@ForkReporter | Hour 2

Guest- Babette Pepaj – BakeSpace.com Guest- Councilwoman Rodriguez

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, it's Niel Savedri. You'relistening to kf I AM six forty the
four Report on demand on the iHeartRadioapp. Hey, everybody, welcome to
the hour two of the four Report. We have three hours basically two to
five to celebrate food, the peoplethat make it, the culture behind it,

(00:23):
cooking at home, going out toeat, everything in between. It's
one of those things where this iskind of our sanctuary, chake off the
heaviness of the week. Of course, our hearts and our thoughts are with
the people of Morocco. Marrakesh isI love Marrakesh And if you've never been
to Morocco, well now might notbe the time to go, but maybe

(00:46):
it will be to help them getback on their feet. Still numbers coming
out, and we know that thesethings aren't going on. We don't have
some Pollyanna ideal, but we liketo take this time to set uparate us
from those things and the weight ofthem, and come together and celebrate food
and events and restaurants, all thesethings, because if we don't support them,

(01:08):
they go away. And then Ihear about it, Hey, how
come that event isn't around work?Well? Because everybody thought next year all
goo next year, all go,and that's how things go away, so
we need to support it. It'salso the backbone of our local economy to
go out and utilize those that arein the hospitality industry. So there's a

(01:29):
cool event coming on now. Youare a lot of cool events, but
because of things that are going onat bakespace dot com. But Babette has
not been on the show for awhile. Babette pepe, I look at
me getting it? Yeah, we'reexpelling. Where where's the origin of your
last name? The last name isAlbanian. I thought you were gonna say
my husband and no, no,actually, you know that's a funny story.

(01:52):
But I do regret not changing mylast name because when I try to
check into a hotel, they won'tlet me check in if I've made the
reservation it's a different last name.So but that's that's besides me. That
we were going in my home,as well as I know many many others
and it's always like or I'll signsomething and they're like, uh you know,
yeah, I'm like, no,that's not me. Well that it's

(02:14):
an interesting name because it's spelled pep a j And it's like I don't
know where you get I out ofthere. But you know, as long
as you're calling sounds kind of yeah, as long as it's for something interesting.
Let's talk about cookies for a goodcause. Awesome. Well, I

(02:35):
think first of all, get upon that Mike, would you? You
know what? First of all,I just want to say, Neil,
you know, as a listener ofyour show every single weekend stop. One
thing better is we got to takea moment and you give everyone. You
give chefs, you give entrepreneurs,you give foodies like their moment to come
and share their information, and noone says to you, look what you're

(02:55):
doing that you're amazing you. Youbring the entire higher Los Angeles food community
together every single weekend, no matterwhat part of town you live in.
It's it's amazing what you do.So I want to like, if I
if I could reach you right now, I would pull your hand up and
ned say you're the winner, becauseyou like you're like the godfather of the
LA food scene. Well, thankyou, that's very very sweet. It's

(03:19):
true. I started this endeavor withthe same reason I will be doing it
as long as I can, andthat is to do the absolute reverse which
is shine like on people like you. So it's my pleasure, but the
show is really crappy. If it'swell, it's notice your hard work is
noticed. Thank you. That's verysweet of you to say right now before

(03:42):
we get to this wonderful cookie eventand the organization that it's going to help.
Where do you think the food scenesat right now in Los Angeles?
You know, I think it's verypersonalized. It's very like direct to consumer
where somebody can create an Instagram account, they can upload beautiful pictures of food

(04:03):
and it will just tap into aconversation or it'll tap into a moment where
you just look at that and yougo, wow, that's that's beautiful.
Like people can appreciate the hard workyou've put into it, the beautiful cakes,
the barbecue, whatever, whatever thefood that you like, and you
can tap into that conversation. That'sactually why I started bakespace dot com,

(04:25):
which was because in two thousand andsix, I was looking at how social
media was was. You know,you were on MySpace, Facebook really you
know, hadn't started yet, andpeople were trying to connect with people who
had something in common with each other, and you know, you had forums
and you had blogs, but youreally didn't have anything that was like where

(04:45):
your people were. And so Ilaunched the first food themed social network and
recipe Swap, so when you insteadof you know, posting your pictures of
your dogs and talking about politics andstuff, you would basically share a recipe
and it would go out to yourwhole network. So that's oh no,
it's great. It's perfect because you'relike, you'll you'll see the comments and

(05:06):
it'll be like, I love thisrecipe. I didn't think it was gonna
work, but this is amazing.And then we evolved it to cookbooks,
so we allowed our members and theneven just they could sell their recipes or
they can give it away for free. And then in you know, we
had you speak at tech munch ourfood blog or conference for many years,
and we started that in twenty ten, and we noticed that a lot of

(05:28):
content creators were we're searching for waysto take their blogs to the next level.
And as I started after the pandemicthinking about events and thinking about are
we going to bring tech Munch backand what are we doing with bake space,
I realized that people were really cravingin person events and they were they
were craving the ability to connect directlywith and this kind of gets me to

(05:50):
the beginning, which is they wantto connect to the person who's making the
food. You know, there's nothingmore wonderful than being in a restaurant and
the chef comes over to your tableand you're like, I just have to
tell you that that was the mostamazing pizza I've ever had in my life.
You know, if Kurtis Stone walkedwalked in and sat next to my
table, I'd be like, yourfood is amazing. I love it.

(06:10):
It's great, It's made with love, you know, It's there's something about
that. And so I think inperson events where you get to meet the
people behind the recipes is just Ithink that's where we're going in food.
I don't think it's it's going tobe a cookie cutter event anymore. It's
not going to be just you know, you just pick up your your your
food item and you walk away.You know, like a wedding or something,

(06:33):
it's gonna be like you get totalk to the person who's the vendor
and who gets to make it,and you realize you know where they got
the recipe or where it came from. And I think that's sort of the
long way of saying that's where Ithink food is heading. I think it's
very personalized and you can find yourtribe pretty much anywhere. Now like doesn't
It doesn't matter if it's local oron the other side of the world,

(06:56):
you'll be no matter how big orsmall the interest is. There's enough that
is the power of the Internet ispulling people together with similar interests. But
I like that because it did twothings right there. One it told us
about you, told us about bakespacedot com, your your little food journey
there, some of the things you'vedone, and then so kind of let

(07:16):
people get to know you a littlebit as well. As I agree with
you, I think the bespoke natureof food and cravables and you know what,
Oh yeah, there are so manyof them where you just want they'll
they'll be things. You know,I can't always eat everything on the show,
so you nibble, right, Andthen there's things that I'm like,

(07:38):
I can't stop. I need toget the several out. I'm like that
with lemon bars. Oh if yougive me a lemon bar, I'm like,
oh no, this is where itends. The potato chip of the
pastry world is that's one of minetoo, that if I see them,
I don't see them as individual cookies. I see them as an entire you
know, whatever the container is.You know, Trader Joe's has a frozen

(08:00):
thing of lemon bars, and myhusband's always like, you aise the whole
box, And I said, yeah, if you really look at the size,
it really is only like one lemonbar total. But they're cutting little
one inch. But I love theway you think. It's like the nachos.
You pick up a nacho and ifthere's four chips attached to it,
that's one nacho. Yeah, that'strue. You separate them. That's a

(08:24):
crazy I mean, you got tocommit, you know. Yeah, this
is what the Lord brought to me, is brought before me, and I
will honor him with the consumption ofit. Oh lemon bars. Okay,
we're gonna gonna get some news andthen we come back. We're going to
talk about the event and beyond thingsthat you're going on. And I get

(08:48):
to be a part of this,which is really nice as well. So
go know where you're listening to TheFork Report with Niel Sevadra on demand from
kf I am six forty Howdy howdyhowdy, and we are chatting with Babette
from bakespace dot com about we werejust breaking down like where LA is the

(09:11):
scene the food scene right now?But we wanted to get to an event
that is coming up in October rightYep. We have three events that are
happening all over the city. Sono matter where you're at, there's an
event close to you. It's calledbake Camp LA and anyone who wants to
check it out, it's bake campdot org. Also, you know what

(09:33):
we would love in addition to havingyour listeners come and join us and support
the cause and be part of ourfantastic event, is we're also looking for
baker still. So the format thethe event is a grassroots community event of
three events that happen all over thecity. We start off in Hollywood on

(09:56):
October seventh at the historic First PressSbatarian Church that's at Hollywood and Gower,
and then on October fourteenth, wethen head to Pacific Palisades and there's a
really wonderful Woman's Club that every singleplace that we've we've rented for this event,
they have their own charity components.So every you know, every dollar

(10:18):
that goes into the event, itgets amplified to the community as well.
And then on October twenty second,if you have not been to the Valley
Relics Museum, it is spectacular.It has like every Neon sign that was
ever in the valley on display.It is such a fiber place. It's
amazing. Now it's completely amazing.And the event is really to celebrate local

(10:43):
cookie bakers, pastry chefs, homecooks. It's it's part cookie tasting and
cookie contest, so the bakers areactually competing for an opportunity to you know,
be titled to be crowned, youknow, LA's favorite cookie baker,
and the people who come to theevent get to actually help decide who's gonna

(11:03):
win. And then it's also aboutcelebrating great cookies because there's amazing I actually
brought a list of some of thecookies. I want to make sure I
say some of them because the bakersare so amazing, They're so creative,
a lot of them are pros,a lot of them have bakeries in town.
And then also, you know,I look at it like a it's
like this, if I were tothink of, like what this event would

(11:24):
be it would be like the superBowl of cookies. You know, it's
like all these teams coming together.They're competing to see who's number one.
But to get to that level,they're already like winners in my book.
They're delicious, and they're all donatingtheir time. And the ticket goes to
an event that's really dear to myheart. It's a it's an animal rescue

(11:48):
called paw Works and they started intwenty fifteen. They've rescued dogs and cats
that are being abandoned, being broughtinto the shelter, going to be euthanized,
and they've saved over twelve thousand animalsand since they started, and we're
hoping that this event lets them doublethat. I mean they are. They
are every single day, you know, saving animals, getting them fixed,

(12:13):
getting them you know, medical aid. And it's just such a wonderful organization.
Can't wait. And then what's reallycool is, you know, we're
so happy that we have these greatjudges too, because the grand prize is
somebody's going to win an opportunity tobe mentored by a top cookie company,
the Cravery dot com and they're goingto create a cookie with our winner and

(12:37):
they're going to put it in theirstorefront, so it's going to be sold
nationwide. So someone, maybe someoneone of your listeners at home, could
take home that grand prize. Howexcited to give The website again, sure,
it's called bakecamp dot org. Youcan also go to bakespace dot com
and click on the menu bar whereit just says they camp and you can
find us on a vent right inour We have a promo code for all

(13:01):
of your listeners if they use forkreport an event right, they can save
ten dollars per tickets. No,absolutely, absolutely, that's cool and that's
exciting, and I get to judgesome of them. Yes, you do.
You do the win during the event. The way that the event works
is that all the bakers bring theircookies and the attendees get to walk around,

(13:22):
They get tasting tickets, they getto pick which cookies they want to
try, and then they get tovote at the event on which cookie that
they think was their favorite. Andthere's an amateur and pro category and then
when the amateurs win, of thethree that win, you guys get to
the judges get to pick who's goingto be the winner and take home that

(13:43):
grand prize. That's awesome. Ijust thought of something when you're talking about
it, was like the Super Bowl. Hear me out on this for a
second, tackle baking, tackle baking. Mm okay, okay, we can
do it. I'm not that itdoesn't need some ironing. Would I put
that in the event tackle baking tacklebaking? Yeah, it will just be

(14:05):
bakers and me in padding. Okay, And oh Kayla, don't shake your
head you'd go. You already looklike you're wearing your cheerleaders out. What
you're us. I'm not jealous.I'm just saying I think she looks like
a tennis star. That's what Isaid first, but I already used it.

(14:26):
Oh yeah, sorry about that.Do you have a favorite cookie?
I am a big fan of chocolatechip cookies, so classic. Yeah.
I love all kinds of cookies,but I'm a big fan of chocolate chip,
peanut butter, the classics. Itwhen done right? Are you?
Are you like a dry cookie orlike undercooked or it depends. I like

(14:48):
a crispy cookie sometimes, but likechocolate chip, I want a little crunch
on the outside. I wanted alittle Doughey on the inside. Yeah,
I like it. I like itundercooked. It's like you just you can
kind of almost taste the sugar.It still hasn't melted already. Yeah,
yet you would like my chocolate.My chocolate chip is a pretty pretty okay
cookie. Well, this is exciting, It's very cool. It's always nice

(15:09):
to see you. I have afriend of ours here who is an editor.
I gave her the information because she'sa wonderful baker. So I really
that's the thing I want to encourage. You get tickets if you want to
participate that way. You can alsogo to baker sign up there and say
hey, I'm a pro or I'man amateur, and I'd like to be
a part of it. Yes,I would love some representation from little forkers

(15:33):
out there. That would be awesome. That would wouldn't that be amazing?
I would be very proud. Ithink someone at home is right now thinking
they have the perfect recipe. Theycan be crowned LA's favorite baker. Wow,
and just think of the how highyour nose is going to be in
the air walking around that? Willyou get bragging rights a trophy? Always
good to see you, Thank youfor coming on, and we will talk

(15:54):
soon. You're amazing. Oh,you're amazing. Knock it off. It
is a fourth port on Nielsavadr kfI AM six forty. You're listening to
The Fork Report with Niel Sevadra ondemand from KFI AM six forty. Hey,
everybody, it's the Fork Report,all things food, beverage on beyond.
We celebrate food, the people thatmake it, the culture behind it,

(16:15):
everything dealing with this wonderful thing thatwe can usually agree upon, and
that is good food and good conversationare always welcome, and that's what we
do here every Saturday. As yourwell fed host, I get to welcome
really interesting people that you get tomeet to remind you of events and things
going on in the city. Theseare people that love the South End just

(16:36):
as much as you and I,and love food and beverages just as much
as you and I. And mynext guest is Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez from the
seventh District. She is has She'sbeen on the show many times. She
is a huge support and advocate forthe city itself, but also for the

(16:56):
culinary end and the hospitality end ofthings. During the Pandy when things got
all crazy and all that stuff wasgoing on. She was out there making
sure that there were reasonable ways tohelp people get out to eat and go
and you know, explore and alsobeyond that. So we love having her
on for that, and there's anevent coming up. Hi, how are

(17:18):
you? It's so good to seeyou. Smile. You have a magic
smile, not like a creepy politicianmy hands in your pocket smile, it's
a genuine Hi, how are you? Smile? Oh wait, no,
that wasn't you. Where's my wallet? But it's good to see you.
We get to chat quite a bit, but we don't haven't been had a

(17:38):
chance to get together because you area busy human being and you're doing what
I think is great things for thecity, including the culture part of it,
and that's what brings you here todaytoday. Yeah. Well, first
of all, thank you so muchfor having me back, and it is
so great to see you and behere with all your listeners and man,
it's it's nice to be out ofthe pandy that rush. Sure, Oh

(18:02):
my gosh, it's the best thingever. And because we are out of
the pandy now we get to goback to engaging in some of those big,
wonderful community events that help bring usall together and through music and celebration
of food and all of those wonderfulthings that make Los Angeles so special.
Now that we're coming and approaching LatinoHeritage Month, We've got El Grito that

(18:23):
is going to be kicking off thatmonth coming up next week, and I'm
just I'm so excited about the lineupand the food and all the activities that
we've got planned for everyone. Sogenerous of Los Angeles to give a whole
month. Well, you know,I like to say, when you think
about what Latinos just kind of likeWomen's History Month. I tell I've made
a public declaration. I said,you know, we do too much around

(18:45):
here to only be limited to onemonth. I'll take it whenever the hill.
I yeah, We'll do it atanytime. I'm going to take it.
African American Heritage, all of that. It's just like thank you.
I mean, it's nice, yeah, thanks, but you know, but
we'll take anything. And with thatcomes, Oh, by the way,
the funniest thing I just thought ofthe last time I saw you, Actually,

(19:08):
these are your Christmas gifts. That'show long it's been. By the
way, we're almost coming up ona year since last time we actually person,
she's all take her gifts. AnyWho, back to the events,
Explain El Grito what it is it'simportance because a lot of people confuse it

(19:32):
with well all the time. Sadlywell, el Grito was the moment when
there was a calling call to armsand called to action by uh IN in
Mexico seeking independence from Spain. Andso uh had this midnight cry that was

(19:53):
a call to all Mexicans to cometogether and fight for their independence, and
it led ultimate to achieving independence.And it was so El Grito is that
moment in time that we celebrate hereon the steps of City Hall in Los
Angeles to recreate it because Los Angeleshas the largest population of Mexicans outside of
Mexico City, and so this isan annual tradition that has been going on

(20:15):
for over eighty years. And soI'm really proud that this year I get
to again be the Madrina for thisevent. And you know, I've for
me it's really important, especially youknow, having come out of the pandy
and how our community was so reallyhard hit doing activations that bring this multi
generational environment together that help us continuethese really wonderful rich traditions and celebrate how

(20:41):
much Mexican and Latino culture is reallyinfluential in Los Angeles. We're doing a
whole activation at Glory Malina Graham Parktoo, So this is going to be
larger than it's well, I wasgoing to say larger than it's ever been,
but when I did in twenty eighteen, it was the largest on record
when we had Los Luganoz at Tijuana. But we have we have an incredible

(21:02):
lineup of musical acts that I don'tremember. I think you. I think
you. I think you might havebeen. Yeah, I'm like, was
I it? Yeah? Did Icome the year Pendy really like, well,
no, because I've been You've beento my But I think I think
I was there because twenty nine Iwould not have been. Or twenty nineteen,

(21:25):
No, twenty nineteen you were there, were twenty eighteen you might.
I believe you might have been there, and it was just incredible. I
mean, the the sea of peoplethat reached out from from the steps of
City Hall all the way out toBroadway. I mean it was just great.
But we're doing similar activation with wehave a silent disco we have which

(21:47):
is great if you're not participating.It's really fun to watch it so much
fun to watch watch people dancing withoutmusic. I do that at weddings.
I plug my ears good and sowe have, you know, and it's
great. The kids love it,I mean, everyone loves it. It's
just so different. It's a lotof fun. So we have, you
know, a full suite and activationof food trucks that of course span the

(22:10):
spectrum of Los Angeles cuisine, butof course features a number of wonderful Mexican
food trucks. Mexican food food trucks. But one of my favorite activations about
Grant Park is I really love tosupport our artisans and small entrepreneurs and the
Goddess Mercado UH they have they're they'reactivating a little gain Beata. So it's

(22:32):
like all these artisans, all thesewomen owned businesses from Los Angeles that are
going to be there, you know, setting up this outdoor marketplace, and
we have tons of resource booths.We're doing our best to help, you
know, with the impending kind ofelections that we're looking ahead, getting folks
registered and registered to vote, andjust getting all the resources that everyone still

(22:55):
needs, whether it's with rent relieffor uh, you know some of the
protections that have been adopted recently,just the whole gamut of resources we're going
to have available for everyone. Hangtag. When we come back, we're
going to talk more with Councilwoman MonicaRodriguez seventh District in our La City Council
and the Agrito that's coming to itsright there to Grand Park right, yes,

(23:18):
Grand Glory, Melina, Grand Parkand City Hall steps, yes indeed,
So stick around. We're gonna talkmore about that. So go now
where you're listening to The Fork Reportwith Neil Savedra on demand from KFI amzix
forty. I am your friendly neighborhoodFork Reporter Neil Sevadra, happy to be

(23:40):
with you today. Don't forget.You've got Twala Sharp and so Cal Saturday
coming up at five. Always local, always in passion, always fun.
I love what Twala is doing there. I know he's got a producer that's
like a c student maybe, soit's him lifting all just everything on his

(24:02):
shoulders. You know, you geta week producer and it's like good night.
You know what I'm saying. OhKayla, Oh that mike doesn't work
so sorry sorry. You know howit is if we were sorry, Mike,
yeah, no, no, no, no, Ed We're fine says

(24:27):
it's hot. Nope, it's fine, it could be cold. Then leave
that Mike alone. Councilwoman Monica Rodriguezis with us from the seventh District talking
about Algrito coming to La. Youknow, it's funny because this is coming
up on the fifteenth, five pm, two eleven pm right there, Los

(24:48):
Angeles City Hall, of course.And you know what's funny is I you
know, you hear growing up onSundays, my dad would Bonda music or
things like that, and you hearthe cries, and you think for Mexicans
just drunk listening to music on saying, but I think it's funny that there's

(25:08):
power behind those screams, those yelpsand what they mean, and a lot
of people just think, well,they're they're very happy people on Sunday morning,
but they're But I think it's importantfor people to understand that tie,
what that means and and why it'ssuch a proud point of freedom and independence

(25:32):
and power to Mexican Americans. MexicansWell, because I mean, I think,
you know, it's one of thethings that I think when people share
struggle and they share that experience,that kind of sigh of that cry for
independence, that cry for just haveyou know, being seen. Uh,

(25:52):
you know, we've we've seen itin many different forms, but I think
it's really important for the Latino communityin particular. This is this is an
expressive way of of reminding us ofour collective power, of reminding us of
how we can come together in thesemoments and really transform our futures. And
that's what that moment was in time. It was when ordinary people came together

(26:15):
to achieve something extraordinary. And it'sa reminder of I think of all communities
that you're not powerless, that youdo have the ability to do more,
and that great though or even ifyou when you listen upon them music,
when you listen to everything, it'sthe it's just that expression of deep passion,
of deep pain, of deep celebration. It's all of those things and

(26:36):
it's just evoke. It evokes suchI mean wonderful memories you know from I
think everyone many collective childhoods, andI think it's just really special for people
to come together. What makes thisreally great is again the intergenerational component where
these traditions so often we can lose. And I think, you know,

(27:00):
for me, as a first generationhere American of Mexican descent, it's really
special to be able to do thisand even honor some of the traditions that
my grandparents. My grandmother's thankfully stillwith us, and you know, she's
going to be part of the party. So I'm just excited that I get
to do that, just even asa part of my family history. And

(27:22):
I think it's great to be ableto do that. For Los Angeles.
I have visions on those Sundays ofmy idiot little brother but as naked,
letting those out, dancing a littlecrazy half breeds. We're running that neighbor's
gardener. But we did. It'slike we didn't know what it meant,

(27:45):
but you know, it was likethere is something very powerful about that and
letting that out. And I likedhow you described it. It's a little
bit victory, it's a little bitof frustration. It's a little bit of
joy and celebrate and a little that'swhy it has some notes of sorrow and
then that notes of victory sometimes.Yeah, a very beautiful thing. The

(28:08):
we're right up against the clock.Anything you want, anything else you want
people who know. No. Imean it's a you know, free event
for everybody, and you know,we welcome all folks to come out.
We have among the musical acts,we have lasters, which uh you know
I've they're very popular. A lotof people love them. They do some
the wonderful act Las Colibri, abeautiful mariachi group, Banda Las Angelina's.

(28:34):
But I think the one that likeyou might appreciate is Banda macOS is our
headliner, and Banda Matos has ahuge following, you know in the Latino
community. I mean, one ofthe ogs when it comes to this style
of music, and just uh itis that cross generational musical moment that is

(28:56):
going to I know, just bringyou know, moms and their kids and
dads and you know, just grandma. Everyone is going to be there because
this is the music of your childhood. I'm looking forward to it. It's
forward to the event and it willbe good fun. I remember last time
going there was a maaacchi that wasentirely made up I think of lapd or

(29:18):
something. Yes, yes, yes, I don't see that often. That's
right, in uniform, that's right, that's right. It's different. Oh,
we do a lot of different things. The theme this year is solmos
La We Are Los Angeles, andit really is just representing the fact that,
you know, our diversity here inLos Angeles is our greatest strength,
and really appreciating and valuing one anotherand seeing each other is really important,

(29:42):
particularly as we've kind of trying toreconnect after all the separation that we've been
through. Hey man, Monica Rodriguezdot org slash events slash El Grito El
hyphen Grito g R t Oh saysthe half Breed Monica Rodriguez dot or and

(30:03):
you can check that out. Butit really is a wonderful event, and
being in the heart of Los Angeleslike that makes it extra special. In
the evening, it's beautiful. Comingup on nine, fifteen, twenty three.
Thanks for coming by. Always niceto see you. It is the
Fork Report. O'Neil Savadra. Thisis KFI and KOSTHD two Los Angeles,
Orange County. You've been listening tothe Fok Report. You can always hear

(30:23):
us live on KFI AM six fortytwo to five pm on Saturday and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.