Best of the Gordon Foodservice Final Thoughts

00:00Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, the tastiest hour of talk in Music City. Now here's your host, Brandon Styll. Hello Music City and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll and I am your host. We are powered by Gordon Food Service and we're going to be joined with Caroline Galzin throughout the episode as today is a best of episode and what I have done is I've gone through and picked out 10 episodes and we're going to play the final thoughts with thoughts. So this is the craziest thing. We get to the end of the year here and we're all just slammed getting ready for the holidays. We've got holiday pop ups and all these things and I really just want to do something that's fun that goes back to look over the past year and this has been a really interesting process because there's so many episodes.

01:13I really am just humbled by the amount of people that have come into this studio and sat down and talked to us and told us their stories and have been vulnerable. It's been absolutely incredible and today we're going to go back and we're going to hear from Freddie O'Connell. We're going to hear from who was our mayor. He was not the mayor at the time. We're going to hear from Alex Ballou, Josh Buckley and Rachel Adams from The Nation's Brewing, Charlotte Miller and Dr. Kelly Martin. They came on and joined us and talked about diversity, equity and inclusion. Miller Phillips, the owner of Beauchamp's, Ford Fry, Emma and Chris from SS Guy, John and Wilson from NOCO, Jack and Lorraine from the Sexual Assault Center and we're going to cap it off with Will Gadara and his final thought. But this is, and we'll probably do another one of these before the end of the year because man, there were so many amazing interviews that we had this year. First of all, we had a big election that happened and we had a few mayoral candidates on here.

02:16We had a couple of candidates for metro council at large. We've had so many just amazing guests and one of the things that we've really wanted to do this year was talk about big issues, not just have a bunch of people coming in talking about how amazing everything is, but really dig in, which is why we wanted to talk to some politicians, which is why we want to talk to Jack and Lorraine at the Sexual Assault Center, which is why we wanted to talk to Charlotte Miller and Dr. Kelly Martin about diversity, equity and inclusion. These are important issues that we're all dealing with and it's been so honored. I've just been so honored to talk to these people and that they've come in and had these conversations. So I wanted to celebrate some of that. If you haven't been able to listen to some of these, maybe as we go through, I'm going to tell you the dates that originally aired, go back and check some of these out because it was a lot, a lot of fun. We're going to kick it off and I do want to say before we kick it off that Gordon Food Service is our amazing title sponsor.

03:18You're going to hear that throughout the theme as this is the Gordon Food Service final thought that we're going to be talking about today. They have just been an amazing partner in this podcast and they are huge advocates for the locally owned and operated restaurant scene here in Nashville and they are doing everything in their power to be innovative and to help in every way they possibly can. I truly believe that and I love them. They've been so supportive in everything that we do. If you are looking for a broadliner, definitely check them out because GFS is, they do what they say they're going to do and go through a litany of things that they do that makes them special, but really they do what they say they're going to do and that's all you really need to know. So look them up and check them out, gfs.com. We're kicking it off today with Freddie O'Connell. Freddie O'Connell was a mayoral candidate and he was the second one I believe that we spoke with and he was scheduled to come in the day after, we didn't know it at the time, but it was the day after the Covenant shootings.

04:26Man, it was a tough one. I didn't know if he was actually going to come. I was kind of like, well, we'll see if he shows up and he did and he showed up and we had an amazing conversation and at the end of this conversation, you'll hear in this final thought, it's a short final thought, but it was an amazing opportunity for us to talk and so without further ado, let's jump in and hear what Freddie O'Connell had to say at the end of his interview. I'm going to do our final thing is the Gordon Food Service final thought. We finish every show, we let the guests take us out with a final thought, whatever they want to say to the Nashville community, it's completely up to you, but I'm going to change this a little bit and I'm going to say your final thought is, why should I vote for you? Because I want you to stay. That's it. There you go. Final thought from Freddie O'Connell, mayoral candidate, city council member, District 19, thank you so much for your time today.

05:27Well, thank you for this opportunity, I mean, honestly, after the darkness of yesterday, having a place to just come talk for a minute has been really great, so thanks for having me. It's been an absolute pleasure having you here and you're welcome back anytime. Thank you so much. Thank you, Freddie. Appreciate it. I want you to stay. So many people in Nashville are unhappy with a lot of the things that are going on, affordable housing issues with taxes, I mean, just all of the things, the rapid growth, the infrastructure. Are we set up to continue thriving or do you just want to go? I want you to stay. And it was a message that carried him all the way to being our next mayor. So fun conversation, not a fun conversation. That was a tough conversation, but I'm glad that we were able to have it and it was good to have. The next person that we're going to be talking with is Alex Ballew. So Alex had been on the show early, early on, and on March 26th, he came back as the winner of Hell's Kitchen Season 21.

06:35And man, what an amazing conversation with him as a guy who was closing his restaurant, didn't know what to do. The big conversation in our first interview was about a Facebook post that he posted about how hard this is and how he needs people to come support him. And next thing you know, he has to close his restaurant. He gets on Hell's Kitchen, wins Hell's Kitchen 21, and he came back on to give us his final thought. The mic is yours, man. Whatever you want to say, as long as you want to say it, you're not on camera anymore. So yeah, well, that broke a long time ago. I did. Man, I would just say this life is short and the world is big. Don't feel like you're ever stuck in one place. You've got, you know, you've got an opportunity to do whatever you want. There's always a way to get out of whatever situation you're in. It might not be easy. It might not be fun, but you can do a lot with a little bit of creativity. So there it is. Life is short. The world is big.

07:37You're not stuck in one place. I don't know who needs to hear that right now, but I know going into the holiday season can be a challenging time. And it's almost the antithesis of what Freddie O'Connell just said. You know, life is short. The world is big. If you're not happy where you are, go find, there's a lot of other places out there. There's a lot of things that you can do. Don't stay in one place if you're not happy in that place. You know, you can take that in any way that you want, but I thought those were pretty wise words from Alex Ballou. And the next wise words we're going to be talking with is from a new partner that we have, and it is Josh Buckley and Rachel Adams, who's their director of marketing over at the Nation's Brewing. They were on the show on April the 16th, 2023. And let's hear what they had to say for their final thought.

08:37One of the final things that we do on the show, and we're going to open this up to you because I don't want to miss anything, is we do the Gordon Food Service final thought, which is anything you guys want to say, you're speaking to anybody who's listening, whatever you want to say, as long as you want to say, and this is Rachel, I don't want to miss anything. So, Josh, if you want to give us a final thought, and then Rachel, you can give us a fact check. Anything that was missed on your checklist of things to talk about today, you jump in right after that. So, Josh, the mic is yours. Yeah, yeah. Maybe this will be the segue to you guys inviting me back again. I mean, so this isn't our first world of hospitality and other things. We have some other companies we've done, and it's sort of led to the development, like we said, we don't want people coming in hating their jobs and really building team culture. And so I guess if I get to get on my soapbox, which I think is the point here, is I think just the importance of teammates or other people and the role of team in life, the thing I always like to bring up is, if you go look up the world, the actual world record, first you look at one side, the 400 meter dash, and that world records around like 46 seconds.

09:53And then you look at the world record for the four by 100 relay. Four by 100 relay is four different people, three different baton passes, there's so much opportunity for things to go wrong in that. And that world records at 37 seconds. To me, it's just mind blowing, like six seconds faster at the world record level you're talking about is different. And I really always try to use that with our teams to say, like, that's the power of team. That is the power of not always being the smartest person in the room, not always having to be right, not always, you know, of kind of just realizing that there's going to be times in life when you're going to help carry other people, but there's a lot of times in life where the other people are going to help carry you. And you just can't get through life trying to do it yourself. And I don't care if that's a company in the ecosystem of a community or as an individual in a family or an individual at their work. And so, yeah, it's just every opportunity you interact with someone, it's a chance to make things better or make things worse. And so just be part of the team and be part of it and don't be, you know, as hard as it is for me to remember sometimes to sort of humbly ask for help in those things is it's so important to getting through life and whether it be a company or your own personal life.

11:07So, yeah, I'll stop there. That bleeds into how we run our companies and things, but yeah, this team always beats the individual. So. Rachel Plugs. I think he did. I think you guys touched on all of it. We go right now. Come on. It's been fun. It's been fun. I started with Fat Bottom and Music City. And so having them come on and really see the team grow and see what the brands really could be and really start to become, you know, ingrained back in the Nashville community has been it's been super fun to do and awesome team to lead and be part of. And it's great beer and it's a fun, fun labels and fun brands to work with. Amazing. Thank you guys so much for joining us today and we'll have to do it again and thank you for all you're doing. Love that you guys are doing something really cool downtown. That's for the locals. Yes. Definitely. I can't wait to check it out. Let us know. Because if we don't forget, we're still learning. I'm going to show my Tennessee ID. Yeah. All right, guys. Have a wonderful rest of your day. Thank you.

12:08Appreciate being here. Thank you for all for listening. One of my favorite Gordon foods are his final thoughts from Josh Buckley. The importance of team, you know, I think we all we all work in restaurants or whatever married, if you are a parent, if you're anything, it is so important to work together. You know, you can do so many things together as a team. I love the quote that he said there in the middle where he said, there's a lot of times that you're going to carry people and there's a lot of times they're going to carry you and you can't do everything by yourself. And I've learned this the hard way because I tried to, I try and control everything that I possibly can. And man, if you can have other people that have your back and you have other people's back, life is so much better. And I've as I've gotten to know everybody over at the nation's brewing, really, this is this is who they are. And when we first sat down and talked about a partnership and what we could do with the podcast with them, we had five people at the table and everybody had input and it was really, really cool.

13:14I really feel like our everything that we're doing just completely aligns and I'm really excited to start that here coming up real soon. But Fatbottom Brewing and The Nation's Brewing and Josh Buckley, you can hear that episode on April the 16th, 2023. Another thing that we really wanted to do, we love supporting Le Dom Descoffier here in Nashville and they hosted a symposium over at Charlotte Miller's place. Yeah, yes. And what they're talking about was desegregating Nashville's restaurant scene. And I went there and I wanted to experience it and go in and kind of learn. And we had Charlotte Miller and Dr. Kelly Martin come on the show. We had Charlotte Miller coming in. Then I went to that and I said, would you like to join us to to Kelly Martin? And she said, absolutely. So they came in and we had such a great conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion. And it was it was not the most comfortable conversation to have.

14:17I'm not going to lie, but I think overall it was something that we need to talk about and we need to be intentional with and we need to get it out there. So we did that at the end of this one. We did for the first time ever. All four of us had a final thought, and we're going to jump into that one right now. I hate to do this, but we've got a hard cut off in one minute. OK, not going to be that hard because we're probably going to get another five minutes. But Gordon Food Service is our amazing title sponsor and sponsor for the symposium. So they're amazing. We love Gordon Food Service and they sponsor our final thought. So our final thought, we're going to go around the table. And I feel like Carolyn, we just were just going, going, going. Final thoughts, whatever you guys want to say, as long as you want to say them, as long as we can cover it in three minutes. And I'm just kidding, as long as you want to do it.

15:18Kelly, we'll start with you and we'll just go around the table. I appreciate the conversation. I appreciate the open mindedness, being willing to have the conversations and just talk about the hard things. I think that the best way to bring DE&I practices into your workplace as small businesses, it may be just to start by forming a committee of the different types of people, a diverse committee in your organization to say, hey, how do you think we can improve on this? What can we do on that? Do you feel included and just really kind of gauge the temperature of your staff reaching out to vendors, minority vendors for different food services, different services within your organization that might be helpful, be it cleaning, be it linen, be it, you know, whatever that may be. And also, I don't know if everyone knows, but there is an organization called T. Malza where there are black spirit owners, black and white, black wine and spirit owners here in the state of Tennessee, where you can actually put their products in your in your stores and your restaurants just to kind of promote minority business as well and follow, start building that network with people who don't necessarily look like you, who don't come from where you come from, because again, we're always better together.

16:37Love that idea. Charlotte. So I'm going to be a little bit more broad or macro. My father wrote a letter to my sister and her baby book, and she was born and he said, a life well lived is one lived with love and charitable behavior. And that's how you know you've lived a good life. And I think people deep down all want to do that. I think that no, I don't believe that anybody gets up in the morning and says to themselves, I want to be a dick. I want to be an asshole. There you go. I mean, I part of my morning meditation, but I mean, you know, whatever. I think for the most part, I don't know, maybe it's a poly enemy. So my my final thought is if that is what you want to do in your day to day behavior and your day to day life, what is the legacy that you're leaving behind of your life? And if you're cool with that, then I'm cool with that.

17:37But if you look in the mirror and deep down, you know, you could be better and do better and do it. Amen. Caroline. Wow. I you know, I just really want to thank both of you for creating a space for these types of conversations. They are uncomfortable, but I think that they are critical, especially right now. You know, I think that there's a lot of people who unfortunately still tend to be close minded about these conversations. But I think that if you aren't growing, you're going to get left behind. And I think that's part of the reason why people are so uncomfortable right now and they're fighting so hard in these death throes is that they're afraid they're going to get left behind. So I'm here to tell you right now, I'm not leaving you behind. We're giving you a road map. We're reaching out a hand. You're not going to get left behind. We want you there to better together. Absolutely. I'm going to do my own final thought, because this is the first time I think we actually go on the table. It's always been the guest start today. I don't care where you're at. I don't care if there's it's never too late to start growing.

18:43It's not like when you're 18, that's who you are. Change. Open your eyes. Have the conversations. Read a book. Go do some research and figure out your own implicit bias. What is it and what can you do to look yourself in the mirror and go, what can I do to be an anti-racist? What can I do to be more inclusive and start start growing? It's OK. Whatever your past is, it's not a death sentence. Every single person can start today and say, starting right now, look at your watch, starting right now, I'm going to change. I'm going to be better. And it's it's not a it doesn't matter what you've done in the past. Get better. Start today and think it's not about what you can do better. It's not about what you can do better. It's about what can I do better. And if you if every single person in the world looked in the mirror today and said, what can I do to be a better human? What's that? Let's see, Michael Jackson, the man in the mirror. You got it. But that's I think if anybody starts because I'm not saying I was the greatest person my whole life, but three years ago, I sat down and said, what can I do to grow and be better?

19:55And that's the person that I want to be and I want to strive to be. It doesn't matter. Just start today. And that's how we're going to drive change. And I believe that Nashville can do it. I definitely believe Nashville can do it. I've seen it in some chefs that I worked with in the past. They've definitely done some outfaces, some one eighties. And I'm like, good for you. Yeah, hell yeah. Let's do it. Let's go. All right, guys, ladies, thank you so much for joining us today. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Sometimes I listen to these and I cringe a little bit at my own voice because I hate listening to my own voice. I don't know if you do. And I feel like I'm on a soapbox there and I'm like, this is what you need to do. But I really I listen back and I do believe it. I believe in all of that stuff. And it does start with looking in the mirror and saying, what can I do to make a change? And that's that QBQ stuff, that personal accountability from the book from John Miller that I absolutely love. We're going to stay with this theme. And we talked to during the interview with Josh Buckley from Nations Brewing Fatbottom Brewery.

20:59They mentioned that they have a beer called Hope, and they were donating the proceeds to the Sexual Assault Center and that they had these really cool coasters that were able to test for date rape drugs. And the Sexual Assault Center was giving those to people and they were really cool. And I said, man, I'd love to get their contact information. I'd love to have that conversation. And so we did. And we brought in Lorraine and Jack from the Sexual Assault Center here in Nashville. And it was a great conversation. Really loved the conversation. We did this on July 16th. And here is their final thought. It is the Gordon Food Service final thought. And one day I'll put all of the final thoughts into a book and it'll be a really neat thing so that I'm add more pressure to you right now. I have one. Whatever you want to say, as long as you want to say it, the mic is yours. Go and then Jack the Jack the underdog will get to say something. Lorraine the Ripper. Lorraine the Ripper says, hey, men, do better.

22:00Love that. Do better. Heard. We'll do that. Thanks, guys. I think mine is just that it's this can seem like a really large issue, but very, very small actions and changes in behavior can have a very, very monumentally, significantly large impact on on what we're trying to do here. So the smallest things can really help. I love it. Thank you guys much for spending time with us today. And I wish you have a wonderful weekend. Well, there you go. Men do better. Words from Lorraine McGuire. She was amazing. And then we Jack is in a band. That's why you got his name. And Lorraine wanted her to learn the river. So that was the whole thing. Go back and listen to that episode from the middle of summer. That was from July 16th. And I love what Jack said.

23:01Just do little little things make a difference. You know, you don't have to change the world. Just a tiny little change in what you do and how you do it can can make monumental changes. We're going to switch gears. I took a trip this year. We typically do a family trip down to the Panhandle of Florida. We stay in that Destin area and we love going to eat at Bochamps. And I was fascinated by this entire restaurant. I felt like, man, they have their own boats. Like, how do they do this? And what are local restaurants? And I just I have so many questions when I go out to eat when I'm on vacation. And so I called up the owner of Bochamps. His name was Miller Phillips. And I went I took the family down there for the specific reason to talk to him. And on August 6th, 2023, released this episode. And it was a wonderful I had so much fun doing this episode. And he left us with this amazing final thought.

24:04Miller, this has been so fun for me. And thank you for hosting us here at Bochamps. This is pretty awesome. And the final thing we do on our show is Gordon Food Services, our amazing title sponsor. And they sponsor the Gordon Food Service Final Thought. This is kind of where we go completely off script. I did not warn you about this. I never do. Yeah. Whatever you want to say, anything you want to say, I don't care whatever it is, you're going to take us out and your final thought. You're just speaking to whoever is listening as long as you want. Whatever you want to say. The mic is yours. Right on. Well, yeah, on the spot, for sure. I don't know. I don't know where to go with that, but I don't know. I think one thing that if I could, you know, your listeners to understand about me and about us and about Bochamps is that that transparency thing is as real as it gets. And we do everything that we can to try to let everybody know that what we're doing is just trying to show everybody what we do down here and how we live and how we make a living and how, you know, the job market and things are down here.

25:17This is how we make a living during this season. You know, my servers, my bartenders, my cooks, my bussers, my dishwashers, you know, this is what we do. And this is we're going as hard as we can for everybody at this time of year. And we go as hard as we can on the other times of the year. But we just don't see as many people. And I would just say that a lot of the parts are the reasons for the success of this restaurant is that we are able to show that and we try to do so much to be as transparent and honest as we can about what we do. And it's very difficult to to prove that, you know what I mean, without walking you through the restaurant today and showing you these things, I can't do that with every guest, you know, with upset guests, I do it a lot. I'll say, come walk with me. Let me show you why this took 17 minutes to prepare for you tonight. Let me show you something. And I'll walk them through the kitchen and walk them through. So do you see what's going on? Like we're doing our very best, you know, and people have a hard time understanding that and understanding what we're doing and that we're not like other restaurants.

26:20We're not dumping it out of a bag. We're punching those French fries. We're cutting that fish. We're doing everything we can to get you what you want. Now, we're in this cool, casual atmosphere, but we're not trying to give casual service or give you casual food. We're trying to give you the best service and the best food and the freshest seafood and everything we can. We're going above and beyond, probably past where we should go in the environment that you're in. So when you come down here and you see what we're doing and you feel comfortable and you are in this relaxed atmosphere, understand that we're not that way. We're just trying to provide that to you so that you feel that way and that you get that experience, man, this hospitality in this country and everywhere. It makes me sick when I go places, you know, what is going on? What happened to hospitality? You know, where did it go? And I try so hard to bring that back a little bit, you know what I mean?

27:23And to try to get people to understand that that's still alive. And, you know, my dad, with the way that he is about pre-busting and, you know, old school hospitality, it's very important to us and we want people to live that again because there's people who haven't even experienced it because it's been dead for so long. So, you know, come see us, understand we're trying to be as honest and transparent as we can be. And we would love to have you down here and show you what we do. And I'd love to walk every single person through like I did with you today, but we got to get food out. So that's the way it is. But come see us in October, November, and I might be able to walk you through. So Miller Phillips, thank you so much for joining us today on Nashville Restaurant Radio. Yes, sir. Thank you. So I love that one, that when you are going on vacation, how important it is to eat local, wherever you go, ask the question, Google restaurants that are local, because you know what they care, they care about you.

28:25And if you're coming to Nashville. Google what restaurants are local, what are the locally owned and operated restaurants because they don't have the marketing budgets that these national chains do, and they don't necessarily have the money to build these amazing spots right downtown. Make the effort, go a little bit outside of Broadway and eat somewhere local. And that's what he's saying. And if you go to Destin, find out the places that are local, because these people need your support and it is a much better experience. And if you want to learn more about Beauchamp's, go back and listen to that episode from August the 6th, because, man, it was really cool, really interesting, a whole dynamic of what they do there. We got back and we talked with John and Wilson. They are from NoCo and Wilson Brannock and John Murray from NoCo, one of the hottest restaurants in the city.

29:30And they were so thoughtful, so thoughtful in the way that they're operating, all of the things they do. I just wanted to learn more. And they were so gracious to come in and tell us their entire story. And I think this final thought is perfect for this week. Let's jump in right now with John and Wilson. All right, gentlemen, the last thing that we do here is we do the Gordon Food Service final thought. Gave you a heads up on this, John did not give you Wilson heads up. So we'll let John go first. You guys get to take us out. Interview's over. I turn the mic over to you. You get to say whatever you want to say, kind of as a final thought. Anything doesn't matter. There's no rules. If you want to talk about who you want to vote for or you want to talk about something at your restaurant or a philosophy, a favorite quote, I don't care whatever you want to do, whatever you want to say, the mic is yours. I would say for those that are listening that have dined at NoCo, we're extremely grateful without the Nashville community's acceptance and response to us, we wouldn't be able to do what we're doing.

30:37And so the word grateful is something that continuously comes to mind in our pursuit of trying to change hospitality internally. So we're just grateful to Nashville for receiving us well and supporting us. Love it. Wilson, for me, I'm going to say that to grateful for everyone who has chosen to be inside of our four walls as a guest. We are extremely grateful for you, extremely grateful for the city of Nashville. And for those of you, maybe it isn't a restaurant, but who want to open their own business, just go for it, just fucking go for it. Do it. I like that. Caroline, you want to throw in anything? No, I thought those were great. There's nothing left to say. Amazing. You guys did. We said it all. I love your thoughtfulness. I love what you guys do and I cannot wait to go eat there. By the time this comes out, I will have eaten there as that sound. Appreciate you. You all having us on. Oh, thanks, guys. We know you're busy. We love geeking out about this stuff and you guys just right in there.

31:38We can dig in even more deeper another time. Well, we'll have to do it again. A lot of times we finish like we could have gone for three more hours. It's a thing. Thank you, guys. Have a wonderful rest of your week. Wish you nothing but the best of success and we'll see you again soon. Appreciate it. Well, as it is Thanksgiving week, I thought that one was perfect because it is all about the gratitude. It is all about the gratitude for everything that they're doing. And I could tell that I could tell that talking to them, that they just felt grateful for their position and where they were. And I'll tell you, if you go eat there, it is amazing. We had so much fun. Took my wife for a birthday on August 15th. That episode aired on August the 13th. We had an absolute blast. I do want to talk about gratitude because it is the Thanksgiving week. And we're able to do this show for one thing. One thing that allows us to continue doing the show allows us to have this studio.

32:38It allows me to have an amazing cohost like Caroline is that we have sponsors, people that care about this community, that care about the locally owned and operated community that want to help build it up. And. While these people pay to be sponsors on the show, this is not really a big profit center for us, this just helps us keep the thing going and it allows us to go out to eat at your amazing restaurants. I want to say thank you to Sitex. Sitex is a linen company there in Henderson, Texas, or Henderson, Kentucky. And they've just been an amazing, amazing sponsor for the show. And they are doing an amazing job. I want to say thank you to Erin Mosso over at Sharpies Bakery. She has been a supporter of the show for a long time, makes amazing bread, just an amazing bakery. They'll deliver to your restaurant every single day. They deliver to mine every single day. I get so many compliments about how amazing our bread is. And she's just it's such a champion for everything that we're doing.

33:42And I couldn't couldn't be more appreciative of her and her company. I also want to say thank you to Jason Ellis over at SuperSource. That guy, it doesn't matter what I need, he's there to help. And I love to reciprocate that anything he needs. I mean, I'm there to help. Just been an amazing relationship. And what he does with your dish, machine and chemical company, with your dish, meat and chemicals is second to none. No contracts. He is very approachable. He's reachable by cell phone anytime that you need him. He really does an amazing job. What chefs want that we've got some really cool stuff coming up in the new year for what chefs want, how we're going to be presenting their products and what they're doing. And it's not just going to be telling you their story. We're going to be actively giving you market information and bringing some people on from their company. We're going to really kick this into the next gear. And I'm just they're one of our very, very first sponsors we ever had. And they've been supportive, as they always have been for the locally owned and operated restaurant community, seven day deliveries.

34:49They're served the 24 hour customer service. They split everything. They have everything. They just they really, truly care so much. And Matt Clements over at Robin's Insurance. I mean, for I just the gratitude I feel for these people is out of control because what they're doing. What Matt Clements does, he's just a supporter of everybody out there, and he puts his money where his mouth is and he really, really cares. And if you need an insurance company, if you're going through some, if you're a locally owned and operated restaurant and you're buying insurance from a big national brand because it's cheaper, you're doing the antithesis of what you tell people to do. You need to be working with a local insurance company with somebody who's in town who cares about your business. That is Matthew Clements. And you can look in the show notes after this underneath. And I've got all of their contact information right there. Love to have you give any of these people a call because they are absolutely amazing.

35:52I also want to say that the nation's brewing will be coming up pretty soon. And these guys are they're fantastic. And they're doing really great stuff. They have this hop fizz. It's a hop water that is coming out that it is a non-alcoholic option. It is a 16 ounce can. It is fantastic. You've heard me drinking it on air with guests. And Chris Chamberlain loved it. And Big Daddy Sean Porter was like, man, this is fantastic for this time in the morning, man, I love this. So they've got some really cool products out there and they're helping the community. They're right here. They're local. If you have a choice, Fat Bottom Brewery, go check out their tap room, but also pick up their beer, put it on your tap and and help out help out a local beer company that is helping out locally here in Nashville. They're just amazing, amazing people. All right, let's jump into another new hot restaurant that was on the show. SS Guy, Emma and Chris Baird came on the show right before they opened their restaurant.

36:53These are two of my favorite people in the city. And their final thought was epic. Final thing we have for you is the Gordon Food Service. Final thought. Right. So you guys knew this was coming. We did. You've heard the show before, I assume. Whatever you want to say, as long as you want to say it, you guys get to take us out. Go wherever you want us to go. Our final thought. Both of you, both of you get one, though. Oh, I get to go first. No, no, no way. You with your hands. So, yeah, we want to communicate. Eating with your hands is a big deal of how we serve this meal. As we've served it over the past couple of days, everyone's like, can I have a knife for my chicken? I'm like, no, there's. You can fuck eat fried chicken with a fork and knife. I'm like, there's a built in handle. Eat it off the bone. Slow down. Put your phones down. Eat with your hands. Enjoy, especially if you come eat our food.

37:55Enjoy the experience. It's our favorite meal to cook for our when we have friends over because you're forced to put your phones down. You make this giant spread at the table. You eat with your hands. You have to talk and engage with the people you're dining with. And it just creates a really fun dining experience. You're making wraps. You're picking things up. You're it's, you know, interactive. And your hands are greasy from fried chicken. So you have to stay off of your phone and stay engaged with the people that you're dining with, which I think is something we miss a lot when we're dining out these days. So. That's my thought. I mean, that was our thought. Other than that, you know. It's it's cheesy, it's it's cliche, but. You have a dream in food, pursue it. And if you say you're going to do it, do it. That's it. Amen. Love it, guys. Congrats.

38:57Thank you. Thank you guys so much. We'll see you on the East side. Have a great day. Thank you. Eat fried chicken with your hands. That's what it's made for. I love they're just so fun. I just love them. And I'm so glad that they're so successful over there at the wash in East Nashville. You can listen to that full episode on June the 4th, 2023. And our next one is going to be from Ford Fry. Ford Fry is the owner of the Optimus Super Rica, Star Rover, Le Lu. He's got all kinds of great places here in Nashville, Atlanta and Houston. He's got 25 restaurants all in all. I'm just so honored sometimes that we get to speak with people like Ford, who come in and tell us their story. And he's just so down to earth. And I think you're going to get a lot of that down to earthness. And this final thought, you get to talk to our entire audience, whatever you want to say, as long as you want to say it, you get the final thought of the conversation. Oh, OK, you know, it doesn't have to be heavy, light, brief, long, whatever you want.

40:05You know, worrying people about this. I just want to talk. I want people maybe they can even like. Any ideas about Star Rover? I've had some thoughts and I've been brainstorming some things and what I would really love, because Star Rover wasn't something like. Not really doing it for the money. It's I love music, I love live music and I love musicians, you know, and. You know, I've even thought and talked to people, friends over at Spotify or Apple Music or whatever. Like, you know, if anyone has a brainstorming ideas, like could would someone even like, hey, want to adopt it? You know, I mean, I've been like adopted as your room to kind of funnel all your musicians through here. Because I feel like it needs some. I do feel I'm agreeing with you that I do feel like it's more of a a nighttime thing, but I also want people to come eat the food because it's like when I eat the food, it's so good, you know? And I wouldn't I don't necessarily always say that, you know, about our places sometimes, you know, we all go through different cycles, but it's oh, my gosh, like the chicken tenders.

41:14We do these chicken tenders that are I don't know. I got on this like chicken tender kick for some reason. And so and then we made we're making these crispy tacos and I put the I'm like, can we make a crispy taco with a chicken tender in it? You know, so it's like so good, you know? So I don't know. And I want someone to do my final word. I'd say is I want someone to do a really make a really big deal about Best Burger and Nashville. I'm not saying I need to be the best burger. I just like looking at those lists and I like knowing where they are. And I know Nashville has a ton of really good burgers, so it should be bigger. Maybe you all do this. You can look at the door and you can see all the people that have written Best Burger on here. So you got the Bad Luck Burger Club. Yes, those guys are. I want to. They are their burgers. I want to. Their burgers are beyond good. And right above it, you see the best burger in Nashville is that Red Headed Stranger, Brian Lee Weaver. Brian's a good one. You signed that one right there. And then I don't know who wrote there. Yep, that's a really good burger. And we got different different spots on here.

42:15But there's we both had we had this come. We had Montel Jordan, who's in another. Is that a lantern? Probably. Yeah. What do you call what do you call people from Atlanta? Atlanteans, Atlanta, Atlantians. I think so. You're an Atlantean. Use that word. He's a fellow Atlantean. OK, there you go. And he said, what's the best burger? I heard the pharmacy was really good. And we're like, yeah, the pharmacy is great. But we both have settled that we love Hugh Babies. Oh, yeah, no, but I've heard and our photographer does does them, too. So so if you want to go get a great read their classic, I get the double cheeseburger and bacon. It's a way to go. It's just it's classic. It's like it's like his version of a double double it in and out. But it's what's the bar? What's the bar? Kind of near the optimist, but kind of like a street over. Oh, Jack Browns. I've heard that's a great burger. I hear they have a really good burger. And then Mother's Ruin. I hear I don't hear I had one during pandemic. I think I got one for the ride home.

43:17And that was a bomb. I've never had the Mother's Ruin. I've had Jack Browns. That Browns is good. I mean, I hear it's pretty good. One dude back there just kind of flipping, you know, I've you know, I honestly, you know what I love? I love across the street. I love Brown's Diner, Brown's Diner. Have you been to Brown's Diner before? I don't think so. Brown's Diner across the street is absolutely classic. If you've got time afterwards, I'll take you over there for burgers. I'm starving. I know she can't stay, but I'd be happy to. So thank you for coming in today for Friday. Thank you. We will. We'll see you again soon. Great. All right. Ford fries. Final thought held me out with Star Rover. What do you guys think? What are the best burgers in Nashville? Maybe we'll put up a poll on that one. I didn't get any comments on that. What people thought their best burger was or my lack of knowledge of the best burger or me thinking the Hugh Babies was fantastic. I do think the green chili burger at Redhead Stranger is the best burger in town.

44:21I'm just going to say it flat out. And I love Bad Luck Burger Club. I love there's there's some great, great burgers. Our final, final thought of this episode on this Thanksgiving week is going to come from Will Gadara. And Will Gadara is the author of Unreasonable Hospitality. He is also the former owner of Eleven Madison Park, the number one restaurant in the world, 2017. And he wrote a book about it. And I thought he was so thoughtful and so insightful in this final comment. He came on with this episode came out on March the 19th. I've replayed it once. And let's take a listen. Here it is. Will Gadara's final thought. I have one last thing, and it is not a question. It is the Gordon Food Service final thought. They're our title sponsor. They're amazing. If you were to leave us, you get to take us out. Whatever you want to say, as long as you want to say it, a final thought that you want to leave our listeners with.

45:25And then we'll we'll bid you a wonderful day. I was I was with a group of people yesterday and. And they asked, how do I find inspiration? Like, are there moments where I'm just feeling uninspired because I'm not out in the world as much as I used to be? Or I mean, I I shared. How when I was a kid, my dad would always say, keep your eyes peeled. That was his way of saying, like, if you're paying attention, there are things everywhere that can inspire you. And I shared the story of this place called Lambert's House of Throat Rolls. Do you guys know Lambert's? It's right next to my hometown in Alabama. There's that there's. Yeah, I know it well. Look at you. I do not. OK. OK. So Lambert's is this like big southern restaurant in Alabama.

46:27And why do you know? I'm sorry. Why do you know Lambert's? I have to ask. I don't mean to interrupt. I one of my happy places is a cross-country road trip. And I love road food dot com where you go. Yeah. Road food dot com wherever you are. Impressed to find my location. And it tells you about cool places that are around you. I think anyone that does a road trip and doesn't use road food dot com is missing an opportunity. Yes. And it brought me to Lambert's. So you go to Lambert's, they serve chicken, fried steak, fried chicken, you know, cornbread, chicken and dumplings, whatever. But then halfway through the meal at the front of the room, this guy pushes out this big cart of freshly baked rolls. And then everyone in the dining room starts putting up their hands. And in John Elway fashion, he just starts throwing rolls across the dining room to people all over the restaurant. You lift up your hand, you catch this piece of bread that's being thrown across the room for you. And it is because of that, that the restaurant is on the map. I mean, it's literally now a part of the name Lambert's House of Throed rolls. Throed rolls, meaning literally they're going to chuck them out, throw them at you.

47:31And I always think about like how that came to pass. And maybe it was a family restaurant like the kid was coming up and like sat down at family dinner and said, like, hey, dad, I have this great idea. I was thinking maybe we could like we're just putting the bread down on people's plates like idiots. Why don't we throw it across the room? Wouldn't that be cool? And the dad got mad at him. But then the mom was like, hold on, we can't invite him into the organization if we don't allow them that voice. And then they tried it and it took off. And I'm inspired by that place because what that element of the restaurant shows me is they have a culture where they let ideas breathe, where there's no bad idea from the onset, even an idea that seems terrible is allowed the space to breathe for long enough to see whether there's a reason for it to live. And I think it breaks my heart sometimes when I think about how many unbelievable innovations never saw the light of day because they were killed too quickly in a boardroom somewhere.

48:34All to say, keep your eyes peeled because if you are paying attention, it's pretty cool how inspired you can be by something as simple as someone throwing a piece of bread across the room. I've said well, God, there are thank you. Thank you. Thank you for joining us today. It's been a pleasure. Have a wonderful rest of your day. Thank you all. Thanks, guys. OK, so there we have it. Will Gadara from March 19th, two thousand twenty three. Where do you find inspiration? Lambert's House of Throat Rolls. Keep your eyes peeled. You can find inspiration anywhere. Maybe you find inspiration at your family's house over Thanksgiving. If you find it at your own kitchen, if you find it at the grocery store, you find it wherever. But keep your eyes peeled because it is everywhere.

49:35People are doing some really cool things. Thank you guys for listening to this episode, which is our first installment. You may see another one coming up here real soon because we had so many amazing episodes and so much more to talk about. We are going to have new episodes at some point. We are going into the holiday season. So thank you guys for your patience. We might just put out episodes whenever the hell we get them done instead of it being on Mondays. So if you are a subscriber, you will get notifications. If you're not a subscriber, go wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you listen to this all the time on anchor or Spotify or Apple podcast, hit that follow or subscribe button. And then when we put out new episodes, you will get a notification. Also, you can watch for it on our Instagram at Nashville underscore restaurant, underscore radio. Give us a follow there and we will be posting when new episodes come out. That is going to be the way you are going to know when new episodes are there. Lots of fun stuff coming up in the new year. I've already got 10 episodes, I think already on the books to get started.

50:38We are not going anywhere. We've got a lot of fun things happening. Thanks again to all my sponsors. I'm so grateful for all of you listeners also that allow this to even be a thing. I'm so honored. Thank you again for listening. Have a wonderful holiday. We'll see you on the other side. Love you guys. Bye.