When Darius Cooks walks into the room, you can't help but feel the presence of someone who's poured their soul into their craft. And believe me, joining him in today’s conversation is Juwan Rice, whose culinary ventures have left a mark on the food landscape here in St. Louis. These two don't just cook; they transform familiar dishes into luxurious experiences that linger long after the last bite. As we reminisce about our last gathering, their stories of unrecognized talent turning into celebrated success will inspire anyone who's ever felt overlooked in their passion.
Navigating the streets of St. Louis on 314 Day, you can taste the pride that simmers in this city's soul. As we chat about the joys and hurdles of earning local support, from the defensive pride of our residents to the sweet victory of finally gaining hometown patronage, you'll understand why community means everything in the culinary world. Our culinary journey takes us from the iconic St. Paul sandwich to the adventurous palates at Blood and Sand, with each bite revealing a passionate city that's much more than its sports teams.
Join us as we share a feast for both the stomach and the soul.
Watch the visual version of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@thisisntmydegree
___
Host: Original Dante
IG: www.instagram.com/originaldante
Guests:
Darius Cooks: https://www.facebook.com/DariusCooksToo
Juwan Rice: https://www.instagram.com/chef_.jr/
When Darius Cooks walks into the room, you can't help but feel the presence of someone who's poured their soul into their craft. And believe me, joining him in today’s conversation is Juwan Rice, whose culinary ventures have left a mark on the food landscape here in St. Louis. These two don't just cook; they transform familiar dishes into luxurious experiences that linger long after the last bite. As we reminisce about our last gathering, their stories of unrecognized talent turning into celebrated success will inspire anyone who's ever felt overlooked in their passion.
Navigating the streets of St. Louis on 314 Day, you can taste the pride that simmers in this city's soul. As we chat about the joys and hurdles of earning local support, from the defensive pride of our residents to the sweet victory of finally gaining hometown patronage, you'll understand why community means everything in the culinary world. Our culinary journey takes us from the iconic St. Paul sandwich to the adventurous palates at Blood and Sand, with each bite revealing a passionate city that's much more than its sports teams.
Join us as we share a feast for both the stomach and the soul.
Watch the visual version of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@thisisntmydegree
___
Host: Original Dante
IG: www.instagram.com/originaldante
Guests:
Darius Cooks: https://www.facebook.com/DariusCooksToo
Juwan Rice: https://www.instagram.com/chef_.jr/
It's. You know. Unfortunately, once you leave and you blow up when you come back, then they go. You're amazing, you're a genius. I'm the same person I was 15 years ago. You didn't acknowledge me then.
Speaker 3:Now, yeah, that's your experience. I'm telling you what I know.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you what I know it sucks, it sucks and it makes you want to cry, because you're like why aren't you hearing me? Why it's? Like you're scratching against the wall. You didn't get the window, nobody hears you, except you go someplace else and they go love you, right, right ["Dare U's Cooks"].
Speaker 3:All right, people, we're back again at Rated Test Kitchen, but this time I'm joined by two people, both Darius Cooks and Joann Rice. If you're familiar with the last episode, you'll know that we talked about a lot of great things enjoyed, a lot of great, of just culinary concoctions Curated by you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, it feels like it was yesterday, but this was months ago, six months ago. It was six months ago, six months ago, yeah, wow.
Speaker 1:That was September. That's not crazy. Look at life, look at us. Just live life.
Speaker 3:This is what we'll call the reunion episode. The reunion, that's what we'll call it that. So, for those not familiar with who you two are, who are you? We'll start with Darius. Kind of let the people know who you are and what you do.
Speaker 1:I'm nobody Trying to tell something on it, just a lowly food blogger. That's it. I am playing food all day, create food, have a couple of products for sale that people enjoy, and I'm just a food guy. I love food. I love doing things with food, talking about food, curating food, being around food, fat. So that's it. I'm just a food guy that loves food.
Speaker 4:What about?
Speaker 2:you JR.
Speaker 4:He basically just described me so, so.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I mean, you guys know who I am. I'm Chef JR, owner of Rated Test Kitchen JR. I'm JR's Gourmet, the whole nine yards. I feel like I should introduce who Darius is, because I feel like he didn't do it, so justice I didn't do it, so justice.
Speaker 1:He didn't do it so justice.
Speaker 4:He made it so nonchalant, Like he's just. That's how I feel. A dude on the street like no.
Speaker 1:That was so low key. What are you going to say? Tell me what you're going to say about me, let's see, ok.
Speaker 4:A phenomenal curator when it comes to products when it comes to experiences across the world when it comes to taking a new spin on recipes that we're so used to. I own, like half of Darius Cook's book his cookbooks because they're so unique. They're not just the traditional recipes, it's not just cornbread no, it's not.
Speaker 1:No, he got to throw Hennessy Butter on top of it.
Speaker 4:And make it fancy and make it gourmet, but that's what people want. They want something that's new and out of the box, and that's what Darius is able to provide.
Speaker 1:Wow, he can write the next four in my next book.
Speaker 2:The acknowledgment. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, last time you were here we talked about a lot of different things in St Louis and the community and also just your journey, how you got started and established.
Speaker 4:So you're back here in St Louis, I'm back at the Giga 314 day too, I know, and it was. Let me tell you, no, and let me tell you.
Speaker 3:Was that intentional.
Speaker 1:No, it was not intentional, because if it was 314, I would have stayed until it started. See, that's what I knew.
Speaker 3:That's what it was like. I mean, it's not like to reschedule flights.
Speaker 1:I don't know anything about 314 day. I don't even know what it is, but apparently it's huge.
Speaker 3:So basically, 314 is the area code for St.
Speaker 1:Louis, oh, I know that, I know that so we just take pride in that yeah. Ok, do you do like? Is there a parade or something?
Speaker 3:Pretty much.
Speaker 4:I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 3:People flood the streets, people call off work. There's like all the time something on our agenda, so it's like a pride St Louis Pride Day.
Speaker 4:St Louis Pride Day. That's what it is St Louis Pride.
Speaker 1:Day. Yeah, no, I'll be gone on the St Louis Pride Day. I'll let you guys enjoy that. I have come to do reviews and I've done quite a few actually, so I have one more tonight and then that's it, I'm done.
Speaker 3:So you're out first thing in the morning tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Mid-morning, I didn't take first flights out tomorrow.
Speaker 2:These days.
Speaker 1:I'm soft-living it. So I'll get up and have a cup of tea and head to the airport and things like that.
Speaker 4:Because those 5 AM flights are not a fan of anybody. No, you know I prefer them though, Do you?
Speaker 1:Oh my god, the first flight and the last flight has to go. Give me where I need to be. Really, yeah, Only reason I'm not taking first flight like I didn't take first flight here is because the Airbnb wasn't ready yet things like that. You know what I'm saying but normally when we do, when I travel for work, yeah, I want to be on the first thing smoking so I can get where. I got to go Right Because now there's got the doors falling off planes and the wheels falling off and whatnot them people?
Speaker 4:got me Yo.
Speaker 3:And I'm flying uniting, it's like in Houston. So I don't have a choice. I mean, I have a choice.
Speaker 1:But, it's stupid. Why would I fly from Houston to Atlanta just to come to St Louis?
Speaker 4:Ain't that dumb? No, that's dumb. That's what I'm saying, yeah.
Speaker 1:So no Delta for me. I could have flown Southwest, I think, but Houston was the first flight, yeah.
Speaker 3:You're here in St Louis right now. I am, and I'm going to repeat some of the things that you said in the previous episode. So let's recap and I want to know if you still feel the same. You feel differently or completely.
Speaker 2:Not to repeat, not to quote.
Speaker 4:Right, here we go on the repeat.
Speaker 1:He got the receipts Not, is it true? You said he's not. Oh my god.
Speaker 2:The receipts All right so let's start with.
Speaker 3:You said there was a dark cloud over the city of St Louis. Yes, do you still feel, after this trip, that that's the same? Do you feel differently or do you completely disagree? Now, the same, the same, the same. Why is that?
Speaker 1:And when I say dark cloud, let's contextualize this Dark cloud because I was reviewing Black on Restaurants. So my experience was from a Black on Restaurant experience Right. I still feel that way today about Black on Restaurants Right and the Black on Restaurant experience. Luckily I've been to places like Blood and Sand, timothies. I've been a couple of few other places that they've sort of expanded that view for me outside of the Black experience. But the reason I say that is because I haven't even gone to a Black on Restaurant while I've been here.
Speaker 4:I went to one.
Speaker 1:I have gone to one but not primarily Black on Restaurants, and the Black people are still finding an issue. Yeah, with me just posting a photo of the food I got from a restaurant. I didn't even tell you how I felt. You have no idea what's going on in my head. You have no idea how I felt or how I feel, yet you are upset. Where is this anger coming from? Let's take a step back and let's process this. Why are you so upset about somebody taking a picture of your Chinese food and posting it online?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I never said one negative thing about your food. Where is the anger coming from? That's what I mean when I say a dark cloud. It's just angry for no reason and I don't understand why. Understand why.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I notice personally that St Louis gets really defensive at every little thing, every city.
Speaker 4:But you know, what's crazy is that they get so defensive when there's an outside person doing something. But it's like we're not even supporting each other. So what are you defensive about? Exactly that's what I don't understand, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you're part of this community. There's no support here.
Speaker 4:From what I have experienced, I had to do everything on my own, like literally everything, and the community will say that they support. On a social presence, oh, I want to come to your restaurant. Oh, I want to buy the spices, but where's your order? They never do. Where's your reservation? They never do. It's like you can support me on social, but at what point does that transfer?
Speaker 3:to something else. What point do you cross that boundary of just being somebody that's sharing the post to actually executing on?
Speaker 4:hitting and purchasing that ticket Once you leave, and then two they will do things to. Oh, I support you. I shared your post just so that you acknowledge them.
Speaker 1:No, it's so sad. I was born and raised in Chicago, third largest city in this country, and I would not be Darius Cooks had I stayed in Chicago. It wouldn't happen, I wouldn't be who I am today. And it's so sad because now Chicago supports majority of everything that I do. So they're there they're buying, they're supporting. But I had to leave Chicago blow up in order for Chicago to support me and say I love him.
Speaker 2:Yup.
Speaker 1:Because that's my boy. I love him.
Speaker 2:When I was in Chicago, I wasn't your boy, right.
Speaker 1:And it's like I don't know if this is a I don't want to call it a black thing, because I don't know if this is a black thing, I don't have enough information. But it's like we don't support until somebody else supports.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:We don't support until somebody else acknowledges.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely we don't validate until somebody else validates and I go. I'm the same person I was. You know, I have a pastor in Chicago. I've never told this story, so he's going to hear this probably for the first time. Have a pastor in Chicago, grew up in the church, the acknowledgement of my gift as I was growing up by him minimal, and I'm talking about I probably can count on one finger the number of times I was validated or acknowledged. Yeah, not that I was seeking it, but it just that's the way it was. Yeah, I leave. You know, viral sensation, things are happening. I go back to church oh, that's my good friend Derrick, and you go. What, right? Who? Huh, right, oh yeah, and you know, and don't get me wrong, they do buy, they. You know a couple of orders came through with their names on it, but that couldn't have happened eight years ago.
Speaker 1:Right, right that wasn't going to happen 15 years ago in Chicago. It wasn't until I left Chicago that they go. Oh yeah, he got something. And it's unfortunate. It's unfortunate. But, you have to leave your home in order to make it, and I don't know what that's about.
Speaker 3:So hearing how JR describes his experience here does that kind of. Do you see parallels about your experience?
Speaker 1:in Chicago. He's got to leave, he's, he's, he's. At this point, juwan is too far ahead of where the audience in St Louis is Once he leaves, becomes a sensation that everybody knows he can become. Yeah, he can then come back to St Louis, and then they'll lay claim to him. The problem is is it going to be too late for him? Is he? Is he going to want to come back to St Louis or is he going to go? Is he going to want to go someplace else where now he feels because once you've done the damage, it's hard to repair.
Speaker 1:It is and, unfortunately, it's a community, not a, not a team. But right, it's a community, not a, not a, not a person. So you can't go to them and say this is what caused this, so you could fix this.
Speaker 4:You can't do that Right.
Speaker 1:So you can't come back and go to one person and now everything's restored? Yep, it's. You know, unfortunately, once you leave and you blow up when you come back, then they go. Yeah, you're amazing. Yeah, you're a genius. I'm the same person I was 15 years ago. You didn't acknowledge me then, mm hmm.
Speaker 3:Wow, that's real, that's so real. That's real. Now, yeah, that's, that's your experience. I'm telling you what I know.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you what I know it sucks.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It sucks and it makes you want to cry, because you're like why aren't you hearing me? Why it's like you, you're like you know, you're scratching against the wall, yeah. You're getting against the window. Nobody hears you Um, except you go someplace else and they go love you, Right, I went to New York. I'm so glad I had that experience. Yeah, you know I'm eating different food. You know I mean different people outside of the normal and sometimes you need that, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not just you know, oh, absolutely Not just your brand needs it.
Speaker 1:But sometimes you need to go and experience and I did that, man, best thing in my life Go leave, leave, pack up, go yeah Never be afraid to leave.
Speaker 4:Well, you heard it. Here I'm packing my stuff and I'm out.
Speaker 2:Never be afraid to leave. I mean, do it responsibly. I guess considering this is a misalignal.
Speaker 1:Listen do it responsibly, but never be afraid. You can always come home.
Speaker 4:Yes, that's true.
Speaker 1:But and this is an old lady once told me this I was at a. We had a little church, they had a restaurant on the corner and it was like I don't know five or six ladies, old ladies who used to feed me as I was growing up. They all, you know, raised me growing up and her name is Geneva Jones and she makes the best everything. And she was a lunchroom. She's alive. She's a lunchroom manager for, like I don't know 30-something years.
Speaker 2:You know one of those ladies.
Speaker 1:And I was down at her restaurant and she said, she looked at me and she said grab my hand. She said listen, son, you need to do everything you want to do. I don't want you getting to my age with regret. I wish I had the courage to do what you're doing. She said do it. If you lose everything, you have time to rebuild it. If you wait till you my age, you lose it. You don't have time to rebuild. Do it now. Stuck with me Stuck with me.
Speaker 2:Ever since Jadiba Jones.
Speaker 1:I don't even know how she remembers the conversation, but Jadiba Jones, who makes the best sweet to you ever had in your life, told me that at that restaurant on Lake Street and I'll never forget it.
Speaker 3:I got it, wow. Yeah, that's something heavy on my mind right now because I mean I'm turning 30, which like is not old, but like it's another decade of my life beginning, so it's like.
Speaker 1:I feel like time is going by you know, I'm 42, shut up, which is also young.
Speaker 3:But it's like you know, as like you're deeper into it and you could say you're like five, 10, 15 years into something you kind of like, do a lot of reflection of like all right, how has this been going? What have I learned on the journey? So yeah, it's like you never know when your future self is looking back at the path like you right now and learning from you.
Speaker 1:Never, yeah, you know, and you just want to keep going.
Speaker 2:You got to keep going.
Speaker 1:You can't stop, man, you can't let this stuff stop. It almost cuts you can cut.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, we cut last time, but we keep it going.
Speaker 4:The truth, people a couple of years. You can't let this shit stop you, man.
Speaker 3:You got to keep it up, man you got to keep moving.
Speaker 1:You got to keep going, man. So we keep moving and keep going.
Speaker 3:Let's move on to the next topic that you are, the statement that you said, and you said that St Louis is an extremely passionate city. Yes, would you say that's true, eh, or like you, disagree. Now, it's true, I'm passionate.
Speaker 1:Every. Most cities are passionate. Yeah, they are, but maybe St Louis will argue you down to the ground about which emails is the best. Emails when they just all right, they will. That's true.
Speaker 1:We will. The four chop suey places all said the same thing that tastes the same, and they're going to tell you number two is better than number four. Ok, if you suspect, but it looks identical, right, and tastes identical to me, all right, and please don't tell them. If you don't like a St Paul, don't ever open up your mouth and say that what do you mean? You don't like a St Paul? Well, I don't eat eggs. Yeah, what do you mean? You don't? It's amazing. We love it here. Ok, I'm glad you do, but I don't, and they'll weigh you out, man.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, that's true, lord Jesus. It's so true. St Louis is very passionate Very very passionate. Listen when I tell you St Louis has some of the most diehard Rams fan. When we had the Rams Bro, oh my God, yeah, the Rams will be zero and 30. And then be like the Rams is the best team in the league.
Speaker 1:Be passionate.
Speaker 4:Yeah, not disrespectful. Yeah, yeah, be passionate.
Speaker 2:Not shady, yeah, we got room for that yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, be passionate, not clout chasing because you want to do an interview.
Speaker 2:You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Exactly yeah, we good, wow, you see what I'm saying, right. Yeah, all right, good yeah, absolutely. You see what I'm saying right, I'm not sitting, I'm not there with them.
Speaker 4:Yeah, enough said.
Speaker 3:My gosh, wow. But where you're sitting right now is Rated Test Kitchen.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm saying, what I said.
Speaker 3:You said that this place restored your faith in St Louis. It did, oh, wow, it did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I put Rated Test Kitchen. Top Five is on everything Like top, top, top of the line. And when I can you have to remember. I'm eating macaroni and cheese half cooked. I'm eating collard greens that are not seasoned. I'm eating green beans out of a can.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you come here and you have vegetables yeah, prepared well, right. Yeah, everything is different here and it's beautiful and fresh and amazing. So at the time, this definitely restored my faith in St Louis and I came back with it. Was that quest? Like what else can I compare to Rated Test Kitchen? That's going to be just as amazing or even better than what JR has. And I found some places that are on par. I went to Blood and Sand it was on par.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Walk us through that experience then, because that's one of the only reviews you've put out so far. Right?
Speaker 1:I have you put the review out. The only review I put out was Timothies, and then I went to Emos and I previewed that one today. This morning, but going to Blood and Sand, I didn't even know what to expect. It's in this, like industrial building you don't know where the entrance is.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I walked in. It's Bordeaux Island in the alleyway, the entrance. It kind of is, it kind of is in the alley.
Speaker 1:Nobody is inside. When I walk in, this R&B hip hop music is blaring, I'm like, oh, what the hell did I walk into? Visually, the place is stunning yeah. It's beautiful, it's stunning visually. And so I go in and the lady's, like you know she's so nice and you know let's just sit you over here, ok, fine. So look at this menu. I'm looking at this stuff, I'm trying to read this stuff. What is this on this menu? What is kangaroo, elk and tartar? I said what the hell have I come to?
Speaker 3:Kangaroo.
Speaker 1:Yeah kangaroo, and it was kangaroo tartar which means it's raw kangaroo.
Speaker 4:It's raw kangaroo.
Speaker 1:And kangaroo can't be fresh. It had to have been frozen.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it got to be frozen.
Speaker 1:So we're doing frozen, defrosted tartar. I'm black. I don't even eat regular tartar. That part. I need my tartar cooked. Ok, that's what I need. I need sauteed tartar and put it in a tortilla and call it a tartar. Ok, what?
Speaker 4:That's what I need. Granitas, yes, ok, that's what I need OK with some pico or something. That's too funny. That's what I need.
Speaker 1:So I'm looking around like this is not going to be good, and so I start going through stuff that looks halfway decent. So I'm like, ok, let's go with the crab soup, let's go with the baby Jim Sally, let's go with the this or that man. They started bringing me their food out one by one. First of all, they brought me the cocktails. I read it. It said cold brew reposado.
Speaker 3:I think it was coffee.
Speaker 1:I don't like coffee. So I said I don't like it. I'm not going to like this, so let me just go and try. Oh, they all sifted that thing so good and said now, what is this? There's a little ice cube with the little logo inside.
Speaker 4:The piece of the little.
Speaker 1:It was beautiful. Then they started bringing the courses out one by one. Just flavor explosion, everything. And it was so expertly done. They have this beef cheek poutine. Beef cheek is like the best braised short rib you ever have in your life. It's like a best pot roast you ever have. But they give you a muse. The muse was Fino Bruschetta and you go. Now, who wants to eat that? Right, right, right. Why the hell do I want to eat a Fino Bruschetta? After the first bite I want to become a Fino.
Speaker 4:Bruschetta.
Speaker 1:I fooled around and put the Bruschetta on top of the poutine. So you know, the acid cut through the fatness of the beef and the cheese. Listen, I almost went into a Baptist. Fit right there in the wine restaurant In them white people restaurant.
Speaker 1:I almost went into a Baptist Fit, don't tell you. The food was out, it was exquisite, service was amazing and beautiful and everything had a surprise. They had this, I don't know, and I said how do you come up with this? They had this baby gym lettuce and romaine with I don't even like walnuts, regular roasted walnuts Little cubes of butternut squash and it was two shrimp cut in half, so it was four little shrimp and they put it on half the plate. So it was plated, all nice, and it was tied together with a honey seshwain vinaigrette. I said, okay, I guess who's putting seshwain with romaine and having romaine with butternut squash and walnuts? You know how you chew a walnut, a nut, up and you make your own nut butter in your mouth, that's all.
Speaker 4:I'm gonna explain it.
Speaker 1:But if you chew, peanuts or you chew cashews back up and through there you done made nut butter in the back in your molars. I was about to call my brother and say, bitch, when you tie together that nut butter with that honey seshwain dressing and then roast it butternut squash cubes, I mean, whoever thought of this should get an Emmy. It was that. And then the numbing from the seshwain. Oh lord, it's the more you ate, the better it got. So the experience, if you can't tell, was spot on.
Speaker 4:And I know people in the comments were like why do you want it to be numbing?
Speaker 1:It's an experience, it's a part of the experience. It's hard to explain. See, they used to that Chinese food that's red.
Speaker 4:Right, or they used to that fried rice that's brown with the little slivers of onions in there.
Speaker 2:See what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:But if you go over there to get the real Chinese or just go to places like San Francisco or go to places like Chicago or go to New York and have real, true, authentic Chinatown Philadelphia has a beautiful Chinatown and you go and you get the real seshwain chicken or the seshwain sauce. It's going to numb everything you got.
Speaker 4:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's going to come out numbing you. You see what I'm saying, but that's what it tastes like and it's beautiful and amazing and delicious, but you got to get out of. Let me get a Saint Paul, let me get fried wings with the sweet and sour sauce on it.
Speaker 3:You got to get out of it Gotta get out of here. I mean, the experience doesn't just end with taste, like there's layers to it.
Speaker 1:Well, but they do it. They do the shit so well, they do it so well. It's like coming here, it's like everything you thought you knew about what you were going to experience has just been you know what?
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know I've been into that. They had this crab bisque with Aleppo pepper on top and you know I said this is gonna be too salty, since I'm gonna be right. Ooh, that crab bisque was so good. I'm talking about every spoon. She was like can I take it away? I said, yeah, let me get one more spoon for the bisque. You take it. It was just that good.
Speaker 1:She got everything it was. The food is fine. Oh, the poached. No, it wasn't poached, it was a pan seared cod. It's like talking about food all day. It was like I don't cross my legs. See, it was a pan seared cod with spice, like a Moroccan spiced cauliflower right.
Speaker 1:With spinach and a smoked tomato broth with thinly sliced chorizo sausage and not the crumbly chorizo, the real, like summer sausage chorizo On top, roasted off. The fish was cooked well all the way through and the crispiness of the chorizo was almost like bacon. Baby, that smoked tomato and it was watery. The broth was water. It was thinner than this. It was outstanding. Oh, wow, it was outstanding. I was in heaven. Can you tell him? Yeah?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm thinking about it. He's so experienced Like now I'm like, okay, maybe I need to book a reservation.
Speaker 1:This should be a line out the door. The place was so good I couldn't stop eating it.
Speaker 3:So you heard it here first folks, Blood and sand.
Speaker 4:Blood and sand. That's the place to go Blood and sand.
Speaker 3:In addition to Rated Test Kitchen of course, yes, of course you gotta go to the Rated Test Kitchen. Blood and Sand.
Speaker 1:Timothy's was good too. Now Timothy's was good.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:And I just came from.
Speaker 4:Twisted somebody, twisted tree, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Twisted. Somebody was twisted. It was thought it was a T. Might've been a tree.
Speaker 4:Okay, a tree was twisted over there. The tree was twisted, the tree was twisted.
Speaker 1:I'm in the twisted tree and you know, not for nothing. They're Buffalo sauce and they're ranch sauce, and they also had a red pepper aioli.
Speaker 4:Well, that sounds so funny. It was some of the best.
Speaker 1:I've ever had in my life oh wow, they changed the name from twisted tree to Buffalo and ranch, because Buffalo ranch. It was a herb, it was a house-made herb ranch and it was a brown sugar Buffalo situation Really, oh jeez, that's Christ.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, what sweet hot sauce. They're high back in there be yeah, yeah yeah you can't jack that up.
Speaker 1:And it was, and I had it with the shrimp wrapped, with the bacon, with the jalapenos thing in it.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, that sounds.
Speaker 1:Oh, I said it over there, like a fat pig, the drinks were, worship the drinks, not good the drinks not good.
Speaker 4:That tree too twisted for them to make good drinks. The tree was too twisted and they twisted all the liquid out of the tree and you can't.
Speaker 1:You know, I should've known that the heifer was up to something. She come up with the menu and she's like here's a new drink. I said, okay, I'll try the egg whites. Leave my egg whites out of there, Okay.
Speaker 4:I don't like. I don't want no macarons, I don't want one of that.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, so she brings the thing and she, I didn't never knew how much it cost. It was supposed to be like a martini or something. It was horrific. It wasn't even good. It was still sitting there. I left it over there $30, I paid for that.
Speaker 3:You serious? Yeah, I paid $30. Wait one drink.
Speaker 1:Yeah for one drink, and if it's good I don't mind $30. Now the drink I had last night yesterday with the coffee in it that's $30. Drink. The ice cube belonged about $15.
Speaker 4:I was gonna say the ice cube. Yeah, I used about $15, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I would. I would on mind doing that, but if it's good, I'm gonna pay for it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, of course, but it wasn't good it wasn't good.
Speaker 1:So, don't go there for no drinks or that, for the food. The food is amazing.
Speaker 4:Oh man, food's good.
Speaker 3:Hmm, so whenever you're sitting at these tables with all this food, when you take the photos, do you just post them as is? Do you do any kind of editing, like brighten it up? No, you just post it as is, as is.
Speaker 1:I got time for that I'm 42, I got time for that. I got time for that.
Speaker 4:Listen, if y'all don't, got nothing else to do, just go to Darius post and look at the comments, cause I swear yeah.
Speaker 2:Them people they be like. Oh, he edited the photo on this one.
Speaker 4:Nah, the way it's given to me, that's just how it is the way it's given to me is the way I post it, that's it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't mm-mm nothing special.
Speaker 4:I mean my own photos, you know, are of course you know my cookbooks and all that. I post for content.
Speaker 1:Those are doctor but other than that, no man.
Speaker 3:Okay, I mean that's good you keep it real and genuine and it's just so what it is.
Speaker 1:If you're looking at if you're looking at my content going, I'm gonna see if I want to go to that restaurant. Don't you want to see the pictures you?
Speaker 2:want to see it as is Absolutely yes.
Speaker 1:That's it and that's good and bad, even my own stuff, I mean. You know, I look at some of the stuff the people post of my food. They come to dinner parties. I go. That looks horrific.
Speaker 4:I do the same thing. People post these terrible pictures at rated. I'm like that's all. They end up getting these little lights.
Speaker 1:Cause it looks horrific, it looks terrible.
Speaker 4:I'm like damn did we serve that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've been on certain, and then you know, the other thing I hate is that you know they use it as ammunition against me.
Speaker 2:They go.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're rating all these restaurants, but look how your food look. Well, that's, you have a non professional.
Speaker 4:Right Taking a picture with a half and he got chicken grease on the lens.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. It's a high-five too. That's blurry. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 3:They go all like right, yeah, and then when I take a photo in their shadow too Right, and then when I take the photo and then post it and you go oh Lord Jesus, yeah, next time let me.
Speaker 1:Let me take a picture please. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:So I just have a light, that also changes color temperature. Color temperature yeah.
Speaker 1:You just need three of them, like you know, yeah, to eliminate the shadows yeah, put them all together. Yeah, it's gonna be what it's gonna be.
Speaker 3:So do you like position lights or anything, or do you just really take it as is? I'll take it as is, just completely.
Speaker 1:As is. If I'm outside, I'll take it as is. If I'm inside, I'll take it as is. Yeah, okay, that's good.
Speaker 3:So authentic, genuine experience.
Speaker 1:No doctoring up, no whatsoever.
Speaker 3:You mentioned that there is a lack of St Louis vegetables Like vegetables in dishes.
Speaker 1:Oh Lord, yeah, in the black community.
Speaker 3:I mean, I'll be real. I agree. I feel like we need more vegetables, we need more nutrition. Yes, we need those macros.
Speaker 1:I want to see, I need to go to the hood, I need to take a mobile medical van with me and we need to do blood tests and check the levels of the average people that live. The black people live in Saint Louis. We got to see what the level is looking like, because you can't tell me that the levels are all good because they're no vegetables, no vegetables. If you eat the vegetables, they in a can. I went to a restaurant yesterday, tasty Eats. Not one vegetable French fries. That was it. I'm 42, I can't eat French fries as a vegetable. I want to live to 52, I'll be dead by this weekend.
Speaker 1:I can't eat. That you know. Every once in a while I'm not a health nut and look at me, I'm not a health nut, but I like broccoli. Yeah, yeah, I like butternut squash. I like cabbage. You don't have to always cook it in lots of oil and grease, they just give me regular vegetables.
Speaker 1:We're good with that. There's ways you can jazz it up. Give me a carrot, they don't eat that. Some Brussels sprout, yes, something, something, they don't. There's nothing green. You go to this. You go to the. What's the place I went to yesterday? I went to the chop suey burgers and chop suey, everything's brown. You go there. Brown comes out brown. Jesus, is there any variation?
Speaker 3:There's no variation there.
Speaker 1:Everything's brown. That's what I mean when I say there's a lack of vegetables. It's like everything's brown. I go to and I hate to make this a race thing, but I go to blood and sand.
Speaker 3:yesterday, Tons of vegetables Vibrant, vibrant, color. You have a colorful plate.
Speaker 1:The average grocery store. 35,000 items in the grocery store and you choose to serve no vegetables. That's so crazy to me. Not a pea at all. You want some of a pea, zucchini, something, nothing.
Speaker 3:Wow. So what are some vegetable focused dishes that you would like to see or have you enjoyed at other restaurants?
Speaker 1:That's a good question. I don't even know if I can even give you that hummus that you posted.
Speaker 4:Oh no, I had tibetan yeah.
Speaker 2:Maybe tibetan.
Speaker 1:I wanted to go get some. I'm like this looks amazing Tibetan if he don't serve nothing else but hummus he should make a couple million dollars a year.
Speaker 4:And you know it's good when you eat vegetables with dipped in vegetables.
Speaker 3:Oh, when I asked him, he said dead black ivory Dead black ivory your season vegetables are vegetables Exactly.
Speaker 1:Dead black ivory hummus and.
Speaker 3:I don't like tahini had no tahini in it.
Speaker 1:It was garlicky and creamy. He must have put the ice cube in when he went in. It was out of this effing world Wow. So that's one I can talk about, but I don't really go to, so I don't eat for pleasure anymore. I had two weight loss surgeries. I had a sleeve and I had a bypass, so I don't eat for pleasure.
Speaker 1:I don't just go. Oh, I'm hungry, let's go eat. If I'm eating, it's typically content. I can eat a smoothie or salad and be done. Tropical smoothie cafe is one of my favorite places to go Because you can get everything half turbinado Because they have put their sugar in and dried them calories up. So that's what I do, so I don't really go for pleasure, but that black api hummus was one. I'm trying to think of some others Tiffany Derry, out of Farmer's Branch, texas, which is out of near Dallas roots Southern Table.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 4:I heard of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's got some good. She is a black api hummus too. She has some of this beet salad with like candied pistachios or something and like some sort of I don't think it was goat cheese, it was some sort of like Farmer's cheese or something. Oh, that thing was amazing. That's the best thing on the menu, really, in my opinion. Yeah, that beet salad was spot on, boy.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, oh, that beet salad was amazing.
Speaker 1:Oh, that beet salad was whoo. That thing was annoying to you. You tell Tiffany you say hello that beet salad was annoying to you and it was like, oh, it was like the striped beets, the red beets, the golden beets, the white beets.
Speaker 4:Oh, it was, oh wow.
Speaker 1:She played and it was good.
Speaker 3:All them beets. It's got jam. I didn't know there were that many beets. Yeah, that's all I'm saying. You know that I got the beet, I got these beets. No, like that, ain't the same.
Speaker 1:This is. She jammed it with all those beets. Oh my gosh, we have to get someone to a Farmer's Market.
Speaker 4:No, seriously. So you see, there's more than one kind of beets. Yep, they exist and they're good. I'm going to take Donte on a tour, please. I'm taking my school tour, yeah.
Speaker 3:And the next time you're in town we'll go to a Farmer's Market to get a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:Let's do it, let's do it.
Speaker 3:We'll just make a day out of it.
Speaker 2:OK, so we work with a lot of local farmers.
Speaker 4:All of my stuff is locally sourced. There's a farmer shout out to Leah. She grows everything and she has chicken. She got the whole nine yards.
Speaker 3:It is so nice, it's so cute.
Speaker 4:She has a little section in her backyard, it's so dope. Shout out to Leah. I don't know if Leah watched. I know Leah follows you. Hi, leah, praise the Lord, we coming. Yeah, so we got Leah I'm her real skillet and a knife and a cutting board.
Speaker 1:I've come with gifts.
Speaker 4:And then we also work with these farmers that grow in shipping containers so they supply us with stuff that we can't get during the winter time because they're growing 365.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so do you know you ever heard of Tower Garden before? I haven't. You've never heard of Tower Garden. Tower Garden, oh my god, slight deviation, I'm sorry. Tower Garden is this contraption that grows all your vegetables aeroponically and hydroponically Really Right? So traditional farming? You'd have to do crops over your whole counter Hydroponically, just where Dante is sitting you can grow the same, but you grow up.
Speaker 1:OK, I have seen that thing, I have seen that and the nutrients are recycled in the water, so you only use 12 minutes of electricity per hour, really, and it grows these beautiful like anything that's green grows. You can't grow like root vegetables and things like that, or vegetables, things like that, but 80% of produce you can grow right in a Tower Garden, yeah, and it comes out and you can grow all types of the whole year. They have grow lights. You can grow in your garage, really.
Speaker 4:Oh, I gotta need to get one of those Pumpkins watermelon, you name it so.
Speaker 2:I went to.
Speaker 1:Bakers Creek Seeds. It's a nursery in Minnesota. I spent $600 on Yamato Silver Watermelon Candy Stripe Watermelon Pink Beets. They have these gumdrop tomatoes. These things you've never even heard of before in your life. I get so excited about this, can you?
Speaker 2:tell.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I got to see the house. I haven't used it because I'm going to Asia for a month and a half, but when I get back I'm going to be here for a couple of weeks before I go back, so I can't monitor the growth. You know what I'm saying, but you can grow everything in Tower Garden.
Speaker 4:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:It literally is like. I wish I would have thought of this first.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Wow, Well coming to DariusCookscom yeah, I wish Listen, I wish man I wish, I wish.
Speaker 1:This is an amazing contrast. So you talk about farms and all that. So what they're doing like even in Dubai, where it's all desert. They have these greenhouses right that are temperature controlled to cool it off Because it's too hot. You put a greenhouse in the desert.
Speaker 4:It's all heat up? Yeah, it's too late.
Speaker 1:So the temperature control to cool everything off, so it keeps it like 75, 80 degrees all year round and you just get. You know, if you get 100 Tower Gardens, you each Tower Garden grows. I want to say like 30 pounds of food, oh wow. So, you multiply that by 100, you're running all year round. And it doesn't depend on the season, right?
Speaker 4:You put the seeds in.
Speaker 1:And it's like 100% growth rate. Oh wow, it goes to vermiculite and you know, give it a couple of days, it's out. You put it, you clip it in, you run it, you come back in. You know two, three weeks. You see the growth.
Speaker 4:And the best thing about those is that you don't have to pull from the root. You can just pull leaves off and it'll continue to grow.
Speaker 1:You can pull leaves off, but when they harvest, they harvest from the root, and when you see these root systems, come out these root systems are outstanding.
Speaker 4:Man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the next wave of like food.
Speaker 4:This has just turned into the farmer's podcast, hasn't it? I know right, I know. Sorry guys, I'm here for it, I'm sorry, but when you put foodies together and you mention vegetables this is what happens, you know obviously. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So yeah, honestly, I'm learning a lot and this sounds innovative, as fuck it is. It is.
Speaker 1:It's beyond when you see it, because now what happens is traditional farming. You waste so much water, Water goes to the ground, it becomes groundwater.
Speaker 1:You can't recycle that water, so you're wasting more water trying to grow more plants. This you use the same amount of water. You put the nutrients in the actual water itself, so you know what you're feeding your plants and it recycles itself. There's a pump, it goes up, it goes down, it hits the roots, it runs in the next 15 minutes seamlessly, and then, if you want to do it like inside a garage, they have grow lights, so you put these grow lights all around it and let it go.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's crazy. You know it's funny. Actually, in our original renderings for this restaurant, that whole wall was supposed to be that. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, it's a great thing to have. So, I haven't really dealt because I've been too busy with life, but at some point don't worry, I'm coming.
Speaker 3:Oh, that is a triggering sound.
Speaker 2:No, that is a triggering sound.
Speaker 3:It activates fight or flight when I hear the iPhone alarm noise, Bro it's like a reality check. Oh man, ok, so I want to move more into just criticism and then move more into the St Louis ecosystem. So, when it comes to because you're a content creator, you're an influencer, I guess what are? Some elements and feedback that you like to see in constructive criticism that I give or people give to me, that you get, and then also, yeah, like what you give as well.
Speaker 1:So I don't really get a lot of constructive criticism on things that I do, because I and I'm not boasting about this, but I typically tend to craft what I do around what people expect, what my core community expects. So if my core community says I want a glass of water, I'm not going to give them a glass of tea, I'm going to give a glass of water. I don't get criticized. It's when I deviate from listening to them that I get the most criticism.
Speaker 1:So, just recently I was going to do this project with two other guys called the Three Kings on tour. One is a baker, I'm a cook, and one is a bartender or he owns a mobile bartending business. I'm thinking great partnership, let's put it together, let's run some stuff. Yeah, absolutely Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think about the fact that I had conditioned my audience to accept dining with Darius Cooks for the last eight years. So if they ever see me in a capacity where they're coming to eat my food, they normally know it in that particular format. In my mind, I've divorced from that format. They haven't.
Speaker 1:I got an earful of criticism about the event. We never even did the event. But the location, the menu, the offerings, the value, the cost it was just a lot that I had heard back. So what do you do with that? You go OK, you listen to them and it's got to be public. You just go. I hear you Wasn't listening to you. Let me make the changes. Let me go out to the drum board. I'll be back, that's it.
Speaker 4:You pivot you pivot.
Speaker 1:That's it, and I did it publicly, which is great because then they could see he values our feedback and our opinions and when you get it right they're there to support Definitely.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure. I think it's good to listen and understand the perspective where people are coming from and that kind of moves into St Louis. So your last trip was a memorable one.
Speaker 2:It was a memorable one. Yes, I mean for a lot of people in the commie.
Speaker 3:It depends on who you're asking it was based on what we see in the comment section. A lot of people remember it, so how would you describe this go-around? You've been here for a couple of days now. You fly out tomorrow morning. How do you feel now?
Speaker 1:A lot of things are different because I'm not here doing dining with Darius Cooke's. I don't have a staff here, a crew, I don't have a videographer here, it's just me, right. So when you strip down all of the fanfare, you can just kind of hit the nitty-gritty. And I'm also not just doing black-owned restaurants. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:So my opinions now of St Louis have slightly changed and this is going to come across and it's going to sound bad. I don't mean it to be bad, but it's going to sound bad. And there's two St Louis's that exist. There is a St Louis that wants to stay stagnant. There is a St Louis that wants to accept the status quo. There is a St Louis that does not want to change, even though they say they want to change. There's a St Louis that is okay with mediocrity. That's the St Louis I experienced last time. Still exists to this day. I can name names, but we shouldn't you move on to opening up and experiencing things that are different from what you had last time, which means it's a different socioeconomic status? A lot of times there's different races involved From a mindset perspective. You've got people who are progressive thinkers now, who are now entering the chat.
Speaker 1:So now you've opened up the landscape to a different level of St Louis than you did before which gives you a different appreciation and, if I could be very honest with you, what I've experienced puts St Louis on the same map as a New York, chicago and an LA, and I knew that it was here, just had to find out where it was and unfortunately it's not prominent in the black community.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, which is tough to hear, it is not prominent in the black community.
Speaker 1:What is prominent in the black community is what you know already this progression, this movement outside of this. It's not here in the black community. Man, it's not, man it's not, and that's so sad.
Speaker 4:It is.
Speaker 1:You know you post. I posted fried rice from Ferguson. Shit's almost viral. I posted five out of five on everything from blood and sand. Yeah, 100 comments.
Speaker 4:That's crazy. I mean, that alone speaks for itself.
Speaker 1:That alone is crazy, that's not conjecture, that's not hyperbole, I mean, that's not hypothesis, it's a fact.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That is an honest fact, that what deserves and gets a five out of five. Most of the people in my community don't appreciate it. Yeah, who wants to go there? They serve kangaroo tartare. Yeah, but you miss the beef cheek poutine.
Speaker 4:Right right.
Speaker 1:You know, with the cheese curds and the fennel bruschetta, you miss that. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. You're missing the fusion of flavors because you're not. You know somebody on my live today, or it was a post how do you choose the cocktails? I have a hard time when I'm going out choosing cocktails and you know I stick with what I know I said. You look at the menu and you look at what looks familiar and just go with it. You never know if you're going to like it unless you try it.
Speaker 4:Right right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. They're too safe, they don't want to branch out.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and that's really why I set up the restaurant, the restaurant the way that I did, because people are scared to try new things. So when you paying $200 a person, you really don't have no choice but to eat what's put in front of you. Right, you got seven quarts worth of food. So when we put octopus in front of people, or we put rabbit in front of people, they're like oh shit, I ain't got nothing to do, but I have no choice but to try it.
Speaker 3:Right. And then they try it and they fall in love with it, right.
Speaker 4:And it's like you just have to be able to push your boundaries because people are scared to. They won't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they won't. And in St Louis it's unfortunate because some of the ones who are vocal are the ones who won't change. And not only will they not change, they won't even admit that there needs to be a change. This is my city, it's what we do in my city. Yeah, but there's so much more you could be doing.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And if you look at the landscape of where you are on the success level, it speaks to what your mindset is today, and that's a God to honest truth. That's anybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That transcends race at this point. That transcends socioeconomic status. But there is a correlation between your level of success and your mindset, and the fact that you are still where you are and you haven't broken paths means there's something going on with your mindset and you're cool with accepting things the way they are and I just don't roll that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's so frustrating to hear these things, because we are the ones that want to see St Louis move forward. We want to see the innovation we want. To see people challenging and breaking out of their comfort zones.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but it's crazy because we see that. But then we're also the people that are blacklisted and we're the people that people don't support.
Speaker 3:Hello, join the club. Yeah, join the club. It is so crazy. Welcome to the blacklisted podcast.
Speaker 1:Right, this is exactly what this is. Yes, yeah, they'll try to cancel you in a minute. Yeah, absolutely, I completely understand and it's so unfortunate. So it's like what do you do? How do you push past this? And I think making a commitment to just stay true to who you are is important. But, like I told you, there are ways to get around it and unfortunately it's leaving. Yeah, there's no other way to say it.
Speaker 4:But to leave.
Speaker 1:And I hate to put it that way, but it's like the people don't want to change, don't let them change, let them stay where they are. You change, you get better, you evolve, you become more robust, and then what happens is you come back and they go. Oh, I like him. Yep, I'm the same one. Oh yeah, we go way back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm the same person.
Speaker 4:Remember we went to high school together? Yeah, no, I don't remember. Actually we had that one class. Yeah, I actually don't remember.
Speaker 3:We saw each other at the grocery store that one time, yeah, no, I don't remember.
Speaker 1:actually I don't it doesn't ring a bell for me, yeah, you know what I mean. So it's unfortunate, but that's what y'all got here. Man, you got two St Louis's that exist. You don't have one St Louis's. You got two, especially in the black, and you do have some progress and I you know, but it is education, economics, that is socioeconomic.
Speaker 1:It's all plays a part into what you want to do and what you want to be. And it's again I don't know. You got two and you got to cater to them. I don't know how you do it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, because in that. So let me break it down to you a little bit, for our industry and the perspective of St Louis.
Speaker 3:Yeah, once you do that, I'll talk about, like the influencer, content creators.
Speaker 4:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:Like videography and all that stuff.
Speaker 4:Got you so real quick. Our industry is broken down, first by race, yeah, but then it's also broken down tiered with the black community. So, luckily for me, I have been able to pivot and be able to be a part of both sides of it. So I've seen it. But it's just so divided and torn. And so what me and Jazz actually did, we created a company called Revify Hospitality, and so what we do is we invite these black-owned restaurant owners and the white restaurant owners to come together and just hang out and chill, because there's so much that we can learn from each other. But they just look at the race or they look at the image and they're like why wouldn't you want to collaborate?
Speaker 4:You can learn from them, but they always think that there's some mentality of there can only be one, there can only be one black restaurant that's doing this top in the charts. There can only be one black chef that's the best chef.
Speaker 1:No, that's not the standard. You can have more than one, but I guess the other question is how do you bring the people along? Because the people's mindset, like? I'm thinking this conversation should be a St Louis general conversation that should be had on multiple levels. And I know they're not having this conversation. They're not, so is this even important to them? Where is the value in any of this? So I mean, there's a lot to think about because you have to curate the experience. So then you go. How far do I even go?
Speaker 4:If you don't want this.
Speaker 1:What am I doing this for?
Speaker 2:If you don't want me, don't talk to me. Go ahead and free yourself. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It's tough.
Speaker 3:It's tough. It is, I mean, whenever you talk about the just kind of stagnant nature of everything, that's even with content creation, influencer marketing here Like we are further behind other places because we're just so content being where we are. And personally I don't feel that way. I want to keep seeing things grow and scale and improve and just be better for everybody, because there's room for everybody to eat, there's plenty of opportunity. It's just we need to stop gatekeeping, we need to actually like collaborate and there needs to be a sense of community. Community is such a huge. It's just the foundation of everything Just having that collaboration and just willing to work together. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:Is it willing to work together or knowing how that part?
Speaker 3:To work together that part Right. Because that's why I'm over here, thinking I think it's a combination of both really.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna say the name, you can leave it out if you want to. Very vocal, wanted me to come try his rice and his St Paul and whatever. He's gone live several times he's since been blocked. So you know this is going, okay, super passionate. But I'm like, do you realize what you're saying to me? You want me to come try your fried rice. Sir, this is St Louis. Y'all call them rice houses. I guess there's a fried rice restaurant everywhere in St Louis. What are you doing with your fried rice? That makes it so different? And so how have you elevated the experience? It's the same fried rice. Why do I want to come there? Right, he's super passionate. He's like, yeah, da, da, da, da, but for some reason I don't know what it is Like the passion's there.
Speaker 1:The desire is there, but maybe he doesn't know how to collaborate and I honestly think, even if you have a conversation with these people, they come away offended. Yeah, you know what my point isn't to offend you, but you're coming at me real hard or coming to try this fried rice and I'm telling you I don't want to eat carbohydrates as a meal. Right, Like a joke.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:What else you got for me, man? We could do whatever you want. Hey, can we communicate like normal people?
Speaker 4:Where's?
Speaker 1:all this aggression coming from. So something's saying like there's a difference between knowing how to collaborate and wanting to collaborate. He might want to. I don't know if he knows how. And then, even if you go a step further and say let's have a conversation about this and figure this out, is his mindset and his level of understanding in such a place that he could understand, appreciate that and then learn how to course correct?
Speaker 4:And the answer is definitely no, and I think, for us, one of the biggest things and I'll take an attest to this when it comes to collaboration, it starts with communication. Sure, absolutely, and a lot of people don't know how to communicate. A lot of people, when they try to collaborate, they say, well, what can this person do? For me, it's like, well, no, what can you do for this person?
Speaker 3:What are you offering?
Speaker 4:Collaboration is a relationship between people or two businesses, so it's like both of these parties have to. You know, they have to want it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it definitely takes both parties to make something happen, not just give and take. It's not an exchange, it's just like a work together. Agreed, we're all passionate about seeing progress and seeing things move forward, but it's just gonna take a lot of work to get there, and it starts with everybody, just like you said, learning how to work together, sure, and also just having that desire to work together as well.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, for sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's where it all begins. Yeah, that's a good stopping point. I think that's a good takeaway and then we can pick this up next time that you are in St Louis.
Speaker 1:Next time I come to St Louis.
Speaker 3:Yes, I'll be here. When do you think that's?
Speaker 1:gonna be, Sir? I have no idea.
Speaker 4:You just go on with the flow. Where are you going next?
Speaker 1:Where am I going next? Great question. So I think I'm gonna go to Charlotte next month, Okay nice. I think I'll do Charlotte for a couple of days and then head on back. I've got a little dinner party I'm hosting at my house for some friends, I'll go some in the oven for that. And then the next day I'm on a flight out of here for over a month.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'll talk to you. When I send you a postcard, I'll talk to you when, I get back and we can figure out what's happening. And even when I come back, because the thing is, I'm building a restaurant and a house.
Speaker 4:Right right.
Speaker 1:So the thing is, I don't know what's gonna happen, even when I come back, because when I come back I might be here for a couple little bit, but I kind of wanna go right back.
Speaker 4:You know what I'm saying? I?
Speaker 1:don't wanna be here.
Speaker 4:It's nice over there, I don't blame you. It's beautiful over there, like the food, the people, the weather the energy.
Speaker 1:The police don't carry guns. There's no violence. You don't have to lock your front door. People need money sitting in their car. It's very different Wow.
Speaker 4:It's very different. Everything you've heard is true. The fact that that is taboo is crazy, Like that should be the norm. My business partner.
Speaker 1:Tommy that I just randomly met him and we just randomly became business partners and. I sent him money and it goes where it needs to go. It's so crazy. The trust factor is amazing over there because nobody's out for greed. Even at restaurants, the employees, the servers, make like $140 a month. The managers at a restaurant will make $400 a month and the head chef makes $700 a month. They don't work for greed like that and then the owners of these businesses.
Speaker 1:If the business is in Doorwell, the workers get together and figure out what to do.
Speaker 4:Really yeah. Here it's like oh, so you're the boss. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:No they're like, let's do this let's do this.
Speaker 4:Let's collaborate let's make this happen.
Speaker 1:The whole spirit and energy of how they move. I got this property, this land. I got this land that I now have for 25 years. The guy who's there, they speak Indonesian, so you have to go, like sit on their porch and it's a whole custom thing, drink water and take your shoes off, child, it's a whole thing. So anyway, he says, you can have, we'll give you the, you can do the deal. That's fine. But I wanna see an agreement, a contract between you two before I say yes right.
Speaker 1:So he's like. Even the guy my business partner, even though he's a local Indonesian, his other local Indonesian won't even allow him to do the business deal until he sees something that I signed that says I'm the owner.
Speaker 4:That's just how upright, they are. They're not saying about. It's like that.
Speaker 1:But for the most part, and then Tommy, we were driving around the whole weekend. He's $300 of Indonesian money sitting in his car.
Speaker 2:Keys in his car. Get out the car.
Speaker 1:The keys in the ignition. The people get out there. The keys are still sitting in their school. The power is on the school. Nobody bothers him, nobody steals. I mean, you know, that's petty little stuff in touristy areas. But the general spirit of Indonesia, you know what I'm doing? Wow, police don't even carry guns.
Speaker 3:That's so different Wow that's so different Now.
Speaker 1:Rob, I'm gonna be in Houston.
Speaker 4:Right, right when.
Speaker 1:I could be eating 66 cent dragon fruit with a squeeze of calamansi lime on top, and the calamansi lime grows like dandelions here.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I was gonna say yeah, you can go pull it off a tree anywhere.
Speaker 1:The lady I went to this beautiful cafe. Lady fixed my food at this cafe, some of the best food in my life.
Speaker 4:Look shit on sticks mahi, mahi on a skewer wrapped in a banana leaf with lemon grass paste and whatnot. Oh wow, you know chicken, everything. There's noodles with the fried shallots on top and the whole. Thing.
Speaker 1:And so she ordered this tea with the lime in it. The heifer goes to the side of the building, pulls a lime off the tree, comes back, cuts the lime.
Speaker 4:Oh, that's a different level.
Speaker 1:I said well, you get this from. She said oh, it grows everywhere here, we just pull it off the tree. What it's calamansi? And I go, oh my God. Now you take a dragon fruit, a sweet dragon fruit. There's 60 cent the dragon fruit at H-E-B $6. $6. $5.99 I pay for one 66. And you go, get you a fresh squeezing on. I had diarrhea for three days Cause I ate, all I ate. It was amazing.
Speaker 3:I took, every I took every emodium I could to lock me up.
Speaker 1:It was that good.
Speaker 4:I said that you know what I'm talking about mother.
Speaker 1:You know what? I'm saying right, you know me.
Speaker 4:I don't know how old you are, but you're an age but you know, you can't you.
Speaker 1:How old are you? Okay, I'm 42.
Speaker 2:So you know, good and damn well if you eat too much of this, and you know we contemplating our life.
Speaker 1:You have to do risk analysis, you have to outweigh the risks versus the bigger faces, oh my God.
Speaker 4:And so I said to myself.
Speaker 1:What am I going to do with this dragon? Fruit and that yellow ones and the purple, the, the. Uh, really, oh Lord, it's so good down there. You cut them up, you squeeze a lot and you sit there with your legs crossed, with the thing with the sunset, and you just no TV, you just sit there and you eat is the best thing in the world. Wow, now why I want to be in Houston, right?
Speaker 3:You just described a movie plot, jesus.
Speaker 4:That's what it is.
Speaker 1:Now, but that's, that's the experience you have over there.
Speaker 4:So this is beautiful, that sounds beautiful.
Speaker 1:So I don't know what I'm coming back.
Speaker 4:Damn it looks so short yeah, it could be never.
Speaker 2:That's some pretty.
Speaker 1:I'm going to Tokyo.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Next weekend, four week, and then I've got some stuff I'm going to do over there. I've got this food blogger girl over there, Katie. She's going to take me around. We're going to eat stuff. Oh, nice Video and do the whole bit. Go to markets, go out to the country and go to the farmer too, and then I'm on a plane. I go to Bali for a month. So when I come back I might be here for a week or two and I might be going right on back over to Bali.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'll let you know. Man, I mean that's some pretty good competition.
Speaker 3:We can't really that was what I was going to say we can't really keep it by.
Speaker 1:I'm going to say Paul, a calamansi, all but tree.
Speaker 3:I mean a Saint Paul or a 60 cent dragon fruit.
Speaker 1:I mean it's a no brainer. Don say it's a no brainer.
Speaker 3:I mean yeah, wow, okay. Well, I guess you'll have to tell us about that next time.
Speaker 1:I will. I'll let you know. Thanks again for joining us here in St Louis, absolutely welcome.
Speaker 3:We're happy to have you.
Speaker 4:Thank you for also being here, of course, of course, my pleasure.
Speaker 3:And then thank you for tuning into the episode. Don't forget it Hit subscribe, drop a like, ring the notification bell. Never miss an upload rate. The show five stars. What else am I missing? Probably a lot, but I don't care. Have yourself a damn good one.
Speaker 4:Whatever you miss is in the bio.
Speaker 3:It's in the bio description show notes. You can find them and keep up with everything they're doing. So thank you, peace, that's a wrap. That's a wrap. Woo man, I got my camera burning. Baby Peace, we love you.