the fireplace and see

(18:29):
if you get lucky enough to getit, and you can sit and have
dinner right there by our wine casesand there's like a big fire and it's
just really beautiful. And that's rightbefore you enter the patio with our little
outdoor bar next to it. Juststunning looking at these pictures, all right,
stick around, Sondra call from amore. We didn't get to complete

(18:52):
our interview last week because of breakingnews. We wanted to have her back
talk about Wednesday Jazz Nights and theirfood, food and the different rooms and
attitudes and vibes of each of thoserooms. We come back, we'll talk
more about the food and how peoplecan experience this restaurant that is only about

(19:12):
six six and a half months oldnow, so it's new, it's fresh,
and it's one that you need toput on your list of must visits.
So stick around and we'll talk morewith Sondra in just a few minutes.
So go know where. You're listeningto The Fork Report with Nil Savedra
on demand from KFI AM six forty. Hey everybody, it is the Fork

(19:34):
Report. Happy Saturday to you.We come together for three hours and celebrate
food every Saturday from two to five. I am your friendly neighborhood Fork reporter
Neil Savedra. How you do anddon't forget, You've got Toala Sharp coming
up at five o'clock was sol CowSaturdays and then Unsolved with Steve Gregory,

(19:56):
then Before the Coast and then Coastto Coast. Am. It starts all
over again tomorrow, So go knowwhere. Right now we are talking with
Sondra from a more in West Hollywood. It's hurts me if I'm wrong Sondra.
It's about six and a half monthsold. The restaurant that's great,
real I believe on December twenty four. Oh cool, so all fresh,

(20:22):
all new, I mean, justa stunning looking place. And I want
to tell you if to check itout, you can go to the website
and find out more a moreweh dotlove so that is a m O r
W e ho dot love and checkout the menu, check out the pictures

(20:42):
of the layout. If you're lookingto do events there, you can set
up an event. They have threerooms, three areas. They also have
gift cards if you're looking to giftsomebody a great dinner. And speaking of
dinner, and we'll get into thedine La stuff because goes through the twenty
six, but talk about the tastingmenus that are outside of the dine La

(21:07):
menu, the stuff that that peoplecan experience anytime. So we actually have
a really interesting menu for tasting.As we do privee course tasting menu,
we also do an eight course andnot only but we also have a vegan
and vegetarian tasting menu. And Ithink you know that's really hard to find

(21:32):
the Mela and when people they canget a vegan or vegetarian tasting menu.
They're really thankful. So it's beenreally cool and it's just fun to see
that we're like all over the board, right, so we do you know,
the vegan stuff very well and theregular menus. So it's like it's

(21:52):
just been really fun to work with. Yeah, and we have cool to
see that menu as well, Imean really lovely. Both the vegetarian and
the vegan menu looks delicious. Andof course you've got the eight course of
five course for omnivores as well.What about the dyne La menu, Now,

(22:15):
this one is a special menu fordneLa which started on the twelfth and
we'll go through the twenty sixth ofthis month. Tell us a little bit
about that menu. So for DynaLa, we're doing a three course and
it's kind of the best sellers thatwe have, just to really highlight what
people love about the restaurant, thedishes that they love. So we have

(22:36):
the lufron Carpaccio, which is definitelyone of our hits that has, you
know, led you to t grayand apple foam and it's just really different.
We have a steak Tartar, wehave a steakoplov and we have a
pistaschio crusted salmon, and we haveour two you know, main desserts as
well. We do our cheesecake anda Milsa. So it's been just really

(23:00):
fun and people are really enjoying it. Dynalle has been going very well,
and you know a lot of peoplethat didn't come in before have been coming
in and experiencing and love the vibeand loved the core and the food and
been going really really well. Theparsonip Puae with the pepper steak, Oh

(23:22):
my gosh, what a beautiful combinationthose two flavors. I'm just kind of
eyeballing the menu as we're talking goingthrough it. Okay, lastly, another
menu before we go is the SundaySupper. Tell everybody about the Sunday Supper.
So the Sunday Supper is it's kindof like a Dynae right, So
it's a three courses as well whereyou can you know, try some of

(23:45):
our favorites and it's at a lowerprice. So it's a really you know,
it's a it's a good way tocome in and see what we're doing
and get a good deal. Youknow. I think Meniques used to be
the restaurant that used to be herebefore us, and they used to do
this Sunday separate thing, so wekind of like thought it was a good

(24:07):
idea to have homage to that.So we're just it's been going well Sunday.
They're fun and we have a likeall over the board crowd and people
can come and try our truffle pastaor stackle PLoP and yes, it all
sounds great. Sandra, thanks fortaking the time. I know things got

(24:29):
messed up last last week, butwe wanted to make sure that we shined
a light on a more because itlooks just like a very special location.
It looks like every single detail wasfocused upon. The cocktail menu looks wonderful
as well as everything else. Sowe're and the food that we got to

(24:51):
try a little bit last week wasabsolutely spectacular. So I'm giving this a
huge thumbs up, and I hopepeople will get out there. If you're
looking for some jazz, they dothat on Wednesday nights. West Hollywood always
has such a great vibe. Andnow adding to that is a more of
the new how would you describe it? Fresh French slash French and Japanese fusion?

(25:15):
Gotcha? And also I wanted tohighlight because I forgot to talk about
this that we do even in ourday in La and our Sunday stopper,
we offer a vegetarian or vegan optionfor any of the courses wonderful. Feel
free to ask your server when youcome in and looking on that we have
a wonderful cold rabbie steak or awhite smoked white asparagus startar to start with.

(25:37):
So just things like that. Wow, that sounds amazing. Thanks so
much for taking the time. Ilooked forward to getting in there soon enough
on my own to check out theplace in person, but thanks so much
for giving us the time today.Absolutely, thank you for having me again.
I really appreciate it, of course, and please everybody do there what
they can to check this wonderful placeout by going to a more weh dot

(26:03):
love, a more we ho dotlove. It is the Forkport hot Dogs
when we come back much Actually,the remainder of the show is going to
be about hot dogs basically, noand some other stuff. But stick around
go nowhere you've been listening to theForkerport. You can always hear us live
on KFI AM six forty two tofive pm on Saturday, and anytime on

(26:23):
demand on the iHeartRadio app.