KCAA: Let's Dine Out with Allan Borgen (Sat, 29 Jun, 2024)

KCAA: Let's Dine Out with Allan Borgen on Sat, 29 Jun, 2024

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Mark Westwood, General manager of KCAA. All of us here at KCAA are
chiefly saddened at the tragic loss ofour friends and fellow broadcasters Alan Borgan and
his co host Isabelle Izzy Bussy ina terrible highway accident in Missouri this past
weekend. Alan was a friend toeveryone here at the station as well as
across the Inland Empire region, andIzzy was right alongside him for years.

(00:21):
Alan had a passion for food anda passion for life, and it showed.
Welcome to a delicious edition of theLet's Dine Out Show. Food critic
Alan Borgan here and Izzy Bussy,and we have a show for you,
folks. I'm telling you, ifyou like pizza, you're gonna love this
show because it's all about pizzas.Izzy was his co host in life and
on the air and added just theright flavor and perfect seasoning Alan needed for

(00:44):
that perfect blend, and together theyreceived great reviews. Alan and Izzy will
be missed greatly and Saturday afternoons atfour pm will never be the same without
them. He'll never be the samewithout Let's Dine Out. But we here
at KCAA intend to keep his showsrunning for everyone to enjoy for some time
to come. Allan wrote restaurant reviewsfor The Sun Newspaper, Inland Valley Daily

(01:06):
Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts and theInland Empire Business Journal. He also took
his reviews to the airwaves at KBCRninety one point nine, KSBA, KTIA
and right here on KCIA, aswell as social media. For years he
co hosted another popular food show calledTable for Two with David Cohen. We
here at KCA extend our condolences tothe family, friends and community who knew

(01:30):
and loved Allen Borgan and Isabel IzzyBussy. We appreciate all the support we
received from the community in the lastdays. May their souls have a quick,
easy, peaceful and joyous flight tothe heavens above. Godspeed, Alan
and Izzie. You will be missed. For those who would like to enjoy
one more or many more of hisshows, his shows are all right here
on KCA and podcast form on ourwebsite at KCAA radio dot com. Anyway

(01:52):
you listening to a let's site outshow, We're on every Saturday from four
to five right here on AM tenfifty one oh six point five FM.
The state they'll leave no listener behindglorious food. We're anxious to try Frank

(02:27):
Aday our favorite diet. Just takeyour own man at Steak Bribe. Both
are still wonderful. Lundie made fromwhy we did Welcome to another delicious edition

(03:10):
of the Left Sign Out Show.Food Critical Alan Borgan here and and you
can tell from my excitement my voice, I'm really excited about today's show.
We recently met with in a chefthat just blew us away. We're pretty
much talked to him for about twoand a half hours and I could have
spend years of talking to him.His restaurants are amazing. It's from Las

(03:31):
Vegas and his award winning chef,and we're gonna have him on our air
in a couple of minutes. Andwe have a how did a legend?
An NFL legend who played for theSan Diego Chargers, And he'll be on
later on talking about it's Pork RyanAppreciation Day. Plus there's a charity at
the NFL is deeling with, sowe're gonna be talking about that. But

(03:55):
anyway, how are you doing?Is he good? Excited about this interview?
Yes, I'm so excited. It'sfunny We've met with him about what
two weeks ago, yes, andwe're still talking about every day. He's
just like wow, Wow, Wow. Every restaurant we go to was like,
oh my god, why can't itbe like him? Why can't it
be like him? So anyway,we can't wait for that. And hope
we're doing good. Hope there's alot of good restaurants out there. A

(04:16):
lot of new ones are opening up, which you're gonna be going to briefly
probably the next week or so,two weeks. And what else is going
on? And everything else, No, just anticipating the excellent weather. What's
gonna happen by tomorrow? Eventually besunny, eventually. I heard climate change.
You know a lot of people areagainst that, but I'm like,
I don't know about that. Butanyway, let's get it right into our

(04:40):
interview with us is a gentleman whowe've been to his restaurants. We're around
three four times now. We've broughtpeople with us, and everyone says the
same thing, Oh my goodness,this is like the best we've ever had.
And we've just been blown away.And throughout my almost thirty years of
being a food critic, I've meta lot of incredible everyone is is has

(05:02):
so many good things about them,but this is one chef that hasn't come
all rolled into one. I've nevermet anyone like him, and I'm not
here just to schmooz him. I'mreally I want everyone to know about him,
especially in Las Vegas. A lotof people go to Las Vegas,
and uh, I think it wouldbe important to know about him and go
to his restaurants and hear about tohope what's happening in Vegas, and but
more importantly about him as a asa man, as a chef. That's

(05:26):
what impressed us and with us isChef James Trees. And also he's got
a friend of him, a friendof his, Eric Gladstone, who's with
him too. We'll be talking withhim a few things about him later on.
But welcome to let's sign out.Joe Chef. Hey, how are
you guy? How's everything good?Good? How's the weather there, Luke
Greeny? No, Actually, it'snice being clear right now. Partial chance

(05:51):
to reign over the next week.Next week's gonna be a little bit weird
as you go into a Super Bowlweek. Hopefully everything worked out and it
should be clear by Saturday, buttoday it's probably like seventy two and gorgeous,
so nothing to complain about. Thatwas great with me as Izzy,
you met her last time we werethere. Hi, how you doing.

(06:13):
Yeah, it's creaty to talk toyou again. Yes, definitely. Well,
we'd like to get jump right intoit. We'd like to let out
is listeners know a little bit aboutyourself. Can you tell us a little
bit about yourself? Yeah, Bluely, Well, I'm born and raised in
Las Vegas, and I tell peopleall the time that I grew up in
a little small town in northern Mexico, fifty thousand people, and that's the

(06:38):
truth. I mean, like,I grew up on the East side of
Vegas, is a very you know, Latin American neighborhood, and it kind
of has grown and it's uh andit's awesome. It's on the east side.
It's it's pretty amazing. I wentto Vegas High School and I went
to APCC, which is like atechnical school, and from that I was

(07:00):
able to get into a culinary programwhen I was about sixteen years old,
and that led me to an internshipof the Mirage where I got to basically
intern with the best cooks in LasVegas when I was sixteen years old.
Wow, I've been you know,I've kind of fallen in love with cooking

(07:23):
and I've been doing it ever since. Was everybody in your family that was
involved with cooking? Or how whycooking? I mean, obviously it's food,
which everyone loves. But what reallygot you interested in cooking? You
know? My dad had a greatsaying. He said, if you learn
how to cook, you can geta job anywhere in the world. And
I tried to tell that and tryto like impressed out upon my young folks

(07:46):
today because it's so true the lifeskills and the valuable skills that you learn
working in a kitchen when it comesto discipline, understanding, taking, you
know, taking direction, and andreally comprehending and then repetition. Those things,
whether or not you're working as adishwasher or a lion cook or a

(08:07):
tu chef or an executive chef,are skill sets that will take you anywhere
in the world you want to go. And it's something that was very freeing
for me, and it was importantto me to learn those kinds of things
because coming from the East Side ofVegas, we didn't grow up with any

(08:28):
money. It was one of thosethings where we were very lucky and fortunate
if we even got to go outto a restaurant. So like being able
to share that and give a legup to these young people who are coming
through the kitchen is kind of awesome. Now, besides just your interest in
it, you've worked over the yearswith incredible chefs. I was reading over

(08:50):
some of the people you've done,who we've actually talked to on our radio
show before. Why don't you tellthe audience about some of the people you've
talked to some of the chefs thatI had a really I've had a really
very career. I took a differentkind of past than a lot of chefs
of my age in a law ofchefs in a restaurant business where they usually

(09:13):
stick with one or two chefs overtheir entire career. And what I've learned
is like I could basically pick upeverything that I need to know from a
chef in about two years. SoI worked with Luke Palladino and Alessandra Strada
when I was young, when Iwas seventeen eighteen. Then I went to
Coldhoras with c in New York,and then from there I went to work

(09:35):
at Lebanonden in New York City withChefferica parents, and then from there I
moved back to Vegas and worked withMichael Mina at restaurant Oqua at Bellagio before
it even became the restaurant Michael Mina, so I was there, and then
I moved over to Bradley Ogden whenthey opened Bradley Ogden at Caesar's Palace in

(10:01):
two thousand and three, and thatwas a really cool experience because it was
an amazing kitchen team with a lotof different chefs who were extremely skilled,
and we were all young and hungaryto show what we could do. And
that year we won Best New Restaurantin America and they, you know,
some of my best friends to asthey are, were people that I met

(10:22):
in that kitchen. And then fromthere I went and worked with Andrea Roshat
at Alisa at the Palms and ChefsShocks within Sonon. That was an amazing
time, and then I was ina car accident and had to kind of
re evaluate everything. Went back toMichael Mina at knob Hill, working with

(10:43):
my friend Ben Meads who I metat Baby Ogden, and from there I
joined the corporate team for Likechomena asa corporate TUO chef, and basically we
went around the country and opened restaurantstogether. That was an extremely cool time
because, you know, you thinkof the minor group now as having you

(11:05):
know, forty restaurants and offshoots anddifferent hospitality groups and everything that's associated with
it. But when I was partof it, it was five people sitting
around the table, you know,trying to figure out how to take over
the world. So it was areally cool time to be a part of
that. From there, I wentto London and worked with Fat Duck for

(11:26):
a small amount of line until Igot sicked out of the country for UH
for a being there illegally, soI highly recommend UH. And I came
back and kind of landed in LasVegas, kind of land in La excuse
me. I spent time working withAcostia Richmond, who was Michael Jackson's private

(11:50):
chef for years and years, andthen I worked with Rey Garcia and I
was just shipped raisine, and thenI got on with with Ramsey and made
a health kitchen and kissen Nightmares fora couple of years. That was a
lot of fun and then I,you know, started at consulting business,
did that for a while, builtsome restaurants, and then I became the

(12:13):
corporate chef for American Gonzo Group andwas in charge of running Superba and helping
out with the pizza spot piss Ona Pizza, which we had ten of
and it was a really great gigand I didn't want to quit. But

(12:33):
when I got back to Vegas,I just had something calling me back home
and I was signed for me toopen my first restaurant, which is ch
right, boy, that's all theexperience you got. My life is boring
compare to yours, you know.You know, I worked with a lot
of chefs. I've seen a lotof different ways to make things work,

(12:54):
and I've been able to see whatworks and what doesn't, and I can
be article and allow myself to notfall into the same trast that other chefs
have fallen into. So that way, you know, I use all my
experience to hopefully create the best experiencefor our diners, right, And I'm

(13:15):
not trying to replicate another restaurant.I'm trying to be original. So feel
my experience in kind of all aspectsof restaurants has a very decidedly customer focused,
you know, plant to it.It's not about like you know,
you'll hear chefs talk on and onand on about how the foods are so

(13:37):
important that the food is only probablytwenty percent of a restaurant experience. You
know, was the food's great,that's that's my requisite skill set is making
food. But all the other thingsthat you have to do to make the
restaurant cohesive and work correctly and havethe staff trained properly. That is like,

(13:58):
really what I've learned by look forall these different people right now,
there's one chef you didn't mention.I don't think he did so a manner
of what you're saying. But it'sHeston Blumenthal, which actually I have one
of his barbecues. He sent mea grill to do a review on.
Yeah, it's kind of neat,but I never heard of him or anything.
But he was known for a pioneerwith multisensory cooking, food pairing,

(14:20):
and flavor encapsulation and after tasting yourfood, that's what and talking to you
that was a He was a biginfluence because that's what you were about.
You want to make sure every ingredientyou can taste and you want to excite
your taste buds, and you definitelyhave done that. And he's one one
mentor that I know you've really respectedand you really like to follow that,

(14:43):
and that's a big influence on youron your cooking philosophy. Well, I
mean, like you know, Iwas, I would say, yes,
for sure, there's definitely something tothat. I mean, like Heston does
a lot of things that are moreliteral when it comes to multi sense already
like that. I remember a dishof the fact that that he did that
was called the Sound of the Sea, right, And part of the dish

(15:07):
was you put on an iPod,you put on headphones and there's an iPod
mini that plays the sounds of theocean while you're eating this dish, which
is seven different perfectly prepared pieces ofseafood on a bed of edible sand and

(15:31):
sea foam, right, And sothat dish called the Sound of the Sea.
The plate is basically like a littlepiece of glass, the sand underneath
it that's not edible, and thenthey play this dish on top of it,
and you look through it and youcan see the bottom and you can

(15:54):
see the sand, and it kindof rolls over and the glass is tinted
blue, and then you have likethe auditory sound as well. And then
what they do is as you're eatingthat they actually come by the table and
spray like the smell of ocean aironto the table. So when you're really

(16:15):
kidding, five senses of the oceanand this whole entire experience, and that
dish is something that is such ata level above you know, anything that
I could even imagine that it's somethingI actually use as a reference point.

(16:40):
I was like, then you wantto go in if you want to make
things perfect, you want to likecreate escapism and food, you can do
that. But I love the flavorsof the food that we create together as
a team at Esther's. I meanlike if someone was like, oh,
I want to play an iPod duringthis thing, I'd be like, dude,
where try to read it? Wemake copa like, this is not

(17:02):
the place for that. One day. We will have a place for that,
you know, another project. Butwe shouldn't be cooking like that.
You know the way that they cookat the Fat Duck Genius, it's on
a whole other level. You know, we're talking about three Michelin stars,
we're talking about deep, immersive dinings. That is not the way that we

(17:26):
cook at Esthers. All we doat Eshers is we buy the best product,
we treat it very simply, andwe serve it in the most humble
way to you, so that wayyou can enjoy the play of food.
Well, you mentioned humble, I'msorry, go ahead, which is a
little different, a little different vibethan than that. Right, But you

(17:48):
know you mentioned visual. Your foodis not so much visual as it is
what's textual taste wise, I meanjust every ingredient you can take and talking
to you, you got us hungryjust talking about it. I mean all
the different ingredients in there. Andthat was a big thing where every bite
you want people to taste a littlebit of this, taste a little bit

(18:10):
of that. Yeah, and ishe I mean yeah. You know,
Italian frew can be so one note, right, It can be like the
same bite over and over and overand over again, and you get tired
of that. Right. So oneof the things that we try to do
with the food of Esters is welike to have little pops of different flavors

(18:33):
inside of a dish that you wouldthink would be cohesively the same bite over
and over. So let's take ourspaghetti palmadoro for instance, right, but
you face the palmadoro sauce, youtaste the tomato sauce, and if there's
like garlics and chili flakes and basilsand tomatoes. Right, So when we
pick that dish up, we stoppaying fresh cherry cherry or sungle tomatoes right

(19:00):
with garlet cone. See, weadd a small amount of chili flake,
we add fresh basil to it,and then we put the palmadoro onto it,
and then we sew it down,and then we add a little bit
of butter for roundness and flavor.We season it, and then we take
the house made pasta, toss thatin, and then we finish it with
baseel oil and parmesan cheese. Like. The thing about that is the way

(19:23):
you layer those flavors in such asimple dish that would just be spaghetti,
right, And that's how we haven'tnamed on the menu spaghetti palmadoro Folko tomatoes.
Right. So the way that webuild that dish is that way.
Every single time you go back andbite it, you might get like a
piece of garlic colne feet right.You might get a tomato, you might

(19:45):
get a leaf of basil, right, but you don't get the same bite
over and over and over again.And that's something I really love about the
way that we build dishes esther.They're very much not one note dishes,
that's for sure, definitely, Andthen you use very you know, seasonal
ingredients and also ingredients like sun choke, which you don't see a lot on

(20:10):
the menu that that you offered ita atus, right, And so yeah,
absolutely, I'm a huge fan ofworking with the seasonality of products in
all the restaurants, even all Toledo, which is theoretically a Red Soace restaurant,
but if you look at the menu, probably about fifty or sixty percent
of it will change over ingredients throughoutthe year because of seasonality. I love

(20:33):
sun chokes. I think they're fantastic. I actually call them party choke,
that's right, because yeah, Idon't care how you eat them, they
do want Yeah, that would helpthe gas situation here in California, that's
for sure. So exactly, yeah, you would. You would need to
worry about the uh guess that's inCalifornia for real. But yeah, but

(20:56):
they are sun choke is basically thebulb of the sunflower, like the group
bulb, and it's one of thosethings that people didn't eat for years and
years and years. And then westarted to see him at the market in
Santa Monica when I lived in LosAngeles and Alex Weiser from Wiser Farms in

(21:17):
Tahatchepee has been cultivating them for overtwenty years now, and so he has
these really great sun chokes and they'rebeautiful and they have great flavors and earthiness
of them, and they're almost likenutty in this really great way. So
one of my favorite ways to preparethose is to come seat them in oil,

(21:41):
then smash them and fry them right. So like everyone's had, you
know, a sunchoke soup. We'veall had like a sunchoke chiret on a
plate or something like this, butthe actual fun choke, like when you
serve it hole and you smash it, it has the home entire thing with
like a potato where you see starchyand then you fry that search and that

(22:03):
search is super crunchy. And Ireally love that combination. And we serve
it with like a sunflower pesto becausewe're using not only the sunflower seeds,
but we're also using the ball ofthe plants as well. So that's the
first time I've ever had that atyour restaurant. And the only suggestion I
would have is I would have adifferent sauce. I would have a beano

(22:23):
sauce with it, just to counteractthat. That's all for free. So
you listen to the Let's Sign Outshow right here on AM ten fifty and
one oh six point five FM,the stations that leave no a listener behind.
And we have the honored of talkingto a chef, James Trees,
who is a Chef of the Yearthis last year in Las Vegas, and

(22:45):
he has the most incredible restaurants.The ones that we love that we've been
to is Ada's which is into fullyVillage, and also Esther's Kitchen. We've
been to I think four times,early three four times. Every time it's
been fantastic. Highly recommend it.And this is a chef I've never met
anybody with no ego who's down toearth and the passion. When I talked

(23:06):
to Wolfgang Puck, that's why Igot just watching him to twinkle in his
eye of exciting and just wow.The passion. That's what you had and
that really impressed me, and Ijust I really just admire you for not
only your cooking abilities, your creativity, but you as a person and especially
your management style. Let's talk aboutyou know, food is one thing,

(23:26):
You're right, food is what twentypercent whatever. But your staff are the
most amazing staff. They've been thereforever. They're all friendly, they all
you know, none of this stuffwith uniforms. They all dress up nicely,
but their own style, they havetheir own image type of thing.
But everyone delivers the most incredible service, unpretentious but friendly, genuine. Just

(23:52):
yeah, they show there. Youknow, your passion really goes through them
too, because they're passionate about beingthere, being they're serving these amazing foods.
Yeah, let's talk about that andyour your management. How you see
that, because after talking to youis like, God, every restaurant owner,
every business owner should have the samephilosophy as you do in terms of

(24:15):
spending time training staff. And let'stalk about that and then to me talking
about it, let's let's do it. I got a lot of really good
advice. I will say that,like, that's one of the reasons why
I don't get wrong, I've calmeddown very much so in the last couple
of years. Like when we firstopened Estros, I am not the person
I am today. I mean Iwish I was, and I wish sometimes

(24:37):
I could maintain my cool as wellas I do now five or six years
ago. But the stresses are different, and you know, when you're trying
to create a creative vision, gettingeveryone on the same page is very very
difficult, and it takes time.And yes, we have found our people

(24:59):
and that is a beautiful thing.And I'm trying to teach my other chefs
that, hey, you know what, You're gonna hire someone and they're gonna
let you down, and it's okaybecause eventually, over time you will find
your people who want to be apart of what you're doing and as long
as you treat them well, theywill say. That being said, it
takes years and years and years forthat to happen. So that's that's first

(25:26):
and foremost, because I mean,like you know, at escher As,
we went through sixty dishwashers in thefirst forty five days. I mean,
like that's the kind of thing that, like, you know, it's not
easy place to work Esther's. Thecurrent Esthers is extremely small for the volume
that we do in the products thatwe produce, and it's and it is

(25:48):
huge. So like it is,it's really big because the people who work
there at Esther have made a choiceto work with us because of the things
that we can do for them thatStrip properties or other places in Vegas can't
do. Like we can work withpeople's schedules, we can work within times

(26:10):
out times, We can help peoplewhen they need help. You know,
we can understand the situation or twothat like you know, other places don't
have the ability to because of acorporate structure. So it makes us a
little bit more dynamic and a littlemore free flowing. And you know,
like you talked about, like,oh, everyone dresses how they want to,

(26:30):
we guide them in that and wehelp them so that way they fit
the vision of the way we wantthem to dress investors. That's that's one
hundred percent beyondnest truth. Like Iwouldn't let someone come in and where sports
where it's it's not something that wouldfeel well for the for the rest of
the guests. And we want peopleto be comfortable, So we want them

(26:51):
to be in their own clothes.But we want to guide them in a
way that's smart, right, Sowe've created kind of guidelines to help them
find out how to work with usand give them the leeway to make mistakes
and then give them to that.When you have a staff, like in
the kitchen and the chefs that wehave, if we hire for attitude,

(27:14):
because we can teach you anything.But if you don't want to learn from
us, if you want to showus how good you are, that won't
really work. You know, we'vegot a lot of cooks. I always
tell people this, It's the truth. I was never really the best cook
in any kitchen I worked in untilthey be like the last couple of years,
you know, before I started,you know, becoming an executive chef.

(27:38):
It was really important to me.I always wanted to be the best,
and it was very keyGo driven andall that. And I see that
in the young men and women whocome through the restaurant today, and I
tell them, like, hey,man, it's okay to fail. We
always say that in the kitchen isthe one who doesn't ask for help,
you know. And then my mymantra that I keep telling my managers is

(28:03):
your job is to be a goodboss, like be the boss that you
wish you had, And if youcan do that, then people will respect
you, people will follow you,people will listen because they know that you
have their best interest at heart,and you know it's starting to do that,
then then you'll be successful. Andwhat you're saying really show is because

(28:25):
everything starts from the top. Ifyou're successful, it's because of the people
on top of you. And themain thing, too, is teamwork,
especially in restaurants. I've worked enoughrestaurants to know teamwork is everything. My
god, you can have the greatestchef in the world, the greatest menu,
but just one thing breaks down,it really hurts everything. And your
team works amazing. They cover foreach other. I mean every time you've

(28:47):
been there in all your restaurants,it's like it's been that way. And
trust me, I haven't seen thattoo often. You know, the cohesiveness
of your teams, I mean reallyshow because you know nobody's like you know,
you can always feel tension. Youknow, if you have somebody that
won't get along with somebody else,you feel it in the room and in
your restaurants. You don't feel inyour space, you don't have that.

(29:10):
I mean people, you know,your staff are there and that you can
feel that they want to be thereand they want to help other you know,
all their team members out too.So it's just a very really positive
environment. One of the fun thingsyou do is people can tip this if
you want to say hi to thecooks and everything chefs to you can beer
for everybody and feed the kitchen piece. And that's a great thing. Absolutely.

(29:34):
Like I'm excited to see my team, you know, Like I you
know, I get to see themand I get to see them grow,
and I get to watch them learn, and I get to watch them move
up, and I get the abilitythey give them more money, you know,
and like when they show me they'reready for responsibility, it's my job
as a leader to have the nextstep ready for them. Right. And

(29:59):
a lot of people, you knowsay like, well, you know,
you only need to have a chefship if one restaurant should be at the
restaurant of the single day. AndI'm like, I don't want to be
that chef. I don't want tobe the chef that dies behind the line
at fifty five, right, That'snot my end goal. My goal is
to create a bunch of restaurants wherethey're filled with people who understand the ethos

(30:23):
of what we do at Esther's andat Alsledo and i Ada and like,
and they understand what the mission isright and how to work within that framework.
And then when they're ready for thenext step, it's getting into the
next step. Well, you've doneas You've done a masterful job. I
mean, every staff we talk to, he always asking all the questions about

(30:45):
you and what it's like working withyou, and every one of them says
the same, it's just really reallyneat to see. So well, I
just I pay him to do that. We paid him very well. Then,
So your friend Eric is right,you should be right next to you,
right, that's not what Eric Abit Eric, Eric, I'm going
to pass in the phone. Okay, Hey, how are you doing budget

(31:07):
cuts? So you only have onephone to share? Eric Gladstone, you're
a friend of his for a longtime, and we're gonna talk a little
bit about We all know about hisprofessional side of him, but let's talk
about some of the fun things abouthim that people don't know about. Uh,
you'd be you'd be amazed to knowhis fascination with ballet. Okay,
really, I just totally made upbecause we're sorry, excuse me, I'm

(31:34):
still nursing a bag getting over foldhopefully not ruin your radio show. Uh
No. But you know, Jamesis really one of the most interesting guys
I've ever known. In all honesty. He's kind of a polymp in that

(31:55):
he will people will randomly start talkingto him about like almost any topic under
the sun, and I'll be sittingthere thinking, oh my god, James
is just gonna go blank. Hehas nothing to say about this, and
then he'll jump into the topic andI'm like, how do you know all
this stuff? You know? Uh, cars actually knows a lot about He's
a big, big sports guy,which which I am not, but his

(32:21):
sports information is really good. Hisuh film references are definitely highly respectable.
And then of course comes cats.Yeah I saw what first. Actually,
I'm on Facebook with him and Isaw he had a black cat. I'm
like, okay, that's nice.I didn't know that, But you told
me Domo style. You told methat he's really into cats, him and

(32:45):
his sister. Yeah, it's abig cat family for sure. Okay,
what about a sense of huge thatthat's a pretty amazing too. Yeah,
great sense of humor, for sure. We're we're laughing all the time.
If you're serious all the time,it stocks laugh at ourselves, laugh at

(33:07):
each other. You know, that'swhere it should be. That's why it
should be. Now he is building, you know, he talks about Michael
mean of conquering the world. Thisis the next conquer of the world.
I mean, he's got three rightnow. By the way, Estra's kitchen
is small. It's in the Artdistrict of Las Vegas. But on February
twenty ninth, you're opening up amuch bigger facility right next door, actually,

(33:30):
and it's to be really, reallyincredible. So make sure people can
get there. But if you gothere, you have to make reservations.
That's really important. But is thereanything else you could talk about in terms
of him, Well, I shouldknow, it's a really good idea to
make reservations now because it's intense.I think it's gonna he's up quite a
little bit when we more than triplethe space by next month. So we're

(33:53):
really excited about being able to servea lot more people. Anything else about
James, you know, I don'tknow. Uh, he gets to Uh,
he gets to wash golf every day, so uh, his backyards,
so that's probably fun. Travel isa big thing for sure, traveling to
eat, but just everything else.You know. He's definitely a cultural person,

(34:15):
which is really cool. He's reallybig on supporting the arts in the
arts district, which is a coolthing because a lot of people it's easy
to sort of forget that that thatsort of the mission in a way.
And you know, his dedication tothe city who was born and raised in
is is pretty impressive as well.You know, he's just a passionate person

(34:38):
and I relate to that really wellbecause I'm equally passionate about the things I
care about. You have to havepassion, that is he a question?
Yeah, so I'm wondering. Sosince he's such a great chef and he
has all these restaurants, what's inhis refrigerator? Huh, that is a

(34:58):
good question. Grassed ground beef,eggs, avocadas and yeah that's about it.
Broccoli and green beans. Like that'syeah. It's I'm on a crazy
I'm on a mission to get myhealth, uh and my body where I
want it. Kelly, I canuh continue to move forward and be a

(35:22):
better leader for everyone else around me. Uh, I'm doing this crazy keto
thing. I'm going to gym sixdays a week for you help me,
like such a bomb podcast and yeah, it's uh good, you know,
I'm doing a lot of that stuff. But as far as like within my
friends, it's very it's very meatcentric and very like very grass said,

(35:47):
and very like healthy and bubbly waterbeer everyone. Yeah, I can't drink
soda, so I have to drinkbubbly water and the cherry Bubbly is one
of the greatest things ever. Okay, Well, I could see your next
restaurant, a little carb restaurant,nothing but little car but great quality little
carve. So it's just terrible.I don't want to do that. No,

(36:12):
I mean, like, here's thething is, like I love I
love I love Pasa and pizza,and I love what we do. I
love working with sourdough and making souradobread. I love bread baking, and
the new facility is all set upfor that. But you know, I
also need to balance that in mydiet and do all those things right,
like, you know, like theserve celebratory meals and when people are coming

(36:34):
out to the restaurants. They're forthe most part, they're celebrating something right,
and that's the reason why it makessense to be eating in that way
for those days. But for rightnow, I just need to like settle
back on the cars for a fewmonths, you know, start focusing on
help and start doing all that stuff. And that's the goal. Well it's
my goal too, unfortunately that life. Yeah, real quick, next after

(37:01):
you we have Kellen Winslow Senior,who's a Pro Bowl or Hall of Famer
if he used to be tight endfrom the San Diego Chargers. He's we
talk about port brands and stuff.But real quick, you're gonna be cooking
next week for for the NFL forthe Super Bowl. Talk about that a
little bit. Yeah, So theTaste of the NFL is a food event

(37:22):
that they do in every city thatthey have a Super Bowl in. So
this year they are doing Las Vegasand it's hosted by Tim Loaves and Carla
Hall and yeah, Andrews Zimmerman.And so we're gonna be over there making
the pasta because you know, we'reknown as the Italian restaurant here in Vegas,

(37:44):
and uh so we're gonna be doinga little mortadella Agnalodi with custashio pet
so brown butter and basil. It'sa real simple, straightforward dish. We
uh make a mortadella moose with ricotta, a little bit of creamy. Yeah,
you get a fancy bolooneianhu samdwich.Yeah. That's all low carbs.

(38:07):
So that's a good things. Soyeah, all low carb yeah yeah.
But I mean, like, sowhat we'll do is this is kind of
fun, is because we're making melodi, we will actually be rolling the pasta
that morning. One of the thingsthat I love is that we have the
ability to produce these great products thatyou know, are all handmade and beautifull,

(38:30):
and that is something that I reallylove about my team. So one
of the things I'm doing with thisevent is I'm bringing my pasta make or
Eric uh so that way he cansee the look on people's faces when they
get the opportunity to try this dish, which I'm really excited about. Not
only so not only do they geta great football game super Bowl, but

(38:53):
they also get great food. Yeah, it's gonna be great. Yeah.
So it's over the Lou Rubo Center, the Keeap Memorial Live Place, which
is also really cool because you know, Lou and Larry Rubo, they owned
Southern Winan Spirits, they ran they'rebasically created the business for wine here in

(39:15):
Las Vegas, and they're the oneswho helps promote restaurant and do all these
things for Las Vegas. That's great. And they were big boxing fans and
so now they created the Brain HealthCenter, which is where this the Remo
Center is, and people who havelike boxing backgrounds can go there for CTE

(39:35):
training or getting neuroscans and stuff likethat. So it's a really cool place
to be a part of and todo an event at and working with the
NFL, you know, and beinga part of that is also just an
honor. We're just lucky to they'reletting us in the door to be a
part of it. Well, speakingof honors, it's really been an honor
meeting you, talking to you,and even today is just I mean,

(39:59):
we've been looking forward to whole weekand same thing, Eric, thank you,
Thank you very much, glad.Eric Rucher. And I was gonna
tell you too that next week you'rebecause you're cooking, we're gonna have you
on, but we can't. Butthe week after next we're gonna have you
on again talking about your restaurants.I want people to really know about him.
So happy to spend time with youguys, and happy to be a
part of the conversation. Great.If you want to stay on the line,

(40:21):
and any questions you have for KellenWinslow, feel free to so,
but we're gonna have to go tothem right now. But thank you guys
so much. Appreciate it, allright, yeah, thank you, thank
you too. Now on the otherline here again, if you're an NFL
football player or a football fan likeI am, the San Diego Chargers had
a great tight end named Kevin WinslowSenior, and he's now the Hall of

(40:44):
Famer and great Iron great and he'son the air on the line now and
we're talking about not only the SuperBowl, but also Pork Ryans and basically
the NFL what they are doing togetherwith it. So welcome to let's sign
out show. Kevin. How areyou doing good? How are you doing
I'm doing just fine? O good. When you're in Vegas, you got
to go to Esther's Kitchen and that'sthe chef we have on there. Probably

(41:06):
the most incredible restaurant I've ever beento. So really, yeah, what's
the specialty. It's Italian food.But they make everything from scratch. Anything
from there unlike anything you've ever had. Even they're soured overready, they bake
it. They make everything from scratch, and everything's delicious. That's I can
say. That's saying a lot becauseI have a lot of Italian friends from

(41:28):
Connecticut and New York. Okay,I've had dinner in their home, so
that's a pretty high standard. Yeah, you have to call them reservations,
that's the only thing. But uh, okay, I know they might have
openings. So okay, let's talkabout the grid grid Iron greats assistant fun.
And also it's a pork run AppreciationDay this year and past the pigskin
sweet steaks. Let's talk about that. Well, first let's get in the

(41:51):
website. It's www dot Porkarine AppreciationDay dot com. That's Ryan r.
I and because sometimes people get thatconfused, but it's actually a d pork
rind Appreciation Day dot com. Andthey can get all the information. You
can win money, you can winproduct, you could win opportunities to help

(42:14):
your local youth sport team and fundraisingand by getting some free product, and
being able to sell it at yourconcession stand. So it's a lot going
on there. So go to thatwebsite, register, sign up, and
you know you might win. Youcan nominate some people to win. The
Gridiron Great Assistant Fund is another tightend in the National Football League. Mike

(42:37):
Ditka, who is a coach anda member of the Football Hall of Fame
and hell of a football player forthe Chicago Bears. That tight end has
started a number of years ago agroup called the Gridiron Great Assistance Fund,
and it was designed to kind offill in that gap that was a very

(42:58):
big gap at one time between thebenefits and the opportunities to help players who
might have fallen through the cracks betweenwhat the NFL and the NFL Players Association
used to be able to do comparedto what they're doing now. Gridiron Great
step down was able to help playersin a variety of areas, directing them

(43:21):
towards resources, helping them financially andat certain times of different areas. And
now the league is doing a betterjob, the Union is doing a better
job, but there's still a gapthere where the Gridiron Greats step in and
help out. That's great, that'sgreat. Now they've teamed up with Southern
Recipe Small Batch, which is ourfavorite pork rind. I love their products.

(43:45):
I mean talk about flavors, it'snot the usual traditional ones. It's
got a lot of different flavors toit. How do they get to work
with this, Well, it's theystarted a number of years ago assisting coach
Titka and the grid Iron Great AssistantBond the grid Iron Grade and filling in
the need and being a part ofthe fundraising efforts. And every year at

(44:08):
the Super Bowl there's an event thatMike Ditka and Ron jaw Warsty puts on
and they've always been a big supporterof that. Now, grid Iron Grats
has been around for maybe twenty yearsand the Small Badge Polk Grind people have
been a part of that. Ithink fourteen or fifteen of those years.
Wow, that's a lot. That'sa long time. Yeah. Being a

(44:28):
football player, I mean everyone thinks, you know, you're getting all too
much money and all this stuff that'sgarbage for what do you guys have to
go through? Oh my good.You see some of these hits on TV.
And I've never played football. Ifell out. I used I was
on a football team and how badI was. I fell off the bench
one time. That was my bigaction in the football high school. I
was never that good. That's truestory too. But so you aren't good

(44:50):
enough to be bench? Oh yeah, so maybe I can get some assistant
from your charity. Talk about benchwarmer I've never had. I was always
on the show you missed a bench, you're good enough to be mentioned.
So but now park Grinds are verywhat's nice about them is not just a
snack, but you can do alot with them, a lot of universal
Yeah, yeah, and that brandis fantastic. And now in terms of

(45:14):
the charity and everything, it goeson all year round, not just around
Super Bowl, right, No,it's doing Super Bowl is a big fund
raising time for them and a bigtime to kind of remind people who they
are and what they're doing. Butthe activities that they're involved in, the
support is a year round. Nowin terms of football, when you played

(45:36):
now, is it a big differenceor is it pretty much the same athletes
today? And I'm gonna get introuble for this. Good athletes today or
better athletes than we were, reallyOkay and luly because they're professional this is
the money that they make nowadays.And I have no problem with the money
they make nowadays. It's a marketdriven business and this is what the market

(46:00):
is, and this is what theyshould be making. But the money they
make today and the way the leagueis run today, you can become a
full time professional athlete working on yourcraft. Back in the day when I
played, during the off season,I had different jobs. The other guys

(46:21):
had different jobs, Guys going backto school. They were working on a
second career or second path. Andyou know people who were accountants, some
who owned small businesses and ran homeafter the season was over to look after
their business. But today, withthe money they make, their full time
and the teams have facilities that allowedthem to be full time. Most teams

(46:45):
when I played, you know,they rented space from the stadium in which
they were located. I'll give youa great example. In San Diego.
Our weight room for the San DiegoChargers became the visiting locker room for the
San Diego Padre baseball games. Wow, So they technically put our weights in

(47:07):
storage and if you wanted to workout, stay in town and work out.
If you're one of those players whostayed in town. Then you pretty
much went to a twenty four hourfitness or some local gym or YMCA to
work out. Wow, that's amazing. You think what the doing now they
would have been doing then. Imean, they saw the benefits of it,
but was it just say well,no, they really did. There

(47:28):
were so many things that they didn'tunderstand earlier in this game of football.
For example, they used to passout salt fields. Mm hmm. They
restricted water. The sciences come up, the science has come along a great
work, a great deal, andthe medical science has come along a great

(47:49):
way, and the research has comea long way. But there were some
things that they were doing back inthe dark ages that were just counterproductive.
Wow, well you've definitely conquered it. You were an incredible ball player,
and I love watching. Unfortunately,the Chargers never went anywhere. I always
come on, come on. Butthat's another that's another issue. Well okay,
I guess that's another issue. That'sanother issue. But uh, you

(48:13):
know, I just I mean,I guess I'm a homer, which is
kind of sad. But I likegood football period. I It's like hockey,
you know. I Yes, Ilike the Kings, but I Also,
I was in Vegas when they wonlast year, and you know,
I just like good football, goodsports. And it's amazing what a sports
franchise, a winning sports franchise doesfor a city. Ye, for the

(48:35):
economy. People, you know,they go out to eat more, they
feel better. There's research sociologists havedone research tied to the Monday morning effect
if your home team won or yourhome team loss. Wow. Well you
know last year. I mean usuallyin a city, if you're a football
fan, yay, you know theywin something, big deal. If you're

(48:57):
you know, a Laker fan,let's say, and they win. You
know, those that really like theLakers, yeah, ya. The others
they don't care. When we werein Vegas when they won the Stanley Cup,
everybody, i mean everywhere we sawthey were, they were behind the
team. I've never I mean Igot goosebumps. I was almos. You
know, I'm a big I startedfrom the Kings from day one, and
I just never saw anything like that. I saw the whole team all Vegas,

(49:20):
the whole strip on their billboards.Forget about you know, comedy,
who's going to be where? Itwas all about them, And that really
impressed me and sure, you know, six months after that massacre they had,
that's when they came about. Itreally brought the team, the whole
city together. But sports can havethe power of the sports, power of
sports, right, you know,music has the same effect on the masses,

(49:42):
and so does sports. And ifyou can, you know, bring
an organization to a community and thatorganization is dedicated to that community and doing
what's best for that community, thenthat community will surround that organization and support
it. Uh sometimes to you know, very high levels, feversh le high
levels sometimes, but it's it's that'swhat the power sports is. It doesn't

(50:07):
matter if you're white, black,doesn't matter what, It doesn't matter who
are It doesn't matter, uh,you know anything is the fact that you're
a fan of this and we're allthat, right. Is there any one
player that you that mentored you,that you looked up to? Oh,
my teammate Charlie Joiner. Oh here'sanother good one. Yeah, yeah,
without a doubt, Charlie. Uhtaught all the young receivers how to be

(50:30):
professional and would you know, tellyou when he didn't think you were being
a professional. But he was justa great example. If you want to
know what to do and how todo it and how to handle yourself.
Just watch Charlie Joiner. Yeah,I know. Now you see some you
know, young players come in andthey're doing a fantastic job and just down
to earth and just really good.They seem like really good people, you

(50:51):
know, And it's more than justfootball. They care about the community,
they care about their family and it'sreally nice to see. But real quick
back back to the past, thePigskins Sweet Steaks again. This is a
chance to go to pork ryand AppreciationDay dot com. It's Pork Ryan Appreciation
Day dot com to enter the contestand we're big favorites of pork fans,

(51:12):
so we're definitely going to be doingthat too. And is the Yeah,
we want you to give us alittle bit more information. If somebody interested
about the grid Iron Great Assistance Fund, how to reach them if they want
to make a donation, how dothey get in touch with you? Well,
a simple Google search of doing gridairon Great Assistant Fund, We'll bring

(51:35):
you right to our the web pagethere and they can donate if they so
desire. But a great way todo it again is to enter that contest.
The Pork Ryan Appreciation Day dot comwebsite will take you to everything you
need to know. Oh great.Now at Super Bowl coming up, I've
got to ask you, do youhave a favorite team? I do have
a favorite team. Unfortunately I thoughtthat was coming up. But they're in

(52:00):
Los Angeles now. So do yougo to all the games? Do you
go to many of the games?No, I've gone to a couple of
games. I'll tell you what's reallygoing to help Los Angeles Chargers. And
I had to pause and think ofLos Angeles before I said San Diego.
The one thing that's going to reallyhelp them. It's not necessarily a new

(52:22):
coach. The new coach is goingto help, but it's the fact that
they're building a facility. They're buildinga home where the members of the organization
know where they're going to be everyday, because since they left San Diego,
they've been at different locations, temporaryoffice space here, workof facilities here,
and then driving to the stadium andthen you know, driving home wherever

(52:45):
home might be for them, andthen on the next Monday, starting over
again. Of where I go asfar as the temporary facility is concerned,
But they're building that new facility it'sgoing to be their home home, is
going to be done first class,and that's going to help the organization really
really become a winning team, Ihope. So. I mean, they've

(53:07):
been around for a long time andthey deserve credit. And unfortunately, at
least in California, Los Angeles especially, we're kind of fickle. You know,
when the team wins, yeay,when they don't lose, when they
you know, lose, they goagainst them. And that's just the way.
I don't know about other cities,but I know back East they're they're
with them no matter what, andthat's something I wish LA fans would get.

(53:28):
You know, you're with the teamno matter what. To me,
I hate to see gamers. Itjust just if you win, you're with
them otherwise, you know, likewhen the Ducks came with hockey, you
had people there that knew nothing aboutit. I mean, it was like
a golden It was like ridiculous.They didn't care. They just wanted to
be seen here. But I'm reallylooking forward to it so well, Kellen,
thank you so much, and againwith us as Kellen Winslow, Senior

(53:49):
Pro Bowler Hall of Famer, GonnaGridlin's great great tight end for the San
Diego Chargers, and thank you somuch for your efforts. And are you
going to be at the super Bowlby a chance? Yes? I will.
Oh cool. Well, I hopeyour team, I know it's not
there, but I'm sure one ofthem you want to see win. But
I'll leave it at that. Idon't want to. I don't want beat
up piss off with you. Souh, Kellen, thank you so much

(54:09):
late at the University of Missouri.So I would have to go with Kansas
City. All right, that's myteam too, so good, good,
good, well Kellen, thank youso much for joining us and happy eating
will thank you take care of Poppye. What a nice guy. I know.
Well, if people want to knowmore about the grid Iron Greats Assistance,

(54:30):
it's w w W grid Iron Greatsg R E A t S dot
org. And if you enjoy footballwatching these people play, or watch them
play before, I mean, Ithink you owe it to them. I
mean, anyway, don't because youhear a lot, you know a lot.
You know, not everybody makes exactlynot everybody's making that that huge paycheck,

(54:53):
and then a lot of people mightget hurt and then they don't get
a paycheck anymore? Right, So, so you know the people they're falling
between the cracks or how to youknow, manage your money, or how
to you know, manage your fameor different things. I'm sure you know
they offer these assistance to the familyand to you know, the person,

(55:13):
right, So I think it's agreat organization. So look them up and
you'll be able to find more informationabout them. Can't wait. So I'll
tell you a chef, James Streetis amazing and next week he's cooking,
so we're not gonna have him on, but the week after he's gonna be
on to talk about his restaurants.You've got to listen to that because those
restaurants are amazing and a lot offuture plans and we'll be talking about so

(55:34):
and I'm so excited. I can'twait to try all of them all at
least ten rounds around exactly. Sountil next week, Food critic Allen Borgan
and is he bussy ape Eating?See you next Saturday at four missed something
today yesterday last week. Check outour podcasts at www KCAA radio dot com.
We leave no listener behind. OurFood's lie is facing total destruction.

(56:01):
Big ag and Big Farm are usingnew crispbar technology to genetically modify every fruit,
vegetable and grain. It's so badthat the FDA just approved the first
GMO cow for human consumption. AtJoseph's Organic Bakery, we never use GMO

(56:22):
hybridized flour. We bake like athousand years ago. We only use non
GMO ancient grains that we grind ourselves, never commercial flour. Proper bread is
medicine. To learn how our breadcan transform your health, give us a
call at nine five four five fourone for zero six y two or visit

(56:45):
our website at Vegan Bakerymiami dot com. That's nine five four five four one
for zero six' to two.Redlands Ranch Market is a unique full surface
international or grocery store that specializes inauthentic food items from Mexico, India,

(57:05):
and from many Mediterranean and Asian countries, including popular items from the US.
They offer fresh baked items from theirin house bakery, housemade tortillas from their
Tortillirea, a delicious array of preparedMexican foods, a terrific fresh food and
juice bar, and a large selectionof meats, seafoods, and deli sandwiches,
salads, and halal meats. Theirproduce department is stocked full with fresh,

(57:27):
local and hard to find international fruitsand vegetables that you cannot find anywhere
else. Don't forget to step intothe massive beer cave and experience the largest
selection of domestic, artisan and importedbeers in the ie. They can also
cater your next event with one ofthe delicious takeout catering trades of food.
Visit them at Redlands Ranch Market dotcom. That's Redlands Ranch Market dot com.

(57:50):
Redlands Ranch Market a unique and funshopping destination. Palm Spreeze Dispensary reminds
everyone during these challenging times they understandthe importance of mental health. Offering daily
deals on everything from top quality flowersto edibles and discounts on CBD products.
Palm Springs Dispensary's goal is to helpyou win the battle within. As one
of the area's most beautiful well innessshops. Located on Garnet Avenue, visit

(58:14):
the Palm Springs Dispensary dot com.That's the Palmsprings Dispensary dot com. Hi.
I'm Kaylee Sphere, a license agentwith Litchfield Insurance Associates here in Beamin.
A large portion of Americans don't havelife insurance or don't have enough.
Whether you need a temporary policy,something to help with income during retirement,
or making sure your final expenses aretaken care of. Having life insurance is

(58:37):
an act of love and security foryour whole family. Having a local,
trusted agent makes navigating through the sometimescomplex world of life insurance so much easier,
and I would love to be theone to help you. I'm Kaylee
sphere for your free consultation. Peopleare calling ninety five to one seven six

(58:58):
' nine zero zero zero zero fivenine five seven six nine zero zero zero
five NBC News Radio. I'm ChrisGaragio. President Biden is spending the weekend
on the campaign trail after his widelycriticized debate performance. He and First Lady

(59:19):
Jill Biden arrived in the Hamptons todayto attend a series of Democratic fundraisers.
Political analysts say the focus will nowbeyond how the campaign moves forward while reassuring
major donors and other Democrats who maywant him off the ticket. Meanwhile,
the Biden campaign says it raised twentyseven million dollars in the twenty four hours
following Thursday's presidential debate. Former Trumpadvisor Steve Bannon is due to report to

(59:39):
federal prison in Connecticut Monday. Thisafter the Supreme Court denied Bannon's request to
delay his form month prison sentence oncontempt of Congress charges as he appeals his
conviction. He must serve time afterrefusing to comply with congressional subpoenas related to
the attack on the US Capitol.Bannon is the second Trump IRA official to
serve prison time for defiance a peaceis from Congress. Former Trump White House

(01:00:01):
adviser Peter Navarro was put behind barsin March. I'm Chris Caragio, NBC
News Radio.