Eat My Globe

Interview with Award-Winning Actor, Director & Author,

Lou Diamond Phillips

INTRO MUSIC

Simon Majumdar (“SM”):

Hi everybody. Welcome to a new episode of Eat My Globe, a podcast about things you didn't know you didn't know about food. And while this episode is a new one, our guest is someone we have had on before. And because that episode with this guest is such a favourite, we thought we'd have him on again. Now, this week's guest is an award-winning actor, a magnificent director and writer. He has worked in the theatre, television and films. He has had a very long body of work, so it's hard to pick a favourite. But his fairly recent work and varied work in the TV show, “Prodigal Son,” the animated show, “Trese,” and the variety show, “The Masked Singer,” have been very enjoyable indeed. He is very much an actor's actor. But he has now added to his long list of achievements his debut novel, “Tinderbox Soldier of Indira,” is a bestseller. And recently he has written the second installment of his Tinderbox series, “The Tinderbox: Underground Movement,” which is, as everything he does, fantastic.

Ladies and gentlemen, our good friend, the one and only Mr. Lou Diamond Phillips. I'm so happy that you're here. Hi, Lou.

Lou Diamond Phillips (“LDP”): 

Hello, hello, Mr. Majumder, my dear friend, or as we call you, and as Guy Fieri calls you in this household, Scoop!

[Laughter]

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

My daughter, my daughter Indigo, is a huge, huge fan of yours, my friend.

SM:

Oh, that's so fantastic. Oh. It's just great to have you back. I'm not gonna lie, today isn't about history. It's not about anything. We just wanted you on here because you're so much fun when we have you on. But we've got a few history questions later on. But before we move to. . . .

LDP:

Absolutely.

SM:

Yeah. Before we move on to those let's talk about your new. . . Let's talk about, you know, what you're doing in TV, movies that because you've got so much going on and whenever I read them, apart from you always saying thank you to anyone who wishes you a happy birthday or you're wishing them happy birthday and all of that, which is great on Twitter, you always are coming out with new shows or new films and. . . . So please tell us about that. And then we want to talk about this very special book.

LDP:

It's so funny because you can do so much over a year and then all of sudden everything just seems to come out at once. And it looks like you're just all over the place. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

. . . when it's taken you a year, a year and a half to amass this amount of credits, you know. Recently for the gamers out there, “Call of Duty” just dropped and I am finally a character in the “Call of. . .” They captured my likeness and everything.

SM:

Oh wow.

LDP:

Although I have to say, yeah, they put a full beard on me. I can't grow a full beard, man. You know, I’m. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

. . . part Filipino.

[Laughter]

I look like Ben Affleck in Argo.

[Laughter]

So yes, I'm a character in that. I have a movie that's going to be streaming and in select theaters soon that I made in Canada with some really, really exciting young filmmakers called, “Get Fast.”

SM:

Okay.

LDP:

On December 6th, I have a movie that is definitely in theaters nationwide and, you know, all North America with Frank Grillo, a big action star. People love him.

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

Myself and Katrina Law called, “Werewolves.” Guess what it's about.

[Laughter]

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

And that's in theaters December 6th. And then sometime next year, I don't know when, because we haven't started shooting, I will be in an HBO comedy called, “The Chair Company.” So really, really excited to get back to some comedy. I always have such a good time with that.

SM:

Yeah, you and that's the thing about you. You seem to move between the drama and action and comedy. And I, I love. . . Do you. . . . And the reason, just so people can't. . . will understand how we met was because you're on the Food Network going with the late great Coolio. I still remember this and I remember watching it one time well one I watched the whole series, but I remember watching the final and you make you redoing the soup and I always remember what the tomato broth or whatever it was and. . .

LDP:

Yes.

SM:

. . . And that's how you. . . and I remember thinking that guy knows what he's doing. I knew of you, of course, but that's. . . .

LDP:

Well, that means a lot to me. You know how important cooking is to me. I really, I'm gonna put this out in the universe again. I wanna get back on a cooking show. To compete, to judge, whatever. I love that world. And as you know, I'm a co-owner of Tribeca Grill in New York City, which has been going strong since 1990.

SM:

Yeah, it's a great, great restaurant.

LDP:

And I often pop into there. I often do charity events there.

SM:

Oh, maybe we could do. . . .

LDP:

Yeah, no, it's a great place. But the thing about that, and I'm so glad you noticed that, is that in that final competition, the sous chef had gotten the portions wrong, you know. It was a chip, you know, and it was the chip in a broth. And I like doing a little something different with my broth. And when I tasted it, went, my, it's not right. It was a massive pot of it because we had to feed like 50 people. And I thought, oh my God, do I toss all of this out?

And do I have enough time for the white wine to reduce and not taste like turpentine? You know, so, so. . .

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

. . . I was faced with that dilemma. And as you know, I, I decided to redo it and pray that it reduced down in time.

SM:

I always remember that. Hopefully, I did an event earlier this week for Oligo Nation, which is something that I have. It's a brain cancer. And they came down and we did a dish at Scopa. And it was an amazing thing. We had lots and lots of. . . . We had Duff and Antonia, Mei Lin, Brooke, and they were doing this. And we're now going to hopefully do one in New York. So maybe we could tie together and do something.

LDP:

Call me.

SM:

If we could do that with them, that would be fantastic.

LDP:

I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in. Call me, if I'm in town, I'm there.

SM:

Fantastic. Okay. Fantastic. Thank you.

LDP:

And I would love to cook alongside you. You and I talked about this forever. Me, you and Sybil, it's like, man, let's get in the kitchen somewhere.

SM:

That would be fantastic. We’d. . . Oh, I'd love to do that. Let's. . . . Before we do that and before we go on, let's. . .  tell me about your writing because your writing has become very important to you. I know it has. And, you know, part of me kind of thinks, well, is he doing that because it'll give him a role on. . . it'll be on TV or it'll be. . . and that's kind of what I'm thinking. But as well, once I read this book and I'm holding it up here again, “Tinderbox,” and we'll talk about this in a moment, but this is very serious. It's very well, very well written. And I'm, you know, I've worked in publishing for a long, long time for Penguin and for Orion and for all other publishers. And this is a very well written book. So, you're not just doing it to give yourself a role on TV or anywhere.

So, tell us about this Tinderbox series because it's great just what I've read here but I'm waiting for the new series to get the first book.

LDP:

Fortunately, it was standalone. There was a few spoilers in the second one that'll go back to the first one. But the stories both, you know, can exist on their own. But, you know, I think once you've read the first one, you might want to go back and refer to the second one because there's some interesting context there.

I wanted to be. . . It's funny, my dad, who's from North Carolina and then in Texas, talks like this.

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

When I was about 13, he said, son, what would you like to do for a living? And at the time I said, dad, I want to be a writer. He goes, well, I was thinking about, you know, something where maybe you could make some more money.

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

[Laughter]

You know, and so a year later I came back and went, dad, I want to be an actor. He goes, that's not what I had in mind.

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

[Laughter]

So, I ended up majoring in theater in college, but I had an honors English minor. And I did a lot of writing throughout college, mostly plays, but some narrative.

And, and, so, I've written plays, I've written a number of screenplays. So when I got to Hollywood, you know, I just expanded in the screenplays. I’ve had a few produced. And then when my wife, Yvonne and I, speaking of wives, when we met, we were looking at each other’s other outside not famous work. She was a makeup and hair artist, which is how we met. I discovered she is an amazing, amazing illustrator, an unbelievable artist. And at the time. . . .

SM:

I know, this is phenomenal.

LDP:

Yes. And she did the cover of that. She has all of the illustrations inside. She's got like 30 illustrations in the first book, but done in a different style, more of a pen and ink kind of German woodcut kind of feel, which is what she grew up with. But when we first met, I saw some frames that she had done for a graphic novel. And it was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's “The Tinder Box.” And I looked at her and I said, this looks like a movie.

SM:

I'm trying to just find. . . .

LDP:

You know, and it had this sort of Asian influence that Star Wars had. So, I wrote a screenplay. She said, yeah, go ahead and write it. I wrote a screenplay, realized that it was so damn expensive. Nobody would ever give me the money to direct it. And it was my manager who said, well, write the novel then. And so, over a period of 10 years, I have to say it was 10 years, because, you know, my day job kept getting in the way.

SM:

Wow. Yeah, of course.

LDP:

Off and on, I wrote the “Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira.” And I owe a huge debt of thanks to Fred Johnson, who wrote the Longmire series, the books. . .

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

. . . that the TV show is based on. I showed him a couple of chapters and I said, am I wasting my time? And he goes, no, you got to finish this. And then when it was finished, another dear friend, Chris Bohjalian, a New York Times bestselling author of “The Flight Attendant,” and many, many others. . .

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

. . . read it, loved it, and passed it on to his agent. And that is how I eventually got it published.

SM:

Wow.

LDP:

So, the first book did so well, was, was so critically well received and sold so well that we thought, okay, well, let's do the sequel. And we thought that we would invade the fairy tale realm once again. But then all of a sudden out of the blue, my wife comes up with this idea. Yvonne says, well, what about this? And it's as if she pulled the plot from between the lines of the first book. And I can say that the first book is very much a fairy tale. Follows the plot of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.

SM:

Yep.

LDP:

The second book, as you now know, is a little bit more of a mystery political thriller and obviously influenced by what's going on in the world right now and. . .

SM:

Yes.

LDP:

. . . with a definite sort of environmental angle as well.

SM:

Oh. I loved it and I started reading, you know, and I started reading, you know, throughout just to get, you know, the feeling for it. And I will say now. So that's called “Tinderbox: Underground Movement.”

LDP:

And it's fun, know, mean, Underground Movement is a play on words. And Yvonne did that illustration of a new character who's not in the first book, but in the second, called Hester. And we both agree that we very much wanted it to be evocative of the little girl on the “Les Miserables,” you know, poster.

SM:

Oh.

LDP:

You know, because it is, is it the resistance? Is it an underground movement? Is it that sort of thing? And so it has echoes of that.

SM:

Oh. I love “Les Miserables.” I remember seeing it when it first came out in London. And it was just, it was, it was always, and now people are going, you know, because they've seen it all and they've seen the movie and they've done everything. But they don't realize just how good that was when it first came out. And before anyone had seen anything like that. It was an amazing movie.

LDP:

Anything like it.

SM:

Amazing theatre production. It really was. I think London was the first apart from...

LDP:

Yeah, I believe so. I believe so. Andrew Lloyd Webber, yes?

SM:

Yeah, have you ever, have you ever played. . . Yeah, have you ever, done theater in London? He says asking another question.

LDP:

I have not, and I would crawl through broken glass to do that. The opportunity has never come up. I live in New York now, so I'm dying to get back on stage here.

SM:

Of course.

LDP:

I recently went back to Texas to Casa Manana in Fort Worth last summer, and I did “Miss Saigon” on stage. . .

SM:

Oh, yeah, which you've done before, think, haven't you?

LDP:

. . . for a very brief run. But I. . . . What's that?

SM:

You've done it before, haven't you, “Miss Saigon”?

LDP:

Not, not “Miss Saigon.” “The King and I” I have done 600 times. And so I have to say, I don't think I've been as scared. . .

[Laughter]

. . . as I was during the production of that show than I was since “La Bamba.” Because, you know, it was 10 days rehearsal, 10 days performance, and it was a massive role.

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

And I was doing some film work all the way up to the time I was supposed to report for rehearsal. And then I realized how big the mountain I had to climb was. And I did not go out to dinner one time during the rehearsal process because I would rehearse 10 hours a day and then go home and review the soundtrack and study the words. And, it, it was, at my age, it was very daunting, Simon.

[Laughter]

SM:

I, well, I'm not going to ask your age because I've turned blah, 60, blah, this year. Yes.

LDP:

We're, we’re, we’re very close together, my friend.

[Laughter]

SM:

Oh. So I'm, so I'm feeling a little bit odd about it, but it's, it's actually, I'm feeling really kind of, you know, I like the, I like the age of being 60 actually. I really like it.

[Laughter]

LDP:

I'm 62 now. And by the way, you look fantastic.

SM:

Oh, thank you.

LDP:

You look great and you look very healthy. So things are going well, yes?

SM:

Yes, it's going well and after I finish with you I'm going out for a walk and I usually walk about six miles and all of that so I'm doing really, really. . .  .

LDP:

That’s fantastic.

SM:

I'm doing really well so thank you.

LDP:

Yeah, good.

SM:

But now after we've talked about this wonderful, and here it is again, “Tinderbox: Underground Movement,” it's a fantastic book and it really is. And I'm going to wait and get the first one and then I'm going to do this one and whether it's in order or kind of not but I'm always gonna do the first one first as it were.

Okay so let's talk last time you were on the podcast. I love this episode I really do and I listen to it a lot. You chose your favorite kind of food films and for our new listeners out there please make sure you check out that episode and so here's a spoiler alert for those people who haven't listened to that.

Skip ahead now for a few seconds if you don't want to hear what films he chose. Give it a break. Okay, so last time you chose “The Godfather,” which was fantastic. Oh. “The Big Night,” which I totally, we both loved that film, which was a film with, oh gosh, what's his. . .

LDP:

Stanley Tucci.

SM:

Yeah, Stanley Tucci who. . .

LDP:

Stanley Tucci and his name when right out of the man. I love him. Oh my gosh, Monk.

SM:

David. . .  I know I'm doing the same. Well this is because we're 62. . .

LDP:

Tony Shalhoub. Yeah.

SM:

. . . and we're 62 and 60 so that's what would. . . .

LDP:

Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Isabella Rossellini.

SM:

Oh, I mean, just think of that. “Chef,” which you hated, no, you loved and I hated. I still remember that because I. . . .

LDP:

I didn't love it. I didn't love it. We discussed this. I didn't love it. I chose it because it was food-centric and you and I discussed this and felt it was a little, as you say, was one of those situations where I'm gonna give myself a role.

SM:

[Laughter]

Yeah, I mean it's. . . . The, “The Big Hit,” which was one of your own films, I think.  

LDP:

Yes.

SM:

Yes, which was great. And, and, and I still haven't seen “Bao” though. So I've got to wait for that.

LDP:

Oh, it's lovely. I think it won, I'm pretty sure it won the Oscar for short animated film that year. And it is so cultural and so beautiful and so universal in a mother's love for her child surrounding this, you know, bao that is an actual character, you know, metaphorically.

SM:

Every time I see that I'm going to... I've never seen it on TV and I, to be honest, with the pandemic and not leaving the house because of my surgery and then just...

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

I've been so busy, which is great, because the people have been very kind to me.

LDP:

Which is fantastic.

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

It's 12 minutes of your time.

SM:

OK, well, I'll go watch it.

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

OK, so for this episode, though, I want to hear what favorite food scenes in kind of non food movies you have so, you know. . .

LDP:

Right.

SM:

. . . it could be any film that you wanted. I. . . .You know, things like, what's the one with “When Harry Met Sally” and the food scene in that.

LDP:

I know.

SM:

When they were in, you know, all, all of those things so if you could okay, so we. . .

LDP:

That whole ordering with everything on the side. And then, you know, when she fakes the orgasm, I'll have what she's having.

[Laughter]

SM:

I'll have that.

[Laughter]

So we're gonna do maybe five things what does that sound like to you five? Okay, so let's. . .

LDP:

That sounds like a full course meal.

SM:

[Laughter]

Okay. So let's start with number one. You, you start. I don't even. . . I kind of know what you're going to choose but not all of them.

SM:

So and again, that was great last time because you just told me what they were. So number one, you tell me what that's going to be.

LDP:

Well, since the last time we spoke, this, this series aired, you know. It came on and just fascinated me. And, know, you and I, the restaurants and then, you know, everything. “The Bear.” It's not a movie, but it's a series. And, you know, it's about the restaurant world. And, you know, I mean, this obviously crazy, complicated family that, that, that runs it and all of the, all of the employees and whatnot. It's won God knows how many Emmys, truckloads of Emmys, but, you know, it is so true to life. And the attention to, you could just, you just sit there and it's like “Ratatouille,” you just sit there and watch them put the ingredients together. And it's just, first of all, it's mouthwatering, but it's just gorgeous. But it is, one of the hallmarks of the series is that it is so emotionally fraught. And the chef. . .

SM:

Would you tell people about it?

LDP:

Dale Talde, who's. . . . What's that?

SM:

Will you tell people about it? Because I've not even wanted to watch it. And that's because it's so close to what I do that I just don't want to watch it. So would you mind telling people who are listening to this and don't know what “The Bear” is? And could you tell them, I mean, as much as you can tell them a great. . . the story that they're trying to tell.

LDP:

And like what you said, Chef Dale Talde, a friend to both of us. . .

SM:

Yeah. Yeah.

LDP:

. . . I spoke to him about it. I went to his restaurant, Goose Feathers, here, you know, near New York. He says he watched a few episodes and had to stop. . .

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

. . . because it was too triggering for him.

SM:

That's exactly how I felt. Triggered. That's exactly how I felt.

LDP:

I mean, the high pressure of, yeah, totally triggered, because it's like, you know, memories of him working his way up and whatnot. And it is, it's Jeremy Allen White plays a young man who went to New York to work in, you know, five-star restaurants and that level of intensity and perfection and scrutiny. Had a brother who ran a sandwich shop called The Beef in Chicago. The brother dies by suicide, no secret, goes home to take over the restaurant and transforms the sandwich shop into what he wants to be a Michelin star restaurant. And, and his family is involved. Ayo Edebiri, I hope I pronounced that right. She's wonderful. She is a, a burgeoning chef herself. Eliza Colon-Zayas just won the Emmy in a supporting role. I mean, just a beautiful, beautiful, well executed and they're all only like a half hour long and there's only, you know, 10 episodes per season so it's easily digestible, as it were. It's just that as I said there it's really, really intense but if you were fascinated by, by the restaurant world and a peek behind the scenes as messy and as scary as it is and some unbelievable attention to detail when it comes to the food that's one of them, you know.

SM:

So what I wanted to ask...

LDP:

I would also like to mention. . . .

SM:

Yes, please do.

LDP:

This literally just came to me. They got a first season and now they're going to get a second one for the wine lovers out there. There's a series called drop, “Drops of God.” Did you see that one?

SM:

No, I haven't.

LDP:

Not as intense, but just as beautiful. It's, it’s French, Japanese, English co-production, very global. It is about a, a daughter of a man who has a wine empire and his protege and on his deathbed, he sets up a challenge for the two of them to see who's going to inherit the empire. And they have these wine tests throughout. And it sounds very dry, so to speak, but believe me, it's full bodied. . .

[Laughter]

. . . and a little fruity with a great aftertaste.

SM:

I love, well I love that and you know we talk about “Sideways” and we talk about all those. . .

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

. . . things and wine is, I don't drink a massive amount now because of my illness but I do drink some of it.

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

And I make sure I drink the best, you know.

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

And so whenever I go, that may be one. But what I wanted to ask you because you're obviously watching that because it's such a great series and it's such. . . . For you, it's a great. . . . You could watch it because you're not quite feeling the same that, you know, I feel or someone else's. But I wanted to ask you if you would feel the same about being an actor. So I mentioned there's one I and I love this film. It's called “The Big Picture” and I still remember Martin Short he goes and he's an agent. I still remember this and he meets the Ivy up here and he goes in. . . .

LDP:

Yes!

SM:

Yeah, and he goes, I still remember your, no, he goes, I love this movie. I haven't seen it, but I love it. It's a very. . . .  And I still remember. But so, do you as an actor feel the same when you see acting movies like that, which is I get it and they're really fun but do you go, I can't watch that.

LDP:

No, no, I actually love them because it's a little inside baseball and you know, some of the in-jokes. I believe in that same movie it was, oh my God, the actor's name, he's no longer with us, he was amazing, was playing the studio head and the director, Kevin Bacon, wanted to make his movie in black and white and he goes, I don't think they make black and white projectors anymore.

[Laughter]

SM:

[Laughter]

SM:

That is...

LDP:

Love that one. Love, you know, like a “Birdman.” I literally just did a movie that just got picked up. Thank goodness. It's such a weird little film. I didn't know if it would find a distributor, but it did. And it's called Et tu. And I play a director who has mounted a production of Julius Caesar. And I'm slowly losing my mind because I'm pretty sure the young hunk playing Brutus is stooping my wife, who is the production manager. So it's actually a horror film and it gets, it's like “The Shining” meets “Birdman” because it gets a little intense. And Malcolm McDowell is the theater janitor who I turn to for advice an awful lot.

SM:

Oh my gosh, all these people that you meet, I'm so, I'm sure the way you think, because I spend so much time meeting amazing chefs and all these people you meet when you do these, Malcolm McDowell and I just go, he's one of my heroes. I mean, he is just one of the greats.

LDP:

He's a genius and he's an amazing human being who does not suffer fools. So I'm really glad he likes me.

SM:

I just I can't I mean I would love, I would love to go and be you for a while. I would love it. Okay, so that's number one “The Bear.”

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

So people watching go and watch “The Bear.” I probably won't be watching and won't know anything about it, but go and watch it. Okay, what's number two?

LDP:

Number two was, and I went back and I watched the scene and just realized how brilliant it was. And first of all, the movie is amazing. Roberto Benigni, one best actor for this, but “Life is Beautiful.” Such a life-affirming movie set in the Holocaust. . .

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

. . . you know, which is ridiculous, but an early scene in the movie is he is a waiter. And he's talking with his doctor who gets easily distracted and the doctor decides not to eat his dinner. Now they've already closed the kitchen, but a man comes in and he wants to, you know, something to eat. So, Roberto Benigni, you know, says, you know, goes to him and says, but for you, for you, we'll do something. What would you like? And he sets him up and the guy says something like this, you know, how about, and then the way he constructs it, he offers him all this heavy, fatty stuff and leads him by the hand to salmon and a salad and a glass of white wine, which is what he already has available.

SM:

Oh.

LDP:

It's brilliant and it's hilarious.

SM:

So tell people again about “Life is Beautiful” because that was I think it won the Oscar the best picture Oscar.

LDP:

I believe it did. I know he won Best Actor.

SM:

Yeah he did. I still remember him walking down to the thing on the top of those chairs all the way down. He was down at the back. I still remember this. I remember him winning.

LDP:

And then he called Hollywood the big nipple. So, you know, obviously, you know, nourishment and how it's delivered is very important to him.

SM:

But tell them about the story because it is, it's a film that's set in the Holocaust and yet it is one of the most kind of meaningful films, I think, because of how he, and I don't think he's ever been as good since. Well, I would say.

LDP:

It was a moment of sheer genius. It really was. And that scene where he's playing the waiter and you see how clever he is, you might just think, okay, that's a funny little aside. I think it pays off throughout the film because it shows how nimble he is and how clever he is, how smart he is, and ultimately caring. He is taken into the prison camp, into a Jewish prison camp by the Nazis with his son. And the whole movie, and this sounds so out there, but it is, it's one of the most heart wrenching and yet life affirming films I've ever seen in that he has to convince his son on a daily basis that this is all make believe and that everybody's just playing. And that everything's gonna be okay. And to keep up this facade of optimism when the audience and he both know how absolutely horrific it is. It's brilliant and it walks that razor's edge, you know, between being comedic and being tragic. It's really beautiful. I can't think of a film that has ever accomplished it quite to that extent.

SM:

No, and I've seen some films like, well, I haven't seen it because Jerry Lewis kept, he did a kind of a similar film about the Holocaust. And when it came out, it was so bad that he actually kept it. He bought it and kept it to himself. I can't remember exactly what the subject of that was, but it was based in a Holocaust, you know, one of these horrible places. And it was just, it didn't work.

So for Roberto Benigni to be able to do that. That is a great one because I think again, if people haven't watched that, I know it's about the Holocaust. I realized that this is a, but this was someone who was really getting to understand it. And afterwards, well, I won't tell you what happens in it because it's for you to watch, but it was a really, really, really great film.

And if you do go on YouTube or something, go and see him when he wins the Oscar and he walks down the chairs. He walks all over the chairs to get to the stage rather than going on the, you know, the aisle or anything. And he's very funny. He's very funny. But this is a tour.

LDP:

The whole thing was very Chaplinesque, which is just brilliant.

SM:

It really was. It was, yeah, he didn't. . . .

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

So please do go and watch that one. I said even though it's a film with the basis in the Holocaust, he actually makes it into almost not a comedy, but it has this comedic moments to it. And it's definitely worth watching.

OK, number three. Tell me about number three.

LDP:

And I think these two scenes in two very different films had such an impact on me because I had a crush on both of these ladies. You know, when I was a teenager.

SM:

Well, let's say to people who's watching, Lou Diamond Phillips came to me and said, I've got these two films and I was looking at them and I said, I actually can't choose. And so I got both. said, well, it's my podcast, so I'm going to have both of them. And so that's why he's coming with two and they are great films. They are and they're just of the 80s I think. Well certainly “Splash” is. . .

LDP:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SM:

. . . yeah of the 80s which I think was one of the great times for making these kind of films really just family films but really lovely films.

LDP:

There was a sincerity, you know.

SM:

Yes.

LDP:

There was an absolute sincerity and a joy, you know, to a lot of these films. You got Jennifer Beals in “Flashdance” and you got Daryl Hannah in “Splash” and both of them have a scene eating lobster, you know.

[Laughter]

And Daryl Hannah, spoiler alert, is a mermaid in “Splash” with the brilliant Tom Hanks and he takes her to dinner and gets her a lobster because that's very, very fancy. But since she's a mermaid, she picks the whole thing up and just tears into it, you know, which is very unsexy and very, I mean, like a sea turtle would do it. And, and, it's, it’s Hanks’ reactions, you know, are priceless, but it's also just so telling of the character because he doesn't know yet that she's a mermaid. So there's that.

SM:

I had such a huge crush on Daryl Hannah.

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

And so I think that was one of the first films I ever saw her in and I went to see it and I loved every moment. And I think it was one of Tom Hanks' first films or suddenly one where he became known.

LDP:

It was his breakthrough as a leading man in film. Which, you know, I'm pretty sure, well, I think he had, what was it, a bachelor party or something like that. This was such a big hit and he put him into the mainstream. He had been on “Bosom Buddies” prior to that. So this gave him real big screen credential.

SM:

Yeah, and I just love that whole film. Again, when we're talking to people, can you just tell us a little bit about that film? Just so people know much, but tell us a little bit about that because people again won't know the film. So when you're talking about them, that'd be great.

LDP:

Well, “Splash” is about Tom Hanks, who by the way is a produce vendor. He supplies, I forgot about that. He supplies fruit and vegetables on the East Coast. And I totally forgotten about that and his brother, John Candy.

SM:

Of course it was. Yes it was!

LDP:

It's funny, like rejects some, he was, I remember it. He rejects some cherries at one point, he goes, look snails with stems.

[Laughter]

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

And as a child on the ferry, like, you know, going across like Long Island Sound or something, he swears he saw a mermaid. And so he's a lonely guy and he's never, you know, never had a romantic relationship. And then one day after, I think it's a wedding or something, he wakes up on the beach, and no, he falls overboard that's what it is he falls overboard and he gets saved by a mermaid Darryl Hannah who you know like fairy tales falls instantly in love with him and wants to you know wants to you know come and be with him anyway and, and the great Ron Howard directed it so just so much heart.

SM:

Well, Ron Howard just goes, I mean, he goes better and better and better. He's a fantastic director. He really is. And that I think that's just because that's where I fell in love with Daryl Hannah. So I always love that film. . .

LDP:

Absolutely.

SM:

. . . and “Flashdance,” which people I think and I won't get you to say about the modern thing they did a “Flashdance” fairly recently, but I kind of didn't like it.

LDP:

We didn't see that. I didn't see it.

SM:

But I think it was fairly real. Maybe I'm getting mixed up with another series, but anyway. But “Flashdance” was one of those films again where I kind of it was about dance and I had everyone in it and but, and then I watched it and I kind of got stuck watching it and it was fantastic. And I only watched it about three or four years ago, which I'd never done. I'd never seen it before. And so it was really great. So tell us about that film and then about the lobster scene, because that's great. That's a terrific film.

LDP:

It made a star out of Jennifer Beals.

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

And it's about a young woman. And I have to say, this was one of the first sort of female empowerment films before it kind of came a watchword of the aughts. Young women empowering themselves and not needing anybody to take care of them. And she works by day and it's a steel town. I think it's Philly, it might be Pittsburgh. She works by day as a welder, you know, which is wonderful to see Jennifer Beals in a welding mask, but at night trains to be a ballerina. And, and she also moonlights as a pole dancer, but in this film, she doesn't take her clothes off. But at any rate, she's got big dreams of becoming a ballerina or becoming a professional dancer. And it's really lovely in the respect that, you know, once again, you know, like “La Bamba” or something, it's about the American dream and about chasing that dream. And then she meets Michael Nouri, who's a rich guy, and I think he's a patron of the arts, and he takes her to dinner and like in “Splash,” gets her lobster. And I think I was 18 when this movie came out and I saw it at a drive-in theater with a bunch of friends. And that scene...

SM:

Wow. Driving theatres. Are they...

LDP:

A drive-in.

SM:

I think they're coming back, you know. I think they're... one or two of them anyway.

LDP:

They might be coming back, yeah, showing our age.

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

But that scene where she eats the lobster so seductively and so sensuously, and she's making eye contact with Michael Nouri, and Michael Nouri is just getting. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

. . . hotter and hotter and more, more uncomfortable. And at 18 years old, that one made a pretty lasting impression on me.

SM:

Oh, well, those films, I think, fantastic. And again, if you haven't seen either of those films, you must because a, they're great films as they, as they are, they're worth watching. But also they're an experience of the 1980s. And if like us, you go back and you lived in the 1980s, they're really fun films. And I, I suddenly realized, of course, that people who were born in 1990, which to me seems like no time at all. . . .

LDP:

Yesterday.

SM:

. . . they're 34 years old. And I'm going, how did that happen? 34. And those are, so they're grown people. And now I'm going, you mean you didn't see the films in the 1980s? And they're going, well, no, we were born in 1990. So these films are what me seeing films from the 1960s are when I was born in 64 and seeing those. And it was, it was fun. Yeah. Well, how I loved David. I loved David Niven. I loved doing all of those, you know, those fantastic people, but I. . .

LDP:

Michael Caine.

SM:

[Laughter]

. . . I loved it. And so for me, going to those films is great, but it's like now people in the nineties going to the 1980s.

LDP:

Yeah.

SM:

And it's like, I feel very old.

SM:

I feel very old.

[Laughter]

LDP:

[Laughter]

SM:

Oh that's fun. Those are great films.

Okay. Number four. Let's talk about number four because you anyway you tell us.

LDP:

Well, once again, I picked two because they're emblematic of an experience you can have while watching a movie or a television show. And these two so stuck in my head. One film is very recent. One is a little older, once again, from the 80s. But when somebody eats something for the first time and you can like taste it with them.

SM:

Yeah, yeah, you can.

LDP:

And you see the expression on their face and the awe and the sort of transcendental moment that's happening to them when their lives are transformed because they've never tasted anything like this before. And the first one is a movie that I love, Star Man, Jeff Bridges, brilliant, brilliant actor. He was nominated for this. Karen Allen, who I've loved since, you know, the Indiana Jones, the first film. And Jeff plays. . . he is the embodiment of an alien who has come to the earth. This little dot of light, you know, kind of goes around Karen Allen's house, sees pictures of her deceased husband, Jeff Bridges, and, you know, brings him back to life to embody him so that he can move around, you know, humans. Jeff's approach to the role was so amazing because this is an alien life form who is mostly energy, embodying a human body and so therefore not being able to to operate it quite as well as he should. And so he moves like a bird a lot of the time you know and, and the movements are a little jerky and a little awkward and bizarre you know and it's, it's just fascinating because he's so committed to the bit.

SM:

Yep.

LDP:

And there is a scene where he eats apple crumble for the first time and, and he. . .

SM:

Which by the way, I want to say that I love Apple Crumble. So I remember watching that and it made me feel really hungry.

LDP:

Yes!

SM:

The entire time I was thinking I want, well, we couldn't stop things in those days. It was on the TV, but I stopped it. And then I went to get some, I had to get an apple from the, from the, from the, what do you call it? From the table.

SM:

And sit and eat that and at least it caused and I love apple crumble so it made me feel really, really hungry.

LDP:

And Bridges' reaction. It's one of the best reactions without words that I've ever seen. I. . . he literally... I mean, you could see the flavor and the taste just filling his mouth and hitting his brain and going into his throat and just like goosebumps all over. And was just beautiful. And yes, I could taste it along with him, which I just thought was such a brilliant moment where, where all of your senses, you know, smell and taste and memory and all of that come into play. It was just beautiful.

SM:

And the smell to me is one of the things when I'm cooking, you know, I'm putting salt on all of this. Pardon me, one of the things that I always do is I always lean forward and I get the smells. And when I'm putting onions in, you can tell when they're ready. And then I put the garlic in and that you can tell when that's ready. And then you could put chilies or whatever. And those. . .  by not smelling. I don't understand why some people don't smell any food that they're doing. They just taste it and they don't and the smell is so important to me when it yeah. Sorry. I'm just getting because this is how I cook. I always use the smell as the first thing and then the look. . .

LDP:

That's beautiful.

SM:

. . . and then I'll taste it and then I'll taste it and then I'll put salt and then I'll put pepper and all of that. But the smell is so important and he's doing all of this when he takes...

So that's “Starman.” So again, if you haven't watched it or you haven't seen it for years, which I hadn't, which I haven't, but I saw that on... I had to go and check it on YouTube for it, but it was great and I had to go and see that again. You have to go and see that film. It is a magnificent film. And again, we look back and we don't see... Yeah, we think about it as being a film from a long time ago, but it's a beautiful movie.

And tell us what your next one is on number four, because I don't care how many we're going to do. We could do as many as we can.

LDP:

Well, I'd say, and I'm sure people will think a lot of other ones, a lot of other ones too, but once again, here we go, Oscar winning performance, Emma Stone in “Poor Things.”

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

And again, somebody who is getting used to a body, you know, that has been brought back to life basically, it's Frankenstein's bride, you know, the bride of Frankenstein kind of story updated, definitely a fairy tale. Emma Stone is brilliant in it. She's discovering all sorts of things about the world. So, she has this innocent childlike view of all things. And it's funny because there's a scene where she's tasting oysters for the first time, but she also at this point has discovered sex.

[Laughter]

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

So the last thing she needs is eat a lot of oysters. And it's in a great scene with Mark Ruffalo, where once again, you know, I think they're in the French Riviera at this point. And he introduces her to oysters. Meanwhile, he's a Lothario who is taking advantage of her and taking advantage of her naivete. And so he's feeding on oysters, but she tries it for the first time. And once again, once again, I could taste it. When she was. . .

[Slurps]

And you saw it, know, hit her palate and she let it, you know, wash around in her mouth. It was once again, just a very, very beautifully realized piece of acting that conveyed so much to the audience.

SM:

Now I've got two things to tell you about that. One, I want to ask when you're talking about these, are you watching them as an actor, watching. . .  how well they're acting? Or are you watching them as just, you know, someone who goes to the cinema and pays X and just loves the film? Or, because I know when I'm being a cook, people are going, well, are you eating that or are you dissecting it, and I go well a bit of both truly because this when I went to this event that we did earlier we had Antonia doing this amazing –Antonia Lofaso, that is – did this amazing pastas. . .

LDP:

Yes.

SM:

. . . and they're just, just incredible and I was going I could make this so I just want to enjoy it. But at the same time, I want to know how she made it. Brooke Williamson created this salad using these zucchini which are compressed and with fried quinoa on the top and I was just going I would never be able to do this. And Mei Lin she did this phenomenal like cumin ribs that I'm just. . . . You can tell I'm, I'm getting what do you call it, I'm gonna have to take a glass of water because I'm so. . .

LDP:

[Laughter]

SM:

But she, she was yeah, and she was doing these fantastic cumin ribs almost like the type I had when I was in Xian and they were just and so. . . . But at the same time the, the cook in me was going how were they doing this? What the. . . . So when you're watching the movies like this, do you have some of that feeling inside? Who are you just enjoying what they're doing?

LDP:

And to echo your answer, it's a little bit of both. Quite honestly, if the movie just transports me and I'm just watching it, I'm enjoying it. Believe me, I'm enjoying it 100%. But there are those moments where you just go, oh wow, that was so good. What you just did there was so good. And it's coming from a person who knows how hard it is to do that, you know. Conversely, I can also look at something and this is because I'm directing a lot more these days too, right?

SM:

Sure.

LDP:

I can look at somebody's work and go, you're not trying hard enough, you know. You're phoning it in. You're walking through this, you know, don't do that. You really didn't apply yourself here. And it's usually that that pulls me out of a movie more than somebody who is just knocking it out of the park. But every once in a while, you know, I mean, it's like listening to an amazing singer and they hit a note or hold a note and you just go, wow.

SM:

Yes.

LDP:

Okay, you know? And there are those times when I'll see a performance and I will go, I can't do that. I can't do what that person just did, you know? Because it is so specific to them. Paul Giamatti comes to mind in “The Holdovers.” No one, no one else could have done that role, you know. There's an old joke, how many actors does it take to screw in a light bulb? Just one, but 99 to go, sh**, I could have done that.

SM:

[Laughter]

LDP:

There are certain actors out there that are so iconic that you cannot replicate what they do and you can't do it better.

SM:

Yeah, I have to say Paul Giacometti is one of those. Jean Hackman was another. All these amazing people. They're, they're people who are again, like I've said about you earlier, they're actors, actors. And I know and I'm not just saying this because you're on. You are one of the actors, actors. People watch you and they're going, how does he do that? And I think that's well, I do. And I'm coming from a different part of the, you know, the show biz, should we say, a very different part of it. But you do that. And that's why I wanted to ask you because, you know, do you find anything when you're going and I find definitely find things that people are doing and I go, I'm going to add that into my, you know, my canon of what they're doing.

So, and the other thing I just wanted to mention, I am allergic. Well, I'm not. I don't know whether I'm allergic or anyway, I can't eat oysters anymore. So, 20 years ago, I was in publishing and I was with Orion at this point and I went to Germany and I had some oysters, one or two of them were bad and I ended up throwing up for three days. So, now I don't even tell, I just don't, I just go, no thank you. So, I don't know if I'm allergic or. . . .

LDP:

A bad oyster will you put you off, man.

SM:

Yeah, so unfortunately that . . . I've seen that, but actually when it comes to that scene, I've tended to flip over it which is something I just know on the thing and that has. . . . Anyway, that's just something I share with you out of interest.

Number five and I love this because the last two we did of people who love or are trying food for the first time. And then we get to this one, which is about gluttony. It's about, and when you talked about this, I love the actor and I think he does this very well. So I want to hear what you say and tell us about it. Tell us about the movie. Tell us about. I mean, and everyone will know the movie, I hope, because it's one of the biggest ever.

LDP:

Yes. Yeah.

SM:

But tell us about it and, and, and about it, because it's...

LDP:

It's interesting because, because you know, we were talking about the 80s, right? The 80s movies, 90s movies. I'm so thrilled because my daughter, Indigo, is now getting into that era of film, you know? Because there's so many cultural touchstones that exist that she's coming across and going, well, what is Ghostbusters? What is Indiana Jones? And so, you know, we're showing her these movies and I'm loving it because they were my favorites, you know, almost at the same time when I was her age. And so we rewatched recently the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I mean, just so good, just brilliant.

SM:

Fantastic.

LDP:

Sean Astin is a buddy of mine, so was so wonderful to see him.

SM:

Oh great.

LDP: 

I know Andy Serkis, you know, John Rhys-Davies is a friend. I mean, it's really...

SM:

Yeah, wow!

LDP:

It's beautiful. It's just beautiful.

SM:

I actually love, I love John Rhys-Davies. He's another one of those actors actors. He's... yeah. Yes.

LDP:

Yes, yeah, theater trained and just such presence in whatever he does. It's just unbelievable and transforms, you know. But, but the scene is, and John Noble, John Noble is such a beautiful actor, such a brilliant actor, like you said, and his name is escaping because it's one of those Lord of the Rings names, but he refuses to. . .

SM:

Let me get, let me find out who it is because I've got it on here. . .

LDP:

Yeah, me too. I had sent it to you.

SM:

. . . and I can't even remember. Here we go. Denithor. Denithor, that's it. I know we're both.

LDP:

Yes, here we are. I love this. This is something we couldn't do in the 80s and 90s, which is like instantaneous.

SM:

Yeah, I know. I'm looking.

LDP:

So yeah, he's refusing to help. He's refusing to come to the aid, you know, of the fellowship. And his son, you know, will go into battle. And it's the scene itself, it's a montage. And it's intercutting between him just gluttonously eating this meal and his son in battle fighting for his life. And so this meal becomes this, this exercise in excess and in just shoveling it in and not savoring and then not caring about it. And it's like tomatoes are just dripping down as you know, and even the meat that he's eating, he's tearing at it and just, you know, just feeding his face while something more honorable is going on. And the direction, the cinematography, because you get really right in there.

SM:

Yep. Yeah.

LDP:

And his mouth while eating and it's, it's terrible because he's such a lovely man, but it's just so ugly. You know, and the, like I said, the direction and the editing, just brilliant. Just an amazing sequence where, where the entire act of eating in that fashion becomes a metaphor. And it's really, it's incredibly effective.

SM:

Love that and for me, if. . . well if anyone is. . . what, listening to this and hasn't seen “Lord of the Rings,” well, you've got to because you’re, you're missing out on one of the actually the three I think three of the finest films and also they took up those what you call it the, the. . . I can't remember what it's called now the stories they took up everything up to this level. . .

LDP:

Yes.

SM:

. . . and also the middle episode was allowed to have its own life. And I thought that I remember seeing “Back to the Future” of the middle episode of those three was just like you know, I didn't really, you know. . . . And this one I think it was allowed to have its own life, which I really loved. So those of you have. . . .

LDP:

Well, it's interesting because...

SM:

Yep.

LDP:

No, some sequels are an afterthought, you know. It's like, the first one did so well, let's do this. But Peter Jackson did all three at the same time.

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

I mean, he took two years to film three movies back to back to back so that the through line was there, the actors were in the mode, the crew was there, and there was a plan. There was an overarching plan, and it shows. And the last film of the trilogy wins Best Pictures, so, so it just goes to show that it began with the artistry, the financial success came later.

SM:

Yeah, I, I, I agree with that.

And I'm just going to mention this now because it. . . . Whenever I see the “Lord of the Rings,” I always think of Ricky Gervais on “Extras.” I don't know if you've ever seen. But he goes to work with Ian McKellen who's just obviously the mo. . . . And Ian McKellen, I don't know if you've seen this but I’m going to tell everyone at home. Ian McKellen is talking to him about how he played Gandalf and it goes, he said, what I did was I read the script and that told me. . . what say. . . he's very. . . . And it goes, I come along as Ian McKellen, Ian McKellen, Ian McKellen and then I read the script, “Thou shalt not pass,” and then afterwards I'm Ian McKellen, Ian McKellen. He's doing his thing and that was everything I needed to know and it's just a fantastic. . . . If you haven't seen it yourself, go and see it, it's on YouTube and it is just...

LDP:

Yeah, I have not seen it, but I know it's brilliant. I've seen clips. It's just such smart stuff.

SM:

Yeah, just brilliant And Ian McKellen is just one of my heroes. He's a lovely, lovely guy. And so do go watch that if you haven't, because it sums up kind of Ian McKellen's view of everything. It's great.

Okay, well, those are fantastic. And now I always say we're going to do fun questions, which is really bad because it means all the others weren't fun.

LDP:

They’re all fun!

SM:

But yeah, just awful questions to ask. But. . .

LDP:

[Laughter]

SM:

. . . these are kind of are outside of what we're doing.

So if Lou Diamond Phillips was a meal – and so last time you had steak and lobster from “Midnight Run.” So which is just fantastic. But what would it be this time?

LDP:

You know, and I gave this some thoughts. I'm going to go with a dish that I took from an appetizer recipe once and extrapolated it and made it more of a full-scale meal. And it's one of the first dishes that I did that found a lot of success. And it's basically a shrimp arrabbiata.

SM:

Oh.

LDP:

It's so simple, but it's so complex. And I'd like to think of myself that way. What's that?

SM:

Tell me about it, because I need to know. No, I need to know now how you make it.

LDP:

It's got a lot of body and you know, start off with bit of anchovy paste or whole anchovies in some olive oil, you know, get a nice mix with that. Toss in, toss in your sliced garlic, okay, crushed, not minced, nice and sliced so you got chunks. Brown that slightly. Before it gets fully brown, like you said, know, you gotta use the nose and not let them get too dark. Then I toss in head on shrimp. I just, I like to hit on the shell on the whole thing.

SM:

I love... I love eating the heads.

LDP:

And just get them, just get them going. Yeah. It's just got, it's all the flavor goes in. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's a little messy when you eat it, but I kind of like it this way. And then pull those out, you know, so now all of a sudden your oil, you know, is infused with the garlic, with the shrimp, with everything else, the anchovy paste. And then it's really simple. It's equal parts, depending on how much sauce you want to make, equal parts white wine, dry white wine.

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

Nothing too aromatic, dry white wine, like a Riesling or something, clam juice and tomato sauce. Just equal parts. And then, you know, just let that reduce a little bit. Toss your shrimp back in. Let that sauce get in them a little bit, and then do your chiffonade of basil, which you're put on fresh over the top with some Parmesan. Serve it over linguini. That's it.

SM:

That is...

LDP:

Simple, beautiful, easy to do. Anyone can do it. And I'd like to think that that has been my approach to what I do, you know. It's deceptive, but the end product is hopefully very satisfying and has great depth of flavor.

SM:

This is why Lou Diamond Phillips is such a great guest because he knows about all those things. I'm sitting here and I'm just, I'm having kind of this fantastic taste of it. And that's because I think, well, partly because you're an actor, but partly because you're describing all these bits and you're going, oh it's deceptive.

LDP:

I forgot the one thing.

SM:

It's very hard to make. That's very hard to make. Because you have to have the shrimp at the right point and you've got the heads on which to me are the best bits you have to have a chomp on those.

LDP:

Yeah. Yeah.

SM: 

And so this is, oh, I am actually running now.

LDP:

I forgot the one thing while you're sauteing the shrimp, chili flakes. That gives it the arrabbiata.

SM:

Yeah. You've got to have them.

LDP:

You know, you got to do your chili flakes while the oil is hot and while the shrimp is in it. And then you're pulling that out with everything else. And then when you put it back in, it'll infuse the sauce.

SM:

I'm so hungry. I'm so hungry. That is it. I really am and I love the whole arrabiata and I love shrimp and I love the fact that you've got the heads on and, and for me they shouldn't be peeled at all. You just put them in and then you almost you take those out and you put those on the top of the linguine and that. . . because you don't want them to overcook. Okay. I now feel very hungry

LDP:

[Laughter]

SM:

Okay, let's try. I. . . trust me when we cook together if we do one for the, this Oligo Nation this amazing nonprofit that you know helps my head. It's a very rare brain cancer. Shall we say? Anyway.

LDP:

I told you I'm in because that will be really easy to make.

SM:

That would be fantastic.

LDP:

And easy to make an attempt somewhere. Yeah.

SM: 

I have those feelings when I'm talking about some of the Indian food that I cook, like Rogan Josh or something that's so... Okay. I could talk about that forever and ever and ever. But if you had to go for a meal in history, please tell us.

LDP:

It's interesting and I'm so glad you asked it again. I'm a new New Yorker. I've been here about five years now. And for a time we lived in Battery Park. And so we would wander over into the financial district right around, you know, Wall Street to take a lunch, just to see what's over there. There's some fantastic restaurants down that way, by the way.

SM:

Yeah, I know.

LDP:

And there's this one place we would pop into that is historic, and historic for a very specific event in addition to many other things. But Fraunces Tavern down. . .

SM:

Yeah, yeah. I know that very, very well.

LDP:

. . . you know, yes, you know, we're very close to Battery Park. Fraunces Tavern was where George Washington had his final meal with his generals and all of his officers before they wintered in Valley Forge. And the war was going well at that point. He was not yet president, but I just thought, wow, these men, these soldiers who had been through such a difficult and bloody and challenging battle and the bravery and the courage to venture forth and to create a new country.

SM:

Yeah.

LDP:

And they were sitting around having tankards of ale and some nice beer and some probably very, very fun pub food at the time. I thought that would be a table to sit around. That'd be really interesting.

SM:

And even as a Brit. . .

[Laughter]

. . . I would love, well, I'm now an American, I'm an American too.

LDP:

Indeed.

SM:

So I get to choose which one I'm gonna be depending on what the food is.

[Laughter]

LDP:

[Laughter]

SM:

Oh, that sounds great. I would love actually to be part of that.

LDP:

Just fascinating.

SM:

It is.

LDP:

I've often stood on that corner right outside Fraunces Tavern and looked around, you know, and tried to imagine the cobblestone streets and the buildings as they were because it's been there since, you know, pre-1776. I mean, that's fascinating to me.

SM:

No, it is absolutely fascinating. I love that.

Okay, if there if you were to be there during the invention of anything, what are you going to choose?

LDP:

I'm always fascinated, you know, form follows function, right? That was Frank Lloyd Wright, okay?

SM:

Yes.

LDP:

And so, so whenever I'm using something, especially in the kitchen, I'm like, who came up with this? Because this is brilliant. What did they do before they did this? And that's kind of why I came up with the blender first. I often wonder, what French Cro-Magnon man ate a lobster first? Who was the brave guy that did that, you know? And then figured out, it's not so good raw. Let's cook it. And so when I think of those inventions that seem mundane now, you know, I go, somebody thought we need this, because it's going to make life easier in the kitchen, you know. I mean, a garlic press, which is one of my favorite things if I, you I don't want to sit there and mince garlic, you know, but you you figured there was, you know, the Italian guy, I'm so tired of a bing, a bing on the garlic, I said, no, I need to press it. Somebody make something for me to press the garlic because I don't want all day, you know. And then the other one is a mandolin. I love the mandolin, although it scares my wife to death, you know, my fingertips are going to be in the food, but. . .

SM:

It scares me to death. Scares me.

LDP:

. . . it's just, it's just so beautiful. I mean, you, you, you would have to be a freaking samurai to get those, you know, to get it that thin. And the mandolin does beautiful things when you're making salad or, you know, just chips, you know, whatever. The, is, it is such an amazing tool and, and, and works so well. It works exactly for what it was intended. And then that's, and that's what I love because somebody obviously saw a need and then put the thought into it and then created it. So, you know, I'm going to go with those two things.

SM:

Whenever I'm making my like the dauphinoise that's the only. . . I've got one in the kitchen and I will you know I'll get it out occasionally but I'm sorry but I'm too. . . my hands are too fat and I can't, I can't, I can't touch them but the dauphinoise.

LDP:

Yeah, it's not for the fainthearted, that particular device.

SM:. .

No it isn't.

Okay but well that's. . . so that this was just as again, this was always, this is just perfect.

Could you please tell people, you know, how they can get in touch with you and I know that you're like me when you're on all these things you always answer. It's you who does this. It's not anybody else. You do it, which I think is fantastic. So please. . .

LDP:

Yeah. I don't have an assistant and I don't have a publicist. So I have to own the cat pictures and the bad dad jokes.

SM:

I love it!

LDP:

The only social media I'm on right now is X. There are a couple of people who are posing as me on Instagram. It's not me, but they're fairly benign and they just repost pictures of mine or repost little things that I say. But for the real deal to get it straight from the horse's mouth as it were. I am on X and there's always you know announcements about when you can see a film or what something that I'm on or you know that, you know, there's a lot of tinderbox stuff on it right now. For instance I mean I just posted that you know you can get it on Amazon you can pre-order the, the new one on Amazon and Barnes & Noble online and the first book is available as well in hardcover, paperback, Audible, Kindle, it's all there.

SM:

Fantastic.

OUTRO MUSIC

SM:

Make sure to check out the website associated with this podcast at www.EatMyGlobe.com where we will be posting the transcripts from each episode, along with all the references and resources we used putting the episodes together, in case you want to delve deeper into each subject. There is also a contact button, so please do let us know if there are any subjects that you would like us to cover.

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Thank you and goodbye from me, Simon Majumdar, and we’ll speak to you soon on the next episode of EAT MY GLOBE: Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know About Food.

CREDITS

The EAT MY GLOBE Podcast is a production of “It’s Not Much But It’s Ours” and “Producer Girl Productions.”

[Ring sound]

We would also like to thank Sybil Villanueva for all of her help both with the editing of the transcripts and essential help with the research.