@ForkReport - Hour 3 | Wife saves his life and became an owner of a restaurant

We are talking to Lazy Dog CMO about their $5 Campfire Club. ALSO, Neil love cake! He knows how to zhuzh up box cake and he is sharing all his tips and tricks. PLUS, restaurateur,  Bob Spivak talks his book, Saved by a Blonde & a Chicken Pot Pie. It's all on KFIAM-640!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, it's Neil Savedra. You'relistening to kfi EM six forty The Fork
Report on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, everybody, Happy Saturday to
you. Neil Savedra. Here yourfriendly neighborhood fork reporter with the Fork Report.
We just celebrate food every single Saturday. Food, beverages, all kinds
of stuff, and the key thingis to celebrate the people that make it,

(00:22):
the culture behind it. We celebratecooking at home, coming up with
you know, great recipes and likesharing those recipes and going out to eat.
I've said it before, I willsay it again. It's one of
the reasons ways we started this showthat the local economy rises and falls on
the hospitality industry, primarily food goingout to eat. And you know,

(00:46):
in the past four years, whathave you, Everyone was kicked in the
groin that was in the food industryand we need to support and be out
there for them. In turn,they're finding ways to support us in times
where food prices are going up andthe like now Lazy Dog Restaurant and bar.

(01:07):
We've talked about them in the pastand we wanted to acknowledge the fact
they're kicking off something that I thinkis pretty cool. It's called the Lazy
Dog Campfire Club. So picture this. You sign up for just five bucks
a month, and in return youget some sweet perks that I thought were
really great and I wanted someone tocome on and talk to you about that.

(01:30):
So here to give us the wholescoop is Lazy Dog's CMO, Billy
Grenham. Welcome to the Fork Report. Hey, thank you so much for
having me on. I'm super excitedto talk about the Campfire Club. It's
something new and different for the restaurantindustry, and it's basically a membership club

(01:51):
that gives over the top value toall of our guests. So for just
five dollars a month, you canget a free app or a deserve right
away, and then your monthly benefitis a free app, a dessert or
one of our world famous TV dinners, our frozen TV dinners. So that's
a thirty dollars value for five dollarsjust for signing up. And you know,

(02:14):
the value that we're giving just withthe food is really just the beginning.
What we're really hoping to do withthis club at the Campfire Club for
Lazy Dog is create behind the scenesaccess so we're gonna give secret menu items
only to the Campfire Club. We'regonna have menu previews just for the Campfire
Club and also special events and specialevents. Is it's really going to take

(02:38):
it to the next level. Yeah, I just the value is obviously they're
looking and breaking down all these things. And I love the innovative nature of
Lazy Dog and the quality of foodand the vibe. Of course, we've
had Chris Sims on the program before. I know, he's the big boss
there behind Lazy Dog, and he'sthis very down to earth guy, as

(02:58):
you know, and someone who justgives off that hospitality vibe, a vibe
immediately you just it's like someone Iwould want to work for, just like
to be around, smart, friendlyand connected, and you know, you
talk about some of the innovations ofTV Dinners and the like I love,
and then I know there were justso many different things that have come forward

(03:22):
with Lazy Dog as you guys continueto kind of be innovative and find ways
to remind people that you're there forthem and not vice versa when they come
in. So subscribers also get tenpercent discount on all takeout orders and the
like. Correct that's correct. Yeah, so you'll get ten percent off everything

(03:42):
in case you can't make it intothe restaurant or just want to enjoy Lazy
Dogs scratch kitchen meals at home.And you know, the next time you
come in, you'll also get priorityseeding, so the next time you come
in to get your free app dessertor TV dinner, you won't even have
to wait in line. So that'sanother really cool perk for fire Club.
And again this is this is fromChris Sims and you know, it really

(04:03):
speaks to the hospitality vibe that LazyDog gives us. It's just over the
top value to all guests, butthen also something you know, more special
with behind the scenes access to thebrand. So we're really fired up about
it. And you know, we'vewe've seen some really great success just in
the last week that we've launched it. And you know, Chris is always

(04:24):
bugging me. He said, howcan we go even bigger? What can
we do you know, to giveeven more value? How do we differentiate
this and just do something that nobodyelse is doing? And that's you know
what we have coming up on Junetwentieth, and then secret menu items and
just just make it fun, youknow, and that's the spirit of Chris
Sims, and that's the spirit ofLazy Dog now. And you're talking about
with the Sims, you're talking abouta hospitality family with a long legacy of

(04:48):
taking care of people. And Idig that as well obviously here in the
Southland, of course, and we'veseen loyalty programs they've come in. You
know, subscription kind of doesn't reallydescribe it well in my book, because
it is kind of I don't know, it's just it's really being a part

(05:11):
of something and allowing kind of theinside track on stuff. So I know
many people that can go to LazyDog multiple and do go multiple times a
month. So five bucks is nothingabsolutely, you know, we're trying to
give you something that money can't buyas well, you know, just with

(05:33):
with behind the scenes access to thebrand, these secret menus, these special
events, you know, just makingpeople feel special, which is all about
Lazy Dog hospitality, you know,and that's really why this brand exists,
to go over the top for ourguests. And you know, the free
apps and deserves, the thirty dollarsvalue just for sign up for five dollars

(05:54):
a month, that just gets people'sfoot in the door, you know,
and that's just going to be likestep one of you know, really going
over the top and over delivering forguests, which is the lazy Dog wag.
And you're known for you know,the firecracker shrimp, the grilled Idaho
trout. You've got that bison meatloaf, which is fantastic, apple huckleberry

(06:15):
pie, all these things. Now, if you're coming in as a family,
does everybody in the family pay anddo you know be a part of
this or how does that work?No, that's a great question, because
you know your apps, your smallplates, your desserts. You know,

(06:35):
we're known for big portions and wedon't we don't shy away from that.
So most of all of these areshareable. So one person in the campfire
club can treat their friends and familywith their their free appetizer, their dessert
or that small plate. And yousaid it. You know, this is
a scratch kitchen. You know,we're making our own ranch, We're making

(06:56):
our own KARAOKEI sauce, we brewour own ginger beers. So that Lazy
Dog hospitality is just one part ofthe business. But the scratch kitchen is
really the heart of it all,you know. And the menu from meat
loafs to Bisenbergers to our new youknow shrimp firecracker shrimp as well as our
Ahi tuner rolls. There's something foreveryone. And we just launched these twisted

(07:17):
sodas, so it's it's a newtake on sodas. It's almost like the
old time soda shops. And wetook I took my son there a couple
of weeks ago and he got anorange Fanta with vanilla bean cream and his
eyes almost rolled in the back ofhis head, you know, as he
enjoyed this twisted soda. So we'relooking to we'll probably fold those into the
club in the future too. Soand that's that's the spirit of innovation for

(07:41):
Lazy Dog Restaurant. And there's alwaysgoing to be something new, which is
why it's great to have a programlike this where you know, you can
try a different piece of the menuwithout even having to pay for it.
You know, you can go ona little cuese your own adventure courtesy a
campfire club and enjoy the best thatLazy Dog has to offer. Man,
I love it. This sounds greatand and congratulations to you and all the

(08:01):
minds they're Lazy Dog for the CampfireClub. I just loved it and I
appreciate you taking the time to comeon because I was like, I want
to know more about this. I'dlike this kind of innovation. I think
right now, when people are tryingto find one good honest meals and you're
going to get that in a scratchkitchen for their family that aren't going to
break the bank, this is reallycool now. As you said, you

(08:24):
can share, you know, ifyou're paying the five dollars a month,
you can share these things. Butif you're a selfish bastard like myself,
you can go in and make yourselflook better than everybody else at the table
too. So it works for jerksand kind of people alike. Absolutely,
as you wait to everybody that's waitingto get in because you have fret eating
yeah, yeah, I like togo there, you know, just to

(08:46):
make everybody feel welcome. Well,it was great Billy to meet you,
if only on the air. Thanksso much for having me on. And
if anybody's interested in Campfire Club,please check out Ladydog Restaurants dot com or
just come in and we'll take careof you with are over the top service.
Very cool. Thanks Billy. Iappreciate you, all right, Billy
Grinham there at Lazy Dog. Heis the CMO there, and I just

(09:09):
appreciate it and taking time to comeon because us super curious about this and
I love people being able to getvalue. Value is king not cost value?
Are you getting something good for yourdollar? In this case, you
get both? All right, NeilSavedra and The Fork Report. We'll be
back with more. You're listening toThe Fork Report with Neil Savedra on demand

(09:30):
from KFI AM six forty. Hey, everybody, it is the Fork Reports.
That's where we gather every Saturday forthree hours and celebrate food. Guess
who I am? Hi, niceto meet you. My name's Neil Savedra.
I'm your I'm your buddy. Nowwe're buddies. We're food buddies.

(09:50):
We're fuddies. Scratch that last one, your honor. We're food buddies.
And I'm your your new friendly neighborhoodFork reporter, hanging out with you every
Saturday, giving you tips and tricks, talking about food, all kinds of
good things. If you haven't heardthe show, welcome. If you do,

(10:11):
listen and you missed the show,because we're going to end by five
hand everything over to Twalla Sharp.Then you can go back and listen to
it on demand at the iHeartRadio appjust by looking up the Fork Report.
Earlier, we talked about barbecue sauce, gave you a recipe for one,
told you a couple over the counterones that are good, talked about breaking

(10:33):
down the different styles, whether it'sKansas City, which is fantastic, whether
it's Texas or Memphis, whatever itmight be. We got into that,
and of course you can listen tothat at your leisure. Okay, I've
been craving cake, and let's faceit, I'm the host of the show
and what my cravings are pop upquite a bit. So I wanted to

(10:54):
talk about judging things up. Asmy friend doctor P said, So jushing
something up is taking something and givingit wow, making it pop. Right.
So in this case, store boughtstuff, and in this case store
bought cake stuff. So we've allbeen there. I know. I like

(11:16):
to make these things from scratch,I really really do. And my friend
and boss, Robin Bertolucci, everytime I mention canned frosting, she looks
at me with disgust, pure,unadulterated, unmodified disgust, and she wants

(11:39):
me to see it on her face, so I'll pausible she turns things off.
So we've all the rest of ushave all been there in a rush
to whip up a cake or somecupcakes. I have done this. I've
had friends say, hey, we'recoming over, and I'm like, bohm,
I got to make a cake.So you grab a tub of ready
made frosting from the store. Addyou know, sometimes caned frosting tastes a

(12:05):
bit like a lot like canned frosting, kind of waxy, little overly sweet,
not so great. Used to bebetter. By the way certain laws
have removed certain ingredients, it's notas great. But here's the good news.
You can turn anything BLA that comesfrom a can, like frosting is
something amazing. When it comes tofrosting, it's only one ingredient that it

(12:26):
needs. You want to make itpop. Like butter cream, you just
add softened butter. That's it.You take all of the canned frosting out
and you make it a rich buttercream taste homemade by grabbing high quality butter.
We're talking gray double a European butterworks the best, super creamy,

(12:50):
very flavorful. I say use salted, although you can use unsalted and add
a little bit of salt to it, but you want to make sure that
you have that soften your butter.Then you mix it into your frosting using
ELECXIC an electric mixer. Takes aboutfive minutes, and you can do it
by hand, of course, butin an electric mixer it adds air,

(13:13):
a lot of air to the mix. It makes it lighter, makes it
easier to spread, gives you morefrosting to work with, so you can
be extra generous with your decorating.And the bonus is the butter keeps frosting
soft and velvety for days, makesthe cake state dishious delicious for longer.
Just keep in mind you're only addingabout two tablespoons per a little container of

(13:43):
butter. So that's what you're doingnow. If you want to take it
to the next level from there,a couple of things you can do a
little fruity twists. You add somefruit jam to the frosting before mixing.
Feeling fancy, you can fold insome chocolate chips, crushed nuts, sprinkles
for a little bit of crunch thatwill judge it up. Whip a cakeup
from scratch is not difficult at all. However, here's a way to give

(14:09):
extra goodness, extra yumminess to boxcakes. Extra eggs. You want super
rich moist cake, add two extraegg yolks along with the eggs the recipe
calls for. If you prefer alighter cake, just use egg whites instead.
Don't toss those leftover yolks or whites. They're perfect for other recipes,
so keep that in mind. Sayno to water. Water really doesn't add

(14:31):
much to anything, certainly not flavor, so swap it out for something with
flavor and fat. Whole milk,buttermilk will give you lovely flavor and structure
to your cake. If you want. We've talked about this before. You
can cut the fat out. Youcan cut the egg out and just put

(14:52):
a twelve ounce soda into a cakemix and it's really or beer. You
get ice cake and you add geinus to it. Boom, it's delicious.
You add I don't know, orangecrush or fonta or something like that

(15:13):
into a white cake or yellow cakeand it becomes really lovely as well.
Bring the fat. If it callsfor vegetable oil, you can melt butter.
Just make sure that you've cooled thebutter down before you add it.
More flavor, it's yummy. Youcan even add mayonnaise, sour cream,
yogurt gives it a little extra tanginess. Chocolate my chocolate. My favorite chocolate

(15:37):
cake recipe uses hot water. Idon't use the hot water. I use
brood coffee instead, and it bringsout the chocolate flavor. Doesn't make it.
Mocha, just gives it a boost. Keep in mind you could add
things like zest of lemons or limesor oranges juices as well to give them

(16:00):
a little bit of a kick.Add some extra flavor between the layers by
cutting the cake into thinner layers.Just things like that, you know,
and you can make it taste likeit's right from a fancy bakery when it's
actually from a bacha. You're listeningto The Fork Report with Nil Sevedra on
demand from KFI A six forty.Hey, everybody, it's the Fork Report.

(16:25):
This is what we do on Saturdays. We get together on Saturday.
We celebrate food, the people thatmake it, the culture behind it.
We talk cooking at home, tipsand tricks, we talk going out to
eat. I've said this many timesand I will continue to say it that
the local economy rises and falls onour interaction and use of hospitality. Period.

(16:48):
We got to get out there,continue to support all those folks that
are fixing good things for us toeat. So get out there and do
that. Stick around. Also atfive o'clock, you've got SoCal Saturdays with
our friend Walla Sharp, and thenour buddy Steve comes along, Steve Gregory
with Unsolved, So go know whereall right. My next guest is Bob,

(17:11):
and I want to make sure Isay his name's wrong, named right,
because I've heard it a bazillion times, but sometimes I mess these things
up. Bob Spivek, and he'sa seasoned veteran of the restaurant seen here
big time in California, over fourdecades in the food industry, and you
can see his influence all over theplace, from one of my favorite Beverly
Hills restaurants in the entire world,the Grill on the Alley Course, to

(17:34):
the widespread success of daily grill restaurants. So it's a real honor to welcome
legendary restaurant tour and new book authorto The Fork Report. Hi Bob,
welcome to the Fork Report. Thankyou. I feel very welcome with that.
With that opening, Oh, Igot to tell you. I have
said this so many times that thehospitality with a capital eight that you get

(18:00):
from all of your restaurants, butwhat I first experienced at the Grill on
the Alley was something when you firstreally feel a professional server, somebody who
is treated well, paid well,and there to really serve to the experience
of the white cloth, to allof those things. The first time I

(18:22):
was in the Grill on the Alley, it just made me feel like that
was the standard that everyone else hadto live up. And that is something
that has your DNA and your fingerprintsand your insights all over it. And
I thank you for that. Well, I thank you for that. So
you've got the forty five year orso restaurant industry insight from family Businesses on

(18:48):
what inspired you before we get rightinto your new book, of course,
Saved by a Blonde and a Chickenpot Pie, which you can't find a
better name than that. So whatinspired you to pursue this career in this
particular field. Well, I'm notsure I pursued the career or the career

(19:12):
pursued me. I grew up inthe fifties in Los Angeles. I had
severe learning disabilities. In those days, they didn't know what to do with
us. They just considered a slowThe LA City school system pushed me along,
and finally when I got to highschool, I found out that I

(19:34):
was a pretty good athlete, andthe football coach they realized that I just
couldn't take the classes that the otherkids were taking so well. Most of
the kids were in Spanish or Frenchclasses in algebra, geometry, and so
on. I was taking bookkeeping,print shop and typing. And that was

(19:56):
the curriculum that the football coach haddeveloped for me so that I to stay
eligible for the football team. SoI got out of high school. I
didn't have a lot of opportunity.Now, Bob, when you talk about
this year your struggle with these learningdisabilities, rather you're talking about dyslexian ADHD.
Correct. That's correct, But thosewords weren't in the dictionary when I

(20:22):
was in school. No me either, now, you know. I graduated
high school in eighty seven, andI found out much later afterwards that I
suffer. I struggle with dyslexia andfound out that my father did it as
well, and I wrestled with thosethings too. Strangely enough, I also
took printing and the like in highschool because I loved it so much.

(20:45):
I appreciate that when you talk aboutthese things now, because now they're everyday
words, and you can be diagnosedin school even for many of these things.
Yeah, and so you know,to follow along, my father had
a few restaurants in southern California.There was one at the corner of Los

(21:07):
Angele and barely where the Beverly Centeris today, and way back, and
you talking, you went to schoolhigh school in the eighties. I graduated
high school in nineteen sixty one,so I've got you by a few years.
He had a restaurant on the cornercalled Smokey Joe's, and it's a
quite well known restaurant. And soevery day after There was one in Hollywood

(21:29):
where I grew up, and everyday after school I would go over there
and fuld napkins and field carrots.Finally, I went to my father one
day and I said, I,you know, I've been doing the cats.
And then napkins for a couple ofyears, and I wanted to become
a dishwasher. It seemed like avery adult job, and he was afraid
to had me working around all theequipment. So I drew a line on

(21:49):
the wall in the kitchen and said, when I grew to that height,
I could become a dishwasher. SoI love that when you work for your
father, you either go one oftwo ways. You either do very little
because you know you can't get fired, or you work twice as hard as
anybody to prove that you got thejob on your own or not because it

(22:11):
was your father's restaurant. And Ican imagine you can guess which one I
was. So when I got outof high school, I didn't have a
lot of opportunities. I'd had agreat high school athletic career, but you
know, if you don't go tocollege, there's just not much you can
do with it. So I wentto work with my father. So long
answer to a short question. Now, I got in a restaurant business.

(22:34):
That's about all I had, aboutthe only opportunities I had, and what
you did with it is impressive.Indeed, we're going to take a break
to get some news, but wecome back. I want to talk to
you. My guest right now isBob Spivk and obviously a restaurant veteran,
but you've seen a lot of differentthings go on in the industry. I

(22:59):
want to hear you takes on thepandemic and it's lasting or maybe not lasting
effect on the hospitality industry. Butalso get into your book that can be
purchased from Amazon is called Saved bya Blonde and a Chicken Pop Pie.
We'll also hear the stories about howthat name came to be. So go
nowhere. You're listening to The ForkReport with Neil Savedra on demand from KFI

(23:22):
AM six forty. Hey, everybody'sthe Fork Report, all things food,
beverage on beyond. I am yourwell fed host, Neil Savedra. How
do you do your friendly neighborhood folkreporter, always happy to be with you
on Saturdays for three hours from twoto five, where we kind of shake
off the heaviness of the week,you know, ugliness in the news,

(23:42):
whatever it is, and come togetherand celebrate food and the culture behind it,
cooking at home, going out toeat, all of those in between.
So thanks for hanging out today.Don't forget you got Talla Sharp coming
up at five, So go knowwhere? Yes, right now is Bob
Spivak, And what a story.I'm actually kind of surprised, Bob that

(24:07):
it's taken you so long to writea book. His book, Saved by
a Blonde and a Chicken Pop Piecan be purchased on Amazon. Of course,
it takes you through his illustrious careerand the ups and downs that's made
him not only who he is,but has also spread that to other people
through his generosity and from his continuinggiving back, and to me personally,

(24:30):
somebody who was really set back thefirst time I went to the grill on
the Alley there in Beverly Hills,and the experience that really was the standard
for all other eating experiences thereafter.So it's a real honor and a privilege
to speak to you, Bob,really quickly before we get into the book

(24:52):
with such a great title and all. How do you feel the pandemic affected
the hospitality into street good, bador ugly? I kneel it affected it
in every single way. There's anew paradigm in the restaurant business today and

(25:14):
things will never be the same.It's been real tough on all of the
restaurant tours. I'm the past chairof the California Restaurant Association and I'm retired
now, but I would get alot of phone calls during the pandemic and
everybody with the same thing. Theseare restaurant tours who have second mortgages on

(25:37):
their house to get the money toopen their restaurants, and their restaurants were
devastated. I think the government dida good job in propping it up and
keeping them going, but it's takena grand toll on the business. You'll
go into restaurants now, restaurants thatwere very busy and their dining rooms will
be empty, but they're takeout departmentswill be over voted, and it just

(26:03):
fueled. It fueled take out afield delivery. But there's been so many
casualties that the business will come back, but it'll come back in a different
form. That's sad because when itgives in one way with the takeout part,
it took away from the dining roomand it's not like anybody really got
ahead. And the margins that arealready small in the dining room got even

(26:29):
smaller. More complicated for the takeout, so I appreciate you giving some insights.
Now onto your book, and firstthat title Saved by a Blonde and
a Chicken pot Pie. The blonde, I believe is your wife. There
is a story behind there, Neil, and I'll try to make it not
too long, but please, it'sthe it's the seminal moment of my life.

(26:56):
I went to Vanis Junior High Schooland my wife was a year ahead
of me at school there, andshe was very popular and I teaser.
She was dating the Corvette in highschool and I didn't have a chance,
but she was just very popular andalways always very nice to me. So
I one day intentionally missed my busso that I could walk her home from

(27:19):
school. Then we went to differenthigh schools and never saw each other again.
And now if we can fast forwardto me being thirty eight years old,
I've had several failures in my life. The thirties were really, really
tough on me, and I wasprobably the lowest point of my life.
I was getting divorced. I hada ten year old daughter and an eleven

(27:41):
year old son, and I wasliterally living at my father's because I didn't
have enough money for my own apartment. I had coached my son's little league
team, and there were a coupleof fathers on the team who were interested
in restaurants and always talking to meabout them, and I knew they'd been
quite financially successful in business, andso I convinced them to meet me one

(28:04):
day for lunch to talk about openingmy dream restaurant, which became the Grill
on the Alley that you've spoken sonicely about. And so the whole idea
was. This was nineteen eighty two. There was a lot of great pretense
in the restaurant business in Los Angeles. Michaels in Santa Monica, which is

(28:25):
a very fine restaurant, made anart form out of how small the portions
could be and how large the priceswere, and there was no such thing
as making any kind of change onthe menu. So if you ordered a
salad with the dressing on the side, the chef would come out and tell
you that he makes the salad oneway, and if you don't like it

(28:45):
the way he makes it, you'llhave to go somewhere else. The other
big restaurant at the time was MomMay's Own in West Hollywood, and Mom
Mayzone is where all the Hollywood peoplehung out. They had an unlisted phone
number. You couldn't call her evenif you wanted to unless you knew the
special number, and somebody that knewthe special number. So my whole idea,

(29:08):
which I spoke to my two partnerswho became my two partners, Mike
Weinstock and Richard Shapiro, that Iwanted to do a restaurant, a very
high end American grill where the answeris yes, what is the question,
and the guest is always right,And so this was a breath of fresh
air in the industry at the time. We shook hands on the deal,

(29:33):
which I remember, I'm getting divorced, living at my father's, don't have
up my own apartment. Just shookhands on what became the deal of my
life nineteen eighty two. And Igot up in the restaurant to make a
phone call to call my father totell him that I was so excited that
my dream restaurant may become a reality. And I got stopped by this blond

(29:55):
woman who was having lunch at therestaurant who recognized Ranks Junior High school,
and she said, I excuse me, but aren't you, Bobby speedback,
and I looked at her. Iknew exactly who she was. This was
Leslie Martin, the most popular girlat junior high school, and she remembered
me. And after my meeting,which I shook hands on the deal of

(30:15):
my life, I sat down andbecame acquainted with the love of my life
and that woman to stop me asmy wife today of forty two years.
Yeah, so it was a seminalmoment and she literally did. She literally
saved me because she made it.She made my life easy to open this

(30:37):
restaurant. Restaurants are very time consuming, and opening restaurants and doing it correctly
is I was working from nine inthe morning till ten at night, six
days a week. We were closeSundays. Sundays I spent with my kids
and Leslie would come into the restaurantevery night around seven o'clock. She had

(30:59):
two children. After she said them, she'd come in. She'd sit at
the bar, have a pelgrino andtalk to anybody and everybody and wait for
me until I could sit down andhave dinner about ten o'clock at night.
So she made it possible for me. And so that's the woman that saved
my life. The chicken pie please, no, go ahead, Yeah,

(31:19):
yeah, I'll finish it. Sothe chicken pot pie was really a shaker.
The grill was a prime stak chops, fresh seafood house. But we
wanted to do comfort food. Wewanted to be something that was very homey.
So we had a section and thenyou call comfort food. In it
was meat loaf of mashed potatoes,short ribs, liver and onions, and

(31:42):
a chicken pot pie. And I'llbe damned if that chicken pop pie didn't
become the biggest selling item on thelunch menu. And as we opened the
daily grills and we ended up withwhen I retired and sold the company,
there were twenty two daily grills acrossthe United States. The chicken pop pie
was still the number one seller.So there's the title of my book,

(32:05):
and with great reason. So I'mgoing to ask one thing as we're up
against the clock now, I justpurchased the book on Amazon, and I'm
encouraging other people to do the same. Go to Amazon, get Saved by
a Blonde and the Chicken pop Pieso you can hear more stories from Bob.
But not only did I purchase it, but that means it's going to
get my little grubby hands. Andso I'm going to ask you to come

(32:28):
back into the studio next time soone you can sign my book and we
can continue talking about these great stories. I'd love to do it anytime,
anytime. I really, I'm honored. I'm hon to do it. Buy
my book absolutely. And we havea mutual friend and Susan Finneger, a

(32:49):
wonderful chef, and maybe the maybethe three of us can sit down and
have a cup of coffee someday,because I have on the back cover of
the book as a testimonial from Susanand to our friendship. So yes,
we have a good friend and Susan. Yeah, I just I feel like
we barely scratch the surface. Sowe will do this again, my friend,

(33:10):
thanks so much for your time.That is Bob Spivak. He is
promoting his books Saved by a Blondeand a Chicken pot Pie. Of course
you can still get out and enjoythese restaurants that have his DNA, his
very fiber going through like Grill onthe Alley and the like, So get

(33:30):
out the net and enjoy. Nexttime, Neil, we'll talk about that
professional serving crew that we had andall he got him never experienced anything before
or since it just as fabulous.Thanks again, Bob, what an honor
and a pleasure you've been listening tothe Forkerport. You can always hear us
live on KFI AM six forty twoto five pm on Saturday, and anytime

(33:53):
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.