Hard to Heart

00:00Starting off today's episode, we're talking about Southern Health Insurance. If you do not have health insurance, this is a must. You got to call my guy, Dan Marr. I'm going to tell you his number now, I'm going to tell you it again later. So get a pen. It's 832-816-8602. Now let me tell you, if you own a small business, it is a challenge to offer your staff health insurance. But Dan makes it easy. He makes it easy for you to help retain your staff. And I'll tell you, if you have insurance and your staff can go constantly to the doctor, they stay healthier. They stay healthier and that means they can work more. Less sick staff equals more retention and more productivity. That is what our goal is to help you and get your staff insured. If you are out there and you don't have, you're on the marketplace looking for insurance, any kind of, it doesn't have to just be a restaurant, any business whatsoever, Dan Marr has you covered.

01:00He loops you into a big group of other people, into a massive group so you can be, get the same rates as the bigger companies. This is an amazing opportunity. Let me tell you again, get a pen and paper because you're going to want to call Dan Marr with Southern Health. His number again is 832-816-8602. We are supported by Robins Insurance, a local insurance agency providing customized insurance policies, sound guidance, and attentive service. Robins Insurance is the go-to agency for hospitality professionals in Nashville. Listen, Robins knows how hard industry professionals work every single day. They also know how devastating accidents can be, be it a grease fire that damages the kitchen, a severe storm that cuts off power, or a customer slip and fall incident. Both the extensive experience and the savvy to create a policy that protects your business from accidents like those. You can rest easy knowing that the work you've put in will not be for nothing.

02:03Visit Robins website at RobinsINS.com to request a consultation or call Matthew Clements directly. His number is 863-409-9372. Protection you can trust. That's Robins. Welcome 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 not your host today. We are however powered by Gordon Food Service. We are very excited today because we are hosting a pop-up podcast. This is going to be hard to heart with the boys of the bird. This is going to be a three part pop-up series on Nashville Restaurant Radio featuring couples in the Nashville hospitality business together.

03:11Your host for this pop-up podcast are going to be Mikey Corona. He is the operating partner at The Mockingbird and his husband Brian Riggenbach who is the executive chef partner at The Mockingbird. So we've had them on the show a couple times and they did an episode for us a while back of Talk and Shift and I just you know I just fell in love with these guys. I had so much fun with them and they have such a positive energy and they're just they're just awesome people and they came in for their last interview and I said do you guys you guys are so much fun. Do you guys want to do it like a pop-up podcast in here. They're like hell yeah let's do it. And so this has been months and months and months in the making. We've all been very busy but they finally got in and they have recorded three episodes and in these three episodes they take other people in the industry here in town and as other couples and then they talk about their story what life is like and this first episode is so much fun.

04:12I will tell you they're gonna be talking to Adam and Zach who own Mystic Picnic in Springfield which is a wine bar and lots of cool things and they tell the entire story of the vision and all of the stuff behind it in this interview. It is a lot of fun and then just the banter back and forth with Mikey and Brian. They're just awesome and so be ready. So this Heart to Heart is gonna be a new podcast that we're gonna do three episodes. The next three Fridays you're gonna get a new episode of Heart to Heart. This is gonna be the boys with the bird. So I'm super excited to get this out there. I do want to tell you that coming up this weekend we're gonna have a brand new episode of The Roundup on our regular Nashville restaurant radio programming. We're gonna have Sean Big Daddy from Daddy's Dogs as our guest host and if you don't know Daddy's Dogs was voted the most romantic restaurant in Nashville by the readers of the Nashville scene and that is awesome. So that's very apropos for Valentine's Day.

05:15We're gonna have Caroline, myself and Big Daddy in studio talking about all the things Valentine's, a little history, just a fun conversation. We're gonna talk for about an hour and then we're gonna put that out there. So if you are one of those people who haven't made plans for Valentine's Day yet or if you're one of those people who works on Valentine's Day like me, we're gonna talk about some things after Valentine's Day or maybe there's some post Valentine's Day fun that we can talk about. We're gonna talk about the genesis of Valentine's Day and just all of the stuff around it. I anticipate this being a very fun episode. So please stay tuned and stay on the channel. If you have not subscribed to Nashville restaurant radio, please do that also wherever you listen to your podcast. And then go to Instagram at Nashville underscore restaurant underscore radio and follow us there because we're always posting when we put up new episodes and just fun stuff like that. We would love to have you along for the ride. All right. Let's jump in right now with Mikey and Brian and hard to heart.

06:23Okay, everyone. Hello. Welcome to Nashville restaurant radio. This is not your usual host that's with you. We have tied him up and put him away for about a couple of episodes. And the boys of the bird here to take over. So my name is Mikey Corona and my husband is Brian Rigenbach. Yes. And we're gonna be taking over the next couple of episodes. We are bringing in some friends in the restaurant biz from around town and just poking their brains about what it's like to be a couple in this industry and some of the tools that they use to cope with such a gift and state of being. We are first going to speak to some buddies of ours who we met through the restaurant and worked in the Nashville restaurant scene for a bit before going on to open their own place, which I'll let them talk about.

07:28But without further ado, I will introduce you to Adam and Zach. Hi, guys. Hey, welcome. Welcome. Thanks for having us. The birds have taken over this podcast. And I have to say, I'm very much looking forward to having my brain poked. You said that you'd be poking our brains. I've not had that done yet. Careful what you ask. I've always heard about it. Yes, the beaks are sharp. And it's appropriate that we're talking with couples because this is Valentine's month. So it is great to have some lovebirds on here that that are caged up in their establishments. And I'm glad that you're able to pull you all out of your cage for a minute just to kind of hang out, shoot the shit and kind of talk shift here. Yeah. So, OK, so you guys, I'm going to let you all talk a bit about your background and who you all are and what brought you all to to Nashville.

08:34Sure. So, geez, this could be a really long story. Let me try to condense it and try to condense it into a bite size take here. So Zach and I met in Memphis, which is where we both grew up. And I was already working in restaurants at the time that we met. He was not yet, but we were both in the closet. This is going to get like a therapy session. We were both in the closet. So we met secretly, very covertly at my house through some of the early stages of online dating this pre grinder, you know, pre anything to to official. This was, you know, when some of those very dark, shadowy apps like Adam for Adam, things like that were online. We started talking and this encounters was it missed encounters on Craigslist or no, not not quite that shady.

09:34OK, jinx. But anyway, we met there and let's speed the story up a little bit because we got a lot in this in this story origin story here. So we met we very quickly fall into a relationship, you know, hanging out all the time. Things are getting serious. I'm still with my job and I start the process with the restaurant that I was working for at the time of making the transition from server to manager. And then we're going to skip down the line a year and a half, two years from that point. And Zach and I at this point, we're talking about getting married. Holy crap. Wait, how after how long are we in two years? Yeah, OK, that's because we met. Yeah, we didn't have a date, anything like that. We were just talking big picture goals. And was Zach working in restaurants at that time, too? So before when I met Adam, I was actually working at Kroger. Oh, maybe you've heard of it.

10:34Yeah, I was a drug GM manager there. And when I met Adam, I was like, I hated my job and was very unhappy. And I left that job to become a back waiter at restaurant Iris, which is in Memphis. It's like a French Creole restaurant. Wow. And that was my first gig. And it was a small little like 17 table like restaurant in a house. And I don't know how I got it. I was just a cute little gay in the closet. How cute. I know. So I got in on there. And then from then, I moved to there's a restaurant next door called Second Line. And it's like a New Orleans po boy shop. Did they allow you? Oh, same. Do they have servers or was it counter service? So I ended up moving over there as a server. Wow. You worked your way up. After how long did it take you to go from essay to our back waiter to server? I was the only server or service assistant at this po boy shop. And I was like rocking it because I was on Adderall and all sorts of. I was a fun little 21 year old. I was like, here, I got it all.

11:35So I was like running food for all of this. This is like way more than 17 tables like Iris. Like Second Line was a crazy beast. And I helped open it. And y'all know, opening a restaurant is like bonkers, just stupid. Yeah. And especially as a kid, like I'm going to say I was a kid. But it just felt like, yeah, it was a lot of running back and forth and remembering much stuff and dropping stuff constantly. And do you feel like at that time, because that was the beginning of y'all's relationship, did y'all bond even closer because of like your restaurant stories that y'all could have in common and because y'all shared the same hours? Do you think that kind of helped form? I would say so, yeah. Because before I worked out like 7 a.m. until whatever, and then he would go in when I was getting off. And you know, it's like when you're in restaurants, you have your own set of vocabulary, you know, and your own. Fuck shit. Exactly. Damn it. Those are the main words. But a lot a lot of potty language. Yeah. There's a lot of terminology and things that you can only share with other people that are in it. And so that just kind of opened up a whole new thing. You especially need somebody to vent to and with, you know, when you're done with your shift. Yes.

12:41And so while even though we were working at different places, it definitely provided the opportunity to do that. Yep. Well, also, the fine dining pool in Memphis is pretty small. And just because I worked at Iris, I was very connected with that group. Yeah. And those people were connected with flimmings a little bit because everyone kind of knew each other. Yeah. So it's fun to have like mutual friends at some points. Yeah. And that's great to compare and contrast, like a corporate fine dining to like a mom and pop or pop and pop fine dining. Right. And then it's like, oh, I'm sure there's like situations where Adam was like, yeah, that would never fly. Oh, yes. We're still doing it. You would have so many layers of management you got to get through in the corporate and then with the mom and pops or pop and pops like it's you know, you're dealing one on one with the owner a lot of times. And so it allows it's there's pros and cons of that for sure. Exactly. OK, cool. So that was a couple of years. Yeah. Talking about getting married at this point. If you remember, there was a time in Tennessee.

13:41You guys weren't living here yet at this point, I don't believe. But you couldn't be gay married in the state of Tennessee. And so we started looking elsewhere. We started looking for other places in the country that we could possibly move to get married and I could stay with my job, which at this point was turning into a little bit of a kind of a career thing, you know, because I was in management at that point. And they have like 68 locations across the country. We, Zach and I had visited San Francisco once before. We moved to California. We loved it there. We absolutely fell in love on this visit that we had. And the location in Palo Alto, which is just like 45 minutes south of San Francisco, was looking for a manager. They wanted one that was already with the company, if possible. So it just worked out. Oh, it fit the bill perfectly. They paid for our move. Wow. Moved, moved out. Again, this was just like getting married was just like a big picture goal.

14:43We weren't like moving there and getting married the next day. We actually like didn't even talk about it for a while. It was like a week later. It was a week. They're not full lesbian. Yeah, we just didn't immediately for our straight listeners. Lesbians have a folklore of getting married on their second date. So that's kind of like the we're letting you in on our in our gay world a bit and letting you and I love them for that. For sure. Oh, heck yeah. Like they are our freaking backbone in this community. So exactly. Shout out to my lesbian sister. Yeah, shout out to you. Yeah. Thank you. So we're in California. Way too expensive to be living where we were living. But we were just just sinking our teeth into the dream. You know, we were like 45 minute drive from Napa, where we were living and 20 minute ferry ride right into San Francisco. And so we were loving it, but way too expensive.

15:43So again, for your future. No, yeah, we would never have been able to buy a house anywhere close to anywhere. My commute every day was like an hour and 15 minutes. Sometimes I'm getting out of the restaurant at like two thirty in the morning. And it was just like not a good it wasn't a good scene. So did you hire? Did you hire Zach at the time to work there as well? Or you know, so my experience, like I was like having to grind really hard because when I lived in Memphis, that serving that service status doesn't equal to where you are in San Francisco, because everyone there is extremely knowledgeable of everything. Sure. So I was like, oh, shit, I can't. I don't know what I'm doing because they're like, you know, wine service and everything was just I felt different because everyone's, again, knowledgeable. They know Napa, they know Sonoma and all that northern California wines and stuff like that. But I was only being able to be hired as a back waiter there. That checks out your roots. Yes, back to my roots. But I was also like, oh, I have to like get three jobs.

16:46So I worked in northern Oakland and also right in the city in San Francisco and on and in downtown Oakland. So at three at three different locations and I would have to ride like a train or a BART to get to one and come to the other. And it was just like the hustle. It was hustling. And I was like, OK, I can do this. But then I was like quickly like, no, I don't want to do this. Because also Adam was never off and we never saw each other. So he was commuting his hour and a half or whatever. And then I was just commuting constantly to find the right job. But yeah, it was crazy. So the realities of that dream became like, yeah, kind of. We just knew, OK, we're going to finish our lease here, but we're not going to resign this lease. And I started talking to the people at my company and they were, you know, it's such a big company. I'm surprised they weren't like, OK, see you. But they actually they were like fighting for me to stay and and opened up a position in Southern California, which I knew to be still expensive, but, you know, a little bit more approachable. Yeah.

17:48So we started looking at that. We love the idea of staying in California. So we did. We moved down to San Diego. Long story made all the way short right before our move. I did a secret proposal to Zach in San Francisco in the spot called Land's End in the middle of a stone labyrinth that we just used to love going to that overlook the Pacific Ocean and totally surprised him. And then so true. I didn't know. But we didn't get married until we were in San Diego. We did that later once we moved there. So how romantic? Oh, it's very romantic. He was waiting around a big cliff and standing in the middle of the labyrinth with 24 white flowers and a bottle of white 24. I don't know. Two years. Two dozen. I don't know. There was no significance. OK, that's only 24. Oh, this needs to look full. That's funny. Yeah. Guys, it's been a long day. There was a buy one, get one free.

18:49Publics is running a special. Exactly. You got a bogey for your engagement. Wait, did we talk about this in the in the years that we've been friends, that we both share that in common, that we got engaged in San Francisco? No, I don't know. Yeah, I know that about you. Yeah. Brian proposed to me. I proposed at Stag Sleep. Oh, yeah. Two men. Great winery. Taking the leap. Yeah, I love it. Yeah. It was so funny because, yeah, we were going to visit. The vineyard was about to close. I think it was like only 30 minutes left. And so we were just hustling in there. And I was like jolting up the stairs and realized that I was by myself. And so when I turned around, Brian was was down on one knee and I thought he had fallen. So I was like, get up. Like, we got to hurry up. I am pretty grateful. So I was like, I'm dying to try this cab. Get your ass up. And he was like, you know, you marry me. I talked to your dad and he's he's given his blessing. I was like, you called my dad. What? Wait, wait, what's happening? It took a while to register. So did you know, like straight away what was going on?

19:51Not at all, like because the night before was my last night at my serving job. And I was like, just we all went out and were you hung over a little bit? I was so don't even try to say we're the best. Yeah, I was a lot hungover. But I didn't even have like my the clothes set out that he wanted me to wear because we had everything boxed up and he had everything laid out. And my best friend, Julie, or, yeah, she lived up in Napa and worked for Warren Swift and was their agricultural just six person. She's just throw that in there. Yeah, that's a little humble. But the thing is, like, it wasn't very abnormal for her to come visit me and hang out. And we'd usually have dinner on lunch or lunch and stuff on Sundays. So she was like, I've never seen the labyrinth before. Like, come down there or I'll come down there. We'll go and have a coffee. I said, I really by the way, I know he did. He said he's amazing at setting up surprises. I could go on about all of those for the past 12 years or 11 years. But beautiful. He's a sweetie. But I had no clue. I turned around at one point and then she was just filming. And I don't even think I said anything.

20:53I just started walking. And I have to show you the video at some point. But I remember he asked me, I mean, I just cried. I don't even know. I didn't say yes. Yeah, he actually never said yes. I don't know if we're married. That's wild. The plot thick is he heard it here first, folks. Yes, not even sure if they're married. OK, so then y'all pack up your bags, move to San Diego and San Diego for a few years. Loving it there. I could go into the reasons why we loved it there. But just to kind of move the story along, we are loving it there. But while we're there, not to take a weird, you know, emotional turn in the story, but Zach's mom passed during that time and she was living in Memphis with all of our family lives in Memphis. And I think it was just a really sharp reminder of how far away we were from everyone, you know, being in California. Like, we never saw our families like maybe once every other year.

21:56I feel like when we lived out there. And so we started, you know, just lightly thinking about the idea of what if we just tried to move a little closer to family? We were not originally thinking of Tennessee or actually looking at like Austin, Texas, or just some kind of cool city in the south that would get us a little closer to family. And then once again, I saw that there was an opening with my company in at the Nashville location. And I immediately jumped on it and talked to Zach. And it was a little bit of a process, but I got the position. They paid for our move out to Nashville. And at this point, I was an operating partner with the company and which is fantastic experience to get with a with a corporate place, because, like, sure, the things that you can learn from that and not necessarily like on their dime, but like doing it the corporate way is is kind of a way to to really structure.

23:01Sure. We would I don't think we would have had the balls to be doing what we're doing right now if I hadn't had that background or experience, because I just wouldn't have had enough exposure to some of the things that you just deal with as a business. So I know plenty of people do it without having the corporate background. But but having the institutional knowledge really sets you up for success. You know, as you want to open your own project, for sure. You kind of know the chaos that you're about to. Yes. The Pandora's box. You know, you know, it's on top of it. Yeah, you do. You do. And you don't. Yes. You know, there's a lot of things that that I learned. But I'll say as a part of a restaurant group that is that large and has, you know, so much infrastructure, there's just so much that was automated in a way, you know, where now as we run our own business, it's like, oh, shit. Yeah, we have to figure out what to do in this situation. I can't just go to the accounting department or the marketing department.

24:03I mean, you could, but that's probably just like me looking in the mirror with a calculator. Exactly. And sometimes I do that. I like to pretend that we're big. Is it like a wonder woman thing? We like turn around and like put on a wig and a cape. You're like, no, I'm the accountant. Oh, my God. What's your accountant name? Oh, my goodness. Deborah, Deborah Beasley. She is so good, so good at the numbers and so reliable. Love that kind of wig. Does she wear and marketing department is headed by Darby Johansson. This is Darby Johansson. I love that name, Darby. She works remote out of an office in California. I don't want to ever see it. I've never seen her. Never met Darby. Good old Darby. She does a good job, too. She micro doses and grows her own. Yeah, absolutely. So that is that is that is amazing. And I think a lot of us kind of go through that once you kind of couple up and you're with someone and you want to be closer to your to your to your family because you miss out on a lot of no birthdays and holidays or whatnot when you live so far away.

25:09So I we totally understand that wanting to get closer to your fam jam. What year did you all kind of finally decide that and make it and pull that trigger? Moving back, moving back 2018. OK, so, yeah, we essentially moved back. He had his job paid for us to move out here and all that stuff, which is great. I mean, utilize the corporate world. Do that. Exactly. But I had to find a job. So actually, when I grew up in Memphis and I text my friend Branson, who works at Ralph and Daughters, he's a bartender. And I think he's a bar manager now. But I text him, I was like, hey, like, I need a job coming back home to Tennessee. Yeah. So like when I came back to Nashville, I was like, it's like I have an essay position available. I know, right. But luckily, they were like, well, yeah, you were hired as a server like two days after we moved here. So at this point, he had built up a nice little resume. Yeah. Working at some really amazing concepts in California. Yeah. I mean, if your buddies with somebody from freaking nickel and nickels, that which you had said, I've worked. So I don't want anyone in swift or it's oh, sorry.

26:11But it was really in San Diego. I worked for a chef named Jason McLeod. He's from Chicago. Oh, yeah. And we were he was part of a consortium holdings. Yeah. And I worked at Ironside Fish and Oyster in Little Italy in San Diego. So Brian's face right now is a gap. How do I not know this? I don't know. So I talked about it in a drunken night. Oh, probably. I worked with Jason when we opened the Elysian in Chicago. Really? Yeah. What's funny is Kelly, my manager at Ralph Newt worked with him, too. So I feel like there's a bunch of things playing in me to get a job there. But that's amazing. He was one of my favorite people to ever work for. He is a wonderful human being. Yeah. Oh, wow. Look at that. I mean, small world friendship has like more layers and webs to it. I love that. Awesome. OK, cool. So you all made the move here and you got a job at Ralph and Daughters. And then you were plowing away at your new role at Fleming's. And that is kind of it's pretty intense, like taking over like an operating partner position.

27:17It's it's. Oh, my God. Yeah. So, yeah. Well, that one that place had a lot of turnover and operating partners. So no one was like no one's trusting anybody that was coming in. Like it's like a revolving door of operators. So you won their hearts over, though. He did. Oh, of course I tried. I tried. Yeah. No, it was it was definitely a process, you know, because I'm inheriting a staff of like 65 people and, you know, expected to spend time with all of which I naturally wanted to do anyway, but, you know, expected to, you know, learn all about them and, you know, really create a culture and a family. And because I'm the person that's responsible for that, but also I've got to take over all the, you know, bills and all of the marketing and all the local things that we're going to do and the ideas to build business. And, you know, there was a heavy, heavy weight of expectations in that in that role. But again, yeah, I value it for what it was.

28:20Am I glad that I am now not a part of that world? Can I say fuck on this? Yes. Yes. Fuck, yes. I think two of us were allocated like one fuck in here or maybe more. Was there was there times that you would were there times that you would come home and, you know, Zach is like, OK, well, I got to get ready for work now. I got to be there at three p.m. And then knowing that, you know, he'll be off like around 1030 and can leave all of like the problems behind. That kind of was something where you're like, you don't understand where I'm coming from. Yeah. In the beginning, it was very it was it was very much that. And then I overwhelmed him every day with all the details that like I literally if we weren't together, I could have probably hired him as a manager because he was just so inundated with like I vented to him every day on my drive home about every little thing that was going on.

29:22Just also because in that role in the corporate world, it's a little different. It's like you can't really have friendships or personal relationships with the people that, you know, or yes, they're working with you or for you. And so it's kind of a lonely role. It's a lonely position. So I would just use Zach as my like therapist. You know, I would just unload on him every day on my drive home. And then, you know, he would have his own version of that, too, when he was getting off his, you know, being the calls did get long. We moved 30 minutes because we used to live in like the Gulch area. And it was like five minute conversations. But then it was like, I was like, oh, wow, we're really chat. But it was the same thing, the same thing in the Bay Area. Like that was a super long commute. And I would always I never I don't think I complained. I've listened to you. Yeah, it's not even complaining. It's just you just got to talk out some of the ridiculous things that happened. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But it is kind of great because being in those roles, like, you know, if like Zach's like, oh, God, the manager is such a dick.

30:27And you're like, OK, well, wait, what was the situation? This is probably where they were coming from. And then vice versa, if you're just like, oh, my gosh, I have this employee that I just cannot break through with and can't form that connection to. The team members will talk amongst themselves in a different way than they will let you in and let you know. And so I wonder if like he can give you some of that insight as well. It's like, well, maybe if you tried this or if you tried that. So that is kind of a cool relationship that you all had. You can bounce it off each other. A lot of my problem solving doesn't work in corporate world, though. I would feel like because I would say, oh, because I'm I feel like when you're an independent restaurant, you can kind of be a little more bitey with guests and say no. And it's not the end of the fucking world. But like whenever I was like, whenever he would complain about certain things, I'm like, why don't they just say no? Or like, why don't they? I still don't get it because I never been in that world. So you're like, we're not allowed to say no. I tried to help. I love that word, though. Oh, yeah.

31:28I mean, yeah. Oh, yeah. Just a tiny bit. No nibble. Exactly. Yeah. Just a little. I'm not an asshole or anything. But yeah, it's like only so much you can do. It's a polite decline. Yeah. Of a bonkers request. Yes. Which I with anybody. I think that's on one of my list of questions that I have. You know, it's probably going to be tied into that. And I think most people would think that, which is and what are what are some of the what is that question? Oh, in your opinion, what are some of the ideas that experts in the restaurant world say that you disagree with? And I feel like that guess is always right. Yeah. It's like, well, yes. And no, it's not as easy as a black and white question. So that kind of sounds like what you're touching. That is absolutely. I think Zach and I would agree on that as a concept. And I really think post pandemic, a lot of restaurants, definitely more on the independent side, more are are, you know, playing with or exploring the option of the word no.

32:35And, you know, the guest is not always right when it infringes on, you know, the the environment that it's going to create for the people that work there or, you know, if it maybe even compromises the program that the chef or the visionary for the restaurant is trying to have established, you know, there can be a no, a friendly no. And we can stand behind that sometimes. Yes. This whole ideology was constructed by Marshall Field before the last major pandemic in this country in 1918 in Chicago of the customer is always right to really exemplify and kind of hone in and nail down customer service to set them apart from other industries standards and, you know, become a raging success. A hundred years on, I think the exploration of the word no is a very sound direction to move toward.

33:35Yeah. Well, that's a that's a fun exploration. Exploration of the word no, I think, could be a whole podcast in itself. We're going to take a quick break to hear a word from our sponsors. I am so excited to introduce you to the Wineview app. Wineview is the only wine resource app guaranteed to increase wine sales in two months. Let me tell you how it works. You sign up for the Wineview app, you download the Wineview app, and it downloads all of your menu items in your entire wine list and automatically pairs all of your menu items with wines on your wine list. So why is that amazing? Because if I'm a guest and I am nervous about wine, it geotags the guests. They can pull up the Wineview app anywhere they are. It'll find the closest restaurant with the app and it will find their menu and recommend a wine. If you are a server or a manager in the restaurant, this is the most amazing thing in the world because they they save time and combat staff turnover by streamlining your wine education process and putting it in the palm of your server's hands.

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35:37She can take your recipe and she can make your bread and deliver it fresh to you every single day, except for Sundays. She does it all. She's really, really an amazing company. And if you want to support local, stop buying frozen bread from your broadliner. This is who you need to be calling. And how do you call her? Let me tell you. Her number is 615-319-6453. If you want to see a selection of the bread that they already make, you can go check them out at Sharpieres.com. That's C-H-A-R-P-I-E-R-S dot com. Check them out today. OK, cool beans. So y'all are y'all are doing that. You do that for a couple of years because that was twenty eighteen and then twenty nineteen and then the pandemic happened. Yeah, yes, the pandemic. Nothing happened. It was just cool feeling, right? Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's great. So during that time, did y'all have something brewing already and kind of the back in your minds about what you've learned collectively throughout your your time in the restaurant world that you wanted to embark on something on your own and what ignited that?

36:47I mean, for sure, yeah, we I think we had been kicking around the idea like as soon as we made the move and we found Springfield, Tennessee, which is where we where we live and had moved from where we were living in Nashville. And the whole reason behind that move was just that we were looking at all kinds of areas in and around Nashville. Everyone that's listening to this, you know, podcast is familiar with the housing market in Nashville and knows how insane it is. And we would go visit houses in some kind of close by neighborhood or area. And, you know, they would go under contract literally like while we were there or just something crazy, you know, crazy stuff. So we started being open to looking at further out neighborhoods and communities and somehow randomly, I literally to this day don't even remember how we ended up exploring Springfield with our agent. But it's because we would like essentially go up like five, ten minutes and just like increments of five minutes, I feel like, until we were to find the right house.

37:53But we looked over like 30 different ones. It was crazy. And we at the beginning, Adam was like strictly wanting like a ranch, like fifties, like mid century. Like I was like, well, babe, there's a lot of different houses. I was like, I've always wanted like a super old house. And I knew that he would maybe bend on that at some point because he lived in New Orleans for about 18 years. So I was like, well, might find something. But yeah, we finally drove into Springfield, though, and it was a really cute little downtown. And then we were looking around and we actually found a house that was out of our price range. And I was like, let's just go look at it. And that's like famous last words, exactly, because we walk in this house and we're just Adam's like, all right, sign it, like, get me in. And then we like basically made the call to buy it like immediately. And we got it for like what our price, what we were wanting. Yeah. So what year was that? Twenty nineteen. So it was right. It was in September of twenty nineteen. Yeah. And we were super lucky. Yeah, because the price has really jumped up like and not living in like a tiny seven hundred and like fifty square foot apartment anymore.

38:55Like during the pandemic, I couldn't have imagined like having to do that. Yeah. And live around other people because you all lived in a house at that point, right? Yeah, we did. We had just moved into our house. Lucky. Look at us. I know a lot of time. Yes. The universe did it did its thing. So as soon as we found Springfield, though, and we saw that historic area, that's a big part of the catalyst, I think, for for what inspired this. We were just feeling the potential. Like when we drove down there, like, oh, my God, like, could you imagine if there was just like a cool little lounge or bar or something? Or there were a few restaurants already and a coffee shop and just some building blocks were already there. And so we we just started doing what we like to call dream casting, which for me, a lot of the time for me, it's what happens when I'm in the shower. When I'm in the shower, my brain just goes crazy with ideas. And Zach runs a lot. So it's when he's running.

39:56But we're just spitballing ideas. And, you know, he was calling my ideas crazy. Yes. But then I would wear him down enough by just repeating the same idea. I got to say, no, I got it. Creatively say, no. And of the word, to be honest, you know, this started the stream casting of this idea of a bar started in 2019. And it would have been crazy at that point, you know, knowing that we were about to go into the pandemic. And we just hadn't found the right space. You know, we're just kind of always watching the square to see what space was going to open up and become ready to lease. So anyway, nothing happened with that during the pandemic, and thankfully so. But we just kept the idea alive, just kind of kept kept dream casting, you know, on on what it would look like and what kind of space we would hope to find. And and then again, long story short, we'll end it in the story with with saying in twenty twenty one.

41:01Was it the end of twenty twenty one years of twenty twenty one? I quit Roffendorf or I didn't quit. But we found the space. Oh, yeah, we found the space that December twenty twenty one. There was a little bakery that was leaving. And the space, as we knew it, because we had been in there once before, like would not have worked. But the price was so right that we were willing to believe in. What if we did this and we could do this? So the price was right for like the monthly lease on this place. And we just started talking to the landlord. She ninety four year old lady that had been there forever, like pillar of the community and her grandson. You know, we started the conversation with them and. Somehow they were very open to the idea of these two gays that had moved from the California to Nashville and then to Springfield. And I still don't know why. Like, girl, we want that storefront.

42:04Well, you know, we do have our southern manners still, like we know. It's not a I mean, we treat everyone like this. She asked about those relationships. She's like, now, are you all brothers? You might have at one point, I think, in the very beginning. Yeah, we get that. How did you explain that? You're like, no, it's you just got to slip in. My husband, Zach, you just slip that in. Yeah, she she's been nothing but like, I love that. But it's still, you know, when you go to like different areas, I know before we even moved here to Nashville, we asked, you know, our business partner, like, do we need to like introduce ourselves as roommates? Or like, is it cool? She was like, are you kidding me? It's it's Nashville, you guys, you're going to be fine. And if anybody has a problem with it, you can tell them to fuck off. And I was like, OK, cool. So I guess it's just one of those mentalities. You know, I feel like now we're very transparent with like who we are, like especially on social media, like when we're promoting our business, like we're pretty much like and they've embraced you all there. And so like, yeah, we haven't had any adversity. There's a lot of Nashville shown some love as well. Absolutely. Oh, I'd love to even like all over Nashville. Like even like we've had Williamson County people come over there that aren't like.

43:07Yeah. Oh, I love that. It's just crazy to think, yeah, somebody would drive an hour away up from. So it's in County. But, you know, I mean, you guys are doing something really special. And downtown Springfield is like a super adorable, charming little square. It's idyllic. It's cute. We need more gays up there to redesign it. But you're like, we can't do it alone, guys. So any fellow gays out there? And there are lots of gays up there that have like I feel like a few of them have their own private businesses and stuff, but it's not like restaurants or food and beverage. Yeah. And the historic district itself is kind of a little bit of a progressive bubble. OK. You know, like during election season, everyone, you know, had signage in the historic district for Biden, you know. So it's definitely an agricultural rural county at large. But the specific area that we're in, that the bar is in and that our house is in, it's been nothing but like super amazing from day one.

44:09Like we had people come up and bring us fresh eggs from their chickens and bringing us butternut squash and setting it on our doorstep. Just like doing small town shit that you dream of. You know, Mayberry is really coming to fruition. Yeah, yes. But it's a little bit more variegated. There's a variation of people there. Oh, yeah. OK. So then, you know, the space kind of like landed in your lap and you're like, we're going to make this work. And how long did it take for you all to to have that fall in your lap before you cut ties with your restaurant jobs here in Nashville and decide to to to pull the trigger on your own? So we we kind of planned the timing worked out really well. Zach, like he said, finished his job on New Year's Eve in twenty twenty one. I gave him a month notice, guys. I was very nice. I did not just say, oh, happy New Year. Yeah. Yeah. And they were always super great with you and with all their people.

45:09Yeah. But I essentially dug in to that or like demoing all of that space on January, like second, I feel like. And got it because our back room that you all been in was just two offices with like wood paneling. It is absolutely stunning. I don't know what magic you all have in those fingers. But these things is you guys, anybody listening, you'll have to go and check out this place. It is mystic picnic is so beautiful. It's it's it's beyond like anything. I mean, we got to go there for in October when we were doing the haunted tour. And it was our first time visiting, which I'm glad we had a chance to escape the restaurant and go and check it out. But when we walked in, it was I'm not surprised that you all had that in you. But it was just. It was such an experience that like I it's one of the top 10 things that, you know, I got to do in 2022. So I think, yeah, you kids are like doing some magic over there.

46:12And I know, like I would follow on social media during that, like you were doing that actually, like by yourselves, like wallpapering, painting. And yeah, well, some of that like wallpaper, and we did have to end up getting some help specifically at the old like pace kind. Can I tell you why, though? This is a good story. The reason why we did not attempt to put the wallpaper up ourselves is because Zach and I did one accent wall in our house with the like peel and stick wallpaper that you can get. And we during the course of that process got divorced 23 times and remarried, divorced, remarried, divorced, remarried 23 separate times during it was the worst experience. It was the smallest wall, too. I know. Well, that's what you have to find the roses. Buy one, get one. I mean, if you're going to be doing it over and over. So I'm worth the buy one, get one for you are responsible. And there was 24 of flowers whenever I proposed and 23 divorces. So you still get that one rose at home right now. So that's interesting.

47:12So going into having a restaurant of y'all's own to where y'all are now both managers and owners together is it's that's quite a big chunk to bite into. And especially if you like, you're building this in a an area that's a little bit smaller of a demographic than what you got going on here in Nashville. So it's almost like you just took that risk of like, if if we build it, they will come hopefully. And that did happen. So when you were going through that, what is kind of the the values that you all set that you defined as the most important whenever you thought about the kind of restaurant you wanted to open and have? I mean, Zach and I might have slightly different answers on this. I would just say we we thought about opening Mystic Picnic almost as a little bit of a love letter for Springfield and the again, we just loved the people that we had met there so far and just kind of felt like they deserved to have a spot to go to and not always have to drive to Nashville or Clarksville or somewhere else.

48:30You know, there's so much to do here in Nashville, and that's amazing. I mean, literally one of the best places in the country at this point for food and bars and dining and stuff. But we felt like Springfield deserved something, you know, that they would not have to make that drive for. And so we wanted in that, you know, idea. We wanted to create a place that we felt like would rival, you know, somewhere that they would find in a bigger city. So we've carried that mentality into our drink program, into our food program, into our interior. And that has definitely come with a cost. You know, we did not cut corners and we we still don't, you know, with with what we do and what we buy for our drink and food program. Some of the little touches around the restaurant. It's it's I mean, it's gutsy because it's all it's a completely natural wine selection that that you offer now. I feel horrible gifting all the wine that we did since it's not natural. But I just thought I just thought the name of the wine strictly was appropriate.

49:32It's like we like wine of all kinds. Yeah, the wine that we got is since this is Valentine's a month, this is called sexual chocolate. Oh, yeah. And I just love it. And so I hope you all enjoy it just as well. But that is great. So that value of like community, like in our kind of our tagline, whatever that you always see with our logo is a neighborhood wine and whiskey bar. And we just wanted it to even though we also wanted it to feel elevated. We wanted it to feel really warm and welcoming. Yeah, like just very non pretentious, like no pretension happening. We just want people to be able to come in and enjoy it because at the end of the day, they're just there to drink. And luckily, people that come in are wanting to learn a little bit. So I love talking about all of our products. So it has worked out so far. That really works out. A couple of nights ago, Zach told me something that I think made me it was one of the things he's told me, given me feedback on since we've been open, that made me just so happy to know. And it was that there was a solo guest, this lady that came into the bar.

50:36And I guess she's come a couple of times before and she comes by herself. And she told Zach something along the lines of, Yeah, I just feel like I feel comfortable to come here by myself. And I don't always feel that, you know, going other places that that it seems so small. And, you know, like you just skip over that feedback. Yeah, that just made me so happy. But like when you own the place and you've you've set up that environment. That it hits differently than, you know, somebody were to come into the establishment you were at before, which is a corporate place and say that you're like, oh, that's great. Awesome. Welcome in. Yeah. You're like, OK, my job is done. But when it's like your own establishment and things like that are said, it is it just it's fulfilling. Yeah. You know, and you're like, I'm doing the right thing. So that's as you know, everything that goes into hoping to create that feeling for somebody. Correct. And you can't manufacture to. Yeah, it is hospitality blood because you can't manufacture that. Like you can put as much signage out or as much, you know, we care or we appreciate our guests.

51:41But it's a feeling that they have to have. And and y'all created that. That's what's fucking spectacular. Oh, I love that. I feel good. I've cried before, like we've had like a busy night and like I was stressful, obviously, because we're, again, only two people that work there. So like when one night we're just getting like crazy amount of tips and these people are expressing their love verbally, like it's just like a lot of love. And at the end of the night, just doing my check, like my check out or whatever. And air quotes. I'm just like I started like tearing up one night. Adam was just like doing dishes and I was like, oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm just like overwhelmed. Because people do actually like what we're doing. So yes, feels validating and very like nice. It's the right choice. All of that hard work really pays off. You know, because it's kind of hard to see the forest or the trees. I love that. So that being said, because everything, you know, those are the moments that you feel like this is a success. What has been your example of a failure or an apparent failure that you consider a favorite failure of failure of yours?

52:46I feel well, OK, so we do brunches on Sundays. And I fought Adam on this like all the time. I was like, I'm not going to be a brunch place, like because I work brunch and I know you all have been in brunch world. They are crazy. I'm sure you get it. But I was so against it. But he came up with this idea of having like a cinema brunch and we have like a movie playing and people gets coming for like a four course meal. Yeah. And our first one that we ever did, because we ended up doing it. I've been did a little bit like, OK, so the first one that we did, we were like, let's do to like, we'll do one at noon and then one at two thirty. Oh, geez. OK. Yes. And we our first one, we had like 20 people at it. And then the second way are dining room small. And then the second one was 20 people. So before you know it, like we're balls deep in brunch. And but bottomless of those is being offered. Oh, my God. OK, that's that is a favorite failure in itself. Yes. And then on top of that, just like doing dishes for the four courses for 20 people and then flipping all those tables to get them out of there in less than two and a half hours for the next round.

53:49Oh, you. So I feel like that was a little bit of a car crash. Yeah, it was a car crash. And we never did it again. But I feel like that was like your favorite failure. Oh, my God. Yeah, because I mean, it was like because his idea was to have two brunches. So it was kind of like a mesh of us making it work because now we do it. We still do one brunch every Sunday, not the two seatings. So it's like a failure that worked out. But we were both right, I guess. I was like, no, just one. And there was just two. Anyway, you guys brunch is like people think it's oh, it's easy breezy. But like even before we opened our first shifts for brunch, like five years ago, we had team meetings where we'd sit down and we were like, OK, let's do a buffet brunch because that's going to be able to be easier to handle the amount of crowds and whatnot. And then we're like, well, where are we going to set that up? Like the space doesn't make sense for that. And then how does the food integrity stay intact? And then we're like, OK, well, what if we just do a prefix brunch? It's like, well, not everybody's going to want that. What if they're going to want something else? And so it was it's a thing. And it was then coming up with the theme. So I think we messed around like Mikey Mike and the funky brunch.

54:50And I was like, yeah. But then what? Yeah. But then what if like Mikey Mike wants to take the Saturday and Sunday morning off? Then it's the theme doesn't make sense then. And then there's only so much funk music that you can hear before your your team is like, cut it the fuck out. Yeah, I mean, it's true. But our team already revolts when it comes to like the playlist. Yeah. So that's that's a whole different ballgame in itself as well. But yeah, so I can understand that the brunch one being like, oh, let's let's see what's going to work out and what sticks. But yes, and we were also making waffles to order for some reason. I don't know why we were doing that. I guess it was hot and fresh. Yeah. I mean, I guess it was a good idea. But we had one waffle maker. It was just me for 20 people. So I'm just like over there like turning and flipping like a slight lag in that course. OK, so we're learning. So that logistics of brunch are fascinating. Yeah. Yeah, just all of it. It's like, oh, it's eggs and carbs. But no, it's they want that 10 minutes ago and with hot coffee.

55:55And so that being said, I'm sure that maybe there was some not so favorable feedback you got during that time as you ironed out those kinks from brunch. So given that everyone is a critic in the current times due to social media platforms, all of them offering the opportunity for guests to publicly rate their experience with you. How do you deal with the negative that comes through? And how do you celebrate the good? Or do you even you read your reviews? Yeah, we do read them. But I will say that we kind of make a practice and maybe we can get away with this because of the size place we are. I don't know, but kind of make it a practice to not respond to either a good or bad reviews, just let people have their their feedback and it is they're going to it is what it is. Yep. But it'd be different if, you know, somebody reaches out to us directly and they need to address something and it happened, whatever that step.

57:00But if they're just leaving something online, whether good or bad, kind of just leave that alone and let it be what it is. It's it's a little weird if people see you just responding to the good reviews and thanking for that. But then they don't see a response for the negative feedback, you know, stuff like that. So we just I mean, we're also lucky because we're the two operators and the two owners. So it's like there's no there's not like another server that doesn't care about what we're doing. It's just us. So it's like if I don't know, we we are very on top of when stuff goes wrong, I guess, like, so we try to make it happen in real real time. But I know, like, people will go home and you know what? That wasn't what I wanted. I waited 45 minutes for my wife, but it's like I'm the owner and I'm looking at you. I'm like, hey, we're right here. Like, tell us. Tell me. I could have fixed it. But a lot of times people do when they they wait until they are behind a keyboard to do that, which is unfortunate. And as as somebody in the restaurant, what I would agree with that as well is if they send you an email allowing you the opportunity to correct it, then that's kind of the more humane thing to do.

58:05Otherwise, you're just kind of like griping into the air. And it's like, OK, do you feel better now? Yeah. Hurts you. It's just it's bonkers. So, yeah. But on the flip side of the coin, being the only two operators, you'll intimately know whatever situation it was. Yes. And you can, you know, strategically kind of address any of the situations among just amongst the two of you. Like, oh, yeah, I know exactly what happened there. You don't have to, you know, track down 15 different people. And Zach will bring a third hand. I have about 60 write ups for sure. Wait, what's what? Who is the what's your HR person's name? Oh, it's Darby to Darby's. Well, Darby does every get an army of army army of Darby's. No wonder she might go. So if she needs to like double up that dosage. So if people in the restaurant world could rate their guests online as they review us, what name would you give that platform or app?

59:10I need some time with that. I love naming things like turn the beat around. Or I do like that. Yeah, because like they beat me up with the reviews sometimes. OK, well, sorry. Let us go back to that. Marinade on that. I'll be thinking about it and tell you about five minutes. Are you thinking about launching this as an ad? Who knows? But whatever you come up with the trademark. Got it. Sorry, you're already here first listener. So, OK, we're going to get into the fun part because this is going to like wind down our interview now with the two of you. And we're going to get into speed questions. So the the whole point of this is to answer off the cuff. And so you can't think about it too much. And it there's no right or wrong answer. Just let's see what you what you come up with. Yes, too. OK, that would be my name. Oh, wait, wait, wait, guess who? I don't know. That's kind of good, actually.

01:00:10Thank you. OK. And now I'm done with that. Sorry. I was going to have stuck on my head and I couldn't have done. You're going to text me at like two o'clock in the morning after after that bottle of sexual chocolate. Oh, yeah, we'll have we already know the creativity is going to flow. OK, so speed questions. Here we go. And there's going to be a couple of rounds of these. Brian will ask the next round and then I'll do the final one. So speed questions. What's one of your favorite meals you've had all time here in Nashville? Go. Oh, well, I feel I feel biased. Check and read at Ralph and Daughters. OK, I'm done with that. Check out the fucking killer. What you got? Oh, jeez. Speed. Oh, I'm not good. Oh, I'm not good. Can it be about the experience or the food? Yeah, whatever. Whatever. OK, this is going to sound canned because it's you guys. OK, our first meal in Nashville was at the Mockingbird. It was at your place. We just needed to find we had just driven from California.

01:01:10This isn't that's right. I remember I don't do this well, but we tested us on our old California. And my favorite go to drink is old fashioned. And we were just looking online like where could we walk from where we lived? That would looks like it would have a good old fashioned. So we found the Mockingbird. We walk in your bartender, Charles, at the time. Love Charles immediately welcomed us. And it was an experience that I'll never forget. It's literally how we met you guys, because somebody told you two gays were at your bar. Yeah, both came out. Yep. Yep. And you both came out. We met and we were forever friends. But I will never forget that experience and how that level of service just felt not not just you guys coming out, but from the bartender that was actually like engaging and like welcoming and had a personality. And those are all like old school skills that are like very hard to find. Yes, very hard to find. Can't train that. Love that. OK, here we go. Next one, what is your personal motto?

01:02:15We have a we'll say this at the same time. We have a mantra. OK. You look good. You smell good. Now go get our dreams. This is going to be very corny. We say that before every single shit. I fucking love that. This started because Zach would sound so like 50s housewife, but he would send me out the door when I was going to my corporate job and he would say that is like, pump me up. You know, you look good. You smell good. Now go get our dreams. And so now we say that together. And we've even thought when we get to the point where we hire staff, we're going to force them to say, God, you have to have an option. No, you have to do that now. OK, so when 1111 hits on the clock, what is your wish you send out to the universe? Or is that a secret between you and the universe only? It's secret. OK, that's fine. You don't have to put it out there. What's 1111? I'm so confused. I'm sorry. Adam doesn't partake in the 1111. You don't do that. You're not superstitious in that.

01:03:15And I didn't want to say no, but I don't usually do it either. But you guys, now you're going to. Now it's in your head that if like the clock hits five, I do it anytime. It's like same digits. If it's 222, I start sending out. I hope Mike and Brian are all right. Thank you. I appreciate that. I love that. OK. And so where did the term 86 come from? Oh, I knew this. We should know this. This is horrible. We don't know this. I don't know. OK, I feel like it's the worst. OK, so Brian, according to Joseph Klein, he theorized that the bar. Chomsky's at 86 Bedford Street, New York's Lower West Village was the source. He wrote a book about it. The police during Prohibition would call the bar and alert the bartender to have all of the guests exit on to. They had two entrances. They would exit onto onto the 86 Bedford Street while the police would come in on the Pamela Court entrance.

01:04:19Well, you know, I've listened. So this is folklore because I was told that it's coffins are buried like eight feet underground and they're six feet long. I've heard that. And so 86, that's where I thought it came from. So that's what I would have said in the speed situation. I like Brian's story. That's too lengthy and too like, oh, that's OK. OK, so speed questions. This one you have to answer off the cuff just as well, but either with a love or loathe and you can both answer it kind of at the same time. I think by now, people know your voice is different from each other. So a British accent. OK, Brian, go. Automatic gratuity at restaurants. Love, love. Sonic Ice. Love, love. Music curated to the concept of the restaurant. Oh, love, love, yeah. Britney. Love. OK, lows, but toxic. I love that. That's a great trash talk. It's a banger. Hot chicken.

01:05:21Love with caveats. No, love. Country music, love, love. Electric stovetops, love, love. Wine flights, love. Patio seating, love, love. Tasting menus, love, love. Karaoke, love, love. Yeah. Incense, love, love. Bottomless mimosas, love, love. Every Sunday at noon at Mystic Picnic. Electric scooters, love, love. Yeah. Party buses, love, love. Eggs on a burger, love, love. We were actually just talking shit about that. Mayo with french fries, love. Hot tea orders in June, love. Sauce on the side, love, love. Well, this has been very informative and insightful. OK, so here we go. We pass.

01:06:24You pass. OK, great. You all passed with flying colors. Thank you. OK, so this is the last part of of our, you know, one hour chit chat with the boys of the birds and you guys at Mystic Picnic. This is speed questions. And each one of you will answer off the cuff, either one or the other. OK, here we go. Miley or Dolly, Dolly, Reese or Tay-Tay, Tay-Tay, Tay-Tay Taylor. OK, Taylor. It's hard to say, Tay-Tay. Mild chicken or flocking hot chicken, flocking hot mild for me. OK, Willie or Garth Willie Willie. OK, DJ or a band, a band, Broadway or Printers Alley, Broadway. Oh, wait, when you said Broadway to two gays. I did Broadway Street in Nashville. It took me a second to not say Broadway because I not Broadway, New York. Got it. Printers out. Raise the curtains.

01:07:25East Nash or the Gulch, East Nashville. Oh, OK. Breakfast or lunch? Lunch, lunch. Hmm. Roberts or Kid Rocks? Neither. Roberts. Oh, wait, Roberts Western World. Yes. I was like, come on. You've lived in Nashville long enough to know. Sorry, guys. OK, so Roberts. It's definitely not. Yeah. OK, OK, OK. Never Kid Rock. Demon Bruin or Demon Bruin. I don't know. Demopriate. Yes. I like Demon Bruin. OK. Toast or micros? Toast. Toast. Yeah, absolutely. Dang it. Yes. All right. Maybe I'll just come. Sorry, was that too far? Counter service lunch or full service lunch? Hmm. Counter service. Yeah. OK, OK. It's fun. 15 separate check requests, but spend a lot of money or one check, but barely purchase anything. 15 separate checks. Yeah. We'll go for the separate checks now, especially with toast. Yeah. Yeah. Being that the 1990s are coming back in fashion in every sense.

01:08:30Fusion or confusion? Confusion. Yeah. Yeah. And confusion. Confucius say confusion. Yeah. Remember when fusion was all the rage in the 90s? It was just like mixed match of cuisines. It was like Hawaiian meets South Florida or something. One place you're about to you're about to say a blend or fusion that is currently happening in nearby Nashville. Oh, no, I don't know. Yeah, I'm excited about it. I want to try it. I don't know which one's happening. Yeah, it's fine, guys. Well, hopefully it won't it won't be embedded into the popular culture. Like things like balsamic vinegar and sun-dried tomatoes, which are both delightful, but are now pegged to a very specific. Oh, that's a fun word. OK, well, listen, that wraps up our time with with you all lovebirds. And I cannot thank you enough for it for taking time out of your busy schedule. I know you all are closed today. So days off are precious for for those of us in the industry. So thank you all so much. Thanks for having us.

01:09:30Yes. Would not have rather been anywhere else. Oh, that's amazing. We love you guys. Thank you. We love you all. Everybody that's listening, please make reservations to go out to Mystic Picnic. These cats are doing it correct. Go and show some love belly up to the bar. Their food is amazing. The ambiance is just it's you feel like you're in another dimension that is just like the most fantastic place. I want to go there. Kudos. Everyone go to Mockingbird as well. Oh, thanks. We love this love. We'll take care, guys, and happy Valentine's week. Happy Valentine's Day. Take care. Well, all right. There it is. The first episode of Hard to Heart, The Boys of the Bird is in the books. I hope that you enjoyed that and hope that you learned something. Go check out Mystic Picnic. Gosh, what an awesome place that sounds like. Want to say thank you again to Gordon Food Service for powering this podcast on a regular basis. They're amazing people who do amazing things, and I absolutely love them.

01:10:34They're dear friends. And I just can't say enough amazing things about Gordon Food Service. If you own a restaurant and you want to talk about your broadliner the way that I talk about Gordon Food Service, you need to call Paul Hunter because Paul Hunter is the epitome of what a guy that cares about your business looks like. And his number is 615-945-6753. And I just want to say thank you to them because they're they're awesome people. And you, the listener, are awesome, awesome people. Stay tuned next Friday for another episode of Hard to Heart with Mikey and Brian from The Mockingbird. Thank you guys for doing this. I hope that you guys are being safe out there. Love you guys. Bye.