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Everybody Else is a podcast about the invisible people who make life happen. What began as conversations with behind-the-scenes builders in the music industry has grown into a broader exploration of how people think, work, and carry responsibility across industries and across disciplines. Hosted by Wes Luttrell, the show centers on thoughtful dialogue with creatives, leaders, and operators whose work often goes unseen but shapes the world we live in. New episodes streaming every Tuesday.
speaker-0 (00:02.22)
This is the Everybody Else Podcast.
speaker-1 (00:11.318)
Most of the authors of the human story are unnamed. Invisible contributors to the greatest story ever written. So who are the invisible people writing our chapter today? Because behind every great city, industry, movement, and way of thinking are people who dedicate their entire lives to work that'll go virtually unnoticed. Work that builds on where we've been, shapes where we are, and points us towards where we're going.
There are those in the spotlight, and then there's everybody else.
speaker-0 (00:56.162)
I did the little soft opening at my parents house. and Chloe were there. that was not, I would say, I went too soft. It was not enough people. didn't have enough of like the backup and the stress and the pressure as it was. Like the grand opening, the line out, it was at least 50 people long for a couple hours. And we ended up selling out before like everybody got through. It took forever, but.
speaker-1 (00:58.222)
Yes
speaker-0 (01:25.792)
Nobody was upset. Everybody was just stoked to be there, stoked to see the project actually finish and come to fruition. But yeah, it definitely was an eye-opener that first day. I've been cooking in restaurants since I was 17, 16, and ran a few restaurants, it was like, wasn't, I never realized when it's your own thing, it's a lot more. It is a lot more, but yeah.
I mean, it took, mean, and they're still, still to this day, like, I'm like learning new stuff and like figuring out things that I'm like, this is better than what I was doing. And like, yeah, it's still changing stuff, adding new stuff to the bus every single day.
speaker-1 (02:11.822)
What did you, like when you first got it going, those first couple gigs, if you call them gigs, what were you, what did you learn? What was like breaking? What was when you were, cause I'm sure you had an idea of how this was all gonna work, but you had never had a food truck at this.
speaker-0 (02:29.55)
Going in, I was like, I can take the thing anywhere and like, this is gonna be easy and like, I'll do the grind, like, I'll work the midnight shifts at the hospital for those people and like, do all this late night stuff and then like, coming to realize it's like, the prepping before and then the driving and getting there, it's a lot more than like, I ever thought, like, the four hours in the morning before I even go do a lunch or a dinner or something like that.
It's so much more than I ever thought it would be. And like, I slowly realized that I'm like, I'm, I'm not this, like, I'm, I'm only 27, but like, I'm still not this young kid that can stay up till four in the morning and then wake up the next day and be fine. Like, I'm an older man. feel like now. It's harder to do it. just like real coming to realize that it's like, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. And it does like,
speaker-1 (03:17.932)
some systems.
speaker-0 (03:28.91)
The fact of like the difference between like a food truck and a restaurant is like a restaurant has a lot more overhead and cost and like logistics that takes with it versus just like building your own food truck and then starting your own business. It's just you. But it's like, I would argue the say that like a food truck takes more effort and grind than like a restaurant. you have to, it's all of the bookings and all the behind the scenes stuff.
that like setting up for you to just be at a place for two to even three hours. And then you're you're basing, like some days you'll get a lunch and a dinner, which is great, because you'll work like a five hour shift instead of a two or three hour shift and.
speaker-1 (04:11.318)
In the same spot? No.
speaker-0 (04:13.326)
Yeah, you gotta go different spots because like a lot of the lunches you're going to be, we're at factories and businesses serving lunch to employees on their lunch break. And then a dinner spot will be at like a brewery or a bar or any literally anywhere we can set up at night. And, but it's like, if you only have one lunch, you're basing your whole day profit off of two hours. So it's, you gotta make sure like, it sucks to say it, but it's like, we'll go places and
sit there for two hours and make $200, but it's like, that's all we're making that day. Yeah. You know? So it's like, it is a grind to try and like find the bookings and all that stuff, but versus where a restaurant, just, you know, you have a, there's more to it, but yeah, like people do, like it is based off like people coming to you. So you can, I'm not, I wouldn't say, yeah, I would just like, you're just limited with a food truck.
You know, more limited to like the spaces you can be and everything. So it is a grind. It is a whole lot more freeing than a restaurant though, I would say. I would, I enjoy it more. I still like it a lot more than if I owned a restaurant.
speaker-1 (05:19.532)
Mm-hmm.
speaker-1 (05:27.47)
Who pays you when you, or who, like when you go to a business in the middle of the day, does the business hire you or do the people pay for lunch?
speaker-0 (05:37.42)
It depends. Some places, like I'll say Expressway Dodge, I gotta give them props. They, every single Saturday, the owner of Expressway Dodge pays a food truck to come out and serve all of their employees. And they can get whatever they want. They'll even send, like if someone's in there buying a car, looking at a car, and they're like waiting on paperwork or to pull the car around, be like, yeah, go out to the food truck. They'll get you something. And they send people out. And I mean, they spend a great...
like a good deal of money every single Saturday on their employees and stuff. it's like, but that, like, that's a rare occasion. A lot of other factories and stuff. It's, mean, like, I, I get it. Cause it's like, we'll go out to SABIC, which is out in, God, I'm in Mount Carmel and, or no, Mount Vernon. Getting that mixed around. but we'll go out there and it's, they have hundreds and hundreds of employees at that place. So it's like, they can't.
speaker-1 (06:24.451)
Mount Vernon.
speaker-0 (06:35.01)
that no business would ever be able to afford that. But I mean, yeah, it's still a cool thing for those companies and stuff to be doing for their employees, like giving them an option on site. They don't have to leave or pack their own lunch in. They can get good ready-made food that's made to order and stuff like that. So that's really cool. yeah, Expressways are, I think, our only one that is a regular occurrence that does that for their employees, which is...
Crazy, it's real.
speaker-1 (07:04.942)
Good on a Saturday too. mean, people are there working on a Saturdays. Sure a lot of them work on commissions. It's like, shit, I gotta sell something to make it worth the day. But I can at go get some fried pickles and a hot chicken sandwich.
speaker-0 (07:18.912)
If anybody owns a small company like that, listen, it's a great thing those guys, they are pumped on Saturdays.
speaker-1 (07:27.566)
How do you know how much food to take if it's a... They tell you there's gonna be between this many people and this many people? You gotta guess.
speaker-0 (07:34.006)
I mean, at the beginning, my first couple times there was kind of just like a guessing game. Like I would over prep, like have away more chicken than I needed to just to make sure, cause it's like, I don't wanna, when it's they're paying for it, I don't wanna like have to tell it, turn somebody down on anything, you know? It does happen. Like you are limited to what you can have in the food trucks. Like there is times we'll sell a lot of stuff, especially the chicken and dumplings. They love it over there. But yeah, it's just like,
It's a lot easier when, especially like during the warm months and the summertime, like the busy season for food trucks. Wintertime is a very desolate zone for a food truck. It's a tough time. Everybody just buckles up and rides it out and hopes to make it through. And then the warm months come and that's when you just grind it out, get as much. But yeah, now it's a lot easier when you go for like a place like that when
We have, like we're booked out like the rest of the week because it's like, I can prep as much stuff as I want and I know that I'll use it the next day.
speaker-1 (08:38.99)
Yeah, that makes sense. Do you, why'd you choose hot chicken?
speaker-0 (08:45.343)
I choose-
speaker-1 (08:46.382)
So, yeah.
speaker-0 (08:48.814)
It was, um, this was when I was still working at ours cafe in Fort branch. was the head chef up there and my brother Spencer and his wife, Megan, at the time fiance, they were living in Nashville and I, after college and I went up there for the first time to visit Spencer and he's like, dude, you've got to try this chicken. Yes. Hattie Bees. And I had it and it was.
speaker-1 (09:10.134)
Harry Bees?
speaker-0 (09:16.494)
It's delicious. it, I can't get over it. Like I was addicted with it. I went home, just kept thinking about it, kept thinking about it. And I'm like, I can't drive all the way back up to Nashville to get this damn chicken. So I'm like, I'll try and figure it out. I looked up some recipes online and tried a few out. They just really weren't like what I wanted, you know, the, it was. So I just like started mixing some of my own spices and it took me
many, many tries. I think there was 31 different trial runs in my, at one point of me like trying to lock down the seasoning. And then I finally got the seasoning locked down and I was making just like you, you would get at Hattie B's like just like a classic like chicken wings and or like bone and chicken, chicken thigh, leg quarters, frying them and then doing the dredging them in the spicy seasoned oil and maybe adding a little dry mix on top. But I just.
It wasn't what I wanted. Like I wanted a sandwich and making just a plain sandwich with like lettuce and tomato and pickle. just doesn't go with the hot chicken sandwich. And then I was, I think shortly after I was like stuck on it, I was like, this is just not what I want or whatever. Me and my buddy, Chris, we went up to, you know, Chris Schmidt. We went to Chicago to visit our other buddy, Greg and
He took us out to a Banh Mi place. having the Banh Mi, like, what it was is like the vinegar veg that's on a Banh Mi and like the light crisp of it and like how like, it's just so like vinegary and refreshing. Like just got my wheels spinning. And when I got home, made a Banh Mi, like made Banh Mi veg, but left out the daikon radish. So it was just bell pepper, carrot, onion, and did like a light pickle vet, like.
just vinegar and some seasoning, let it sit for a day and made a hot chicken sandwich and put the veg on it. And it was just like, holy shit. This is,
speaker-1 (11:25.196)
so interesting, I never thought about it, but it's like, if you didn't have that, yeah, and you had the lettuce, you had like the Chick-fil-A combo, it'd be like a Chick-fil-A type sandwich. But it's kind of like pulls from, like some of my favorite barbecue has slaw, like it's a barbecue sandwich, like pulled pork barbecue, you put a nice layer of coleslaw right in there, kind of like what you're doing with the veg.
It's sort of like a combo of those both worlds. But did you get that idea from anybody or that was like you thought of that? I'm gonna combine these two things.
speaker-0 (12:04.098)
Yeah, the veg, it just came from like having the bami sandwich and just like thinking that like the crisp and light like vinegary would like cut very well through like the spice and like the greasiness of a fried chicken sandwich. So like those two things I was like, I feel like that would work. And so like tried it and it, I thought it was great. And then I started doing it as a special at ours, just like randomly.
Yeah. some weekends. And I did it one time, did it for like a Friday, Saturday run. And then I just didn't do it. didn't hear anything from anybody like about it. So I'm like, that's interesting. Maybe it just wasn't a hit around here. I'm like, it is like small German town, know, Midwest in the middle of some cornfields. maybe the people aren't ready for it. Yeah. Maybe they're not. Like it was just like the spice. Like, I mean, I just think back to like our grandma, she thought
black pepper was spicy. know what I mean? So it's like, I was like, maybe it's just that, maybe it's too much. And then it was like a month went by and I'd be going out like touching tables on a Saturday or Friday night, like just talking to people, seeing how their meal was. And just like over the course of like the next couple of weeks, like people kept bringing it up. They were just like, where's that special, that hot chicken sandwich? Like that thing was so good. You need to do it again.
So then I ran it again and did it for a weekend, sold out both nights. Like quick. And I was like, okay, maybe this is a thing. So I just kept it, like I would always do rotating specials at ours. like, I just kept it in my back pocket as like, I'll throw it out this month. know, it was like once a month maybe. And people kept loving it. And like, it was one of those things where I was like, I wanted.
speaker-1 (13:49.741)
I'm a Gribb effect.
speaker-0 (13:57.216)
I was already in the process of thinking that I was like, I want my own spot, I want my own thing. And I was just like, I want people wanting it. So like, shellfishly, I kind of kept it to myself. I was giving it out here or there, but like, never told anybody what the recipe was, what the spice blend was or anything. You could get close if you wanted, but didn't give anybody my actual one. And yeah, just kept it close.
speaker-1 (14:11.959)
Incident
speaker-0 (14:26.738)
And I was like, selfish about it. And then what happened at ours happened and I left there and went and bought the food truck. And then I was just like debating on what it was. I don't know.
speaker-1 (14:38.847)
You had this in your back pocket but then you bought the truck not necessarily knowing the future. You weren't set on what it was.
speaker-0 (14:43.626)
Not, yeah, I bought the food truck not knowing what I wanted to do with it. I thought I was like, which like I was, I did like had the hot chicken sandwich and I'm like, that could be on it. But like, wasn't necessarily thinking that I would do it and set the whole business up or like around that one sandwich. I was like, I don't want to do that. It's such a niche thing, you know? But yeah, it just stuck. found, that's when I'm like, I found the
old school bus, an old Bluebird school bus, a little short mobility bus, had the elevator still in it, all the seats, everything. I found that guy. It was around like, I think I paid, I think it was like listed on Facebook for like eight grand. Found it at someplace in Illinois, a little mobility band place.
I was just like, had the cash for it because I had been saving all the years that I was working. I'd just been saving, saving, saving. So I had the cash for it, but it was just one of the biggest purchases that I would have ever made in my life. And a huge step of like, because once I bought it, it's like, I'm setting myself to be like, this is what I'm doing. I'm going to own a food truck. I'm going to have to start on this.
And this was like still around end of COVID time. Um, it was, I was.
speaker-1 (16:10.924)
Were you catering at the time?
speaker-0 (16:12.654)
So when I...
speaker-1 (16:14.732)
cooking out of your mom's kitchen, basically.
speaker-0 (16:17.196)
Yes, sadly I was cooking out of my mother's kitchen, doing some light caterings for friends and family just to make some ends meet. But I started that out of fear. Right when I left ours and didn't have anything lined up, I was freaking out at the fact of I don't have a paycheck every week coming in. Yeah.
speaker-1 (16:18.862)
Yeah, no shame on that, I'm just saying.
speaker-0 (16:43.884)
I'm gonna fucking go broke, like this is, I'm gonna be ruined, you know? So it was like out of necessity of just me being like flustered and freaked out, like I've got to do something. So like I started doing that and like it was great. I mean, it covered like my normal like monthly expenses that I had. So can't complain about that.
speaker-1 (17:03.478)
And people knew you as a good chef from all your previous engagement.
speaker-0 (17:06.574)
And then one of our cousins, Lindsay, her and her husband, Matthew Nicks, they bought a old, the old founder's house of Poseyville. Yes. And they even like, renovated, can't say the word. They renovated it and they were like wanting to start hosting private dinners and stuff there. So they reached out to me, threw me a bone. I made up a couple of menus and so like, that was like awesome. I was doing.
speaker-1 (17:20.407)
renovated.
speaker-0 (17:34.742)
It wasn't that often, it like every couple months I would do a dinner there, but it was like, it was a nice little like bonus basically on top of like the other little desserts and caterings I was doing for friends and family. So that was really nice. But yeah, ours, like the moving focus was like, I was scared about spending that money, but I dumbly didn't file for unemployment, even though I did get fired.
And I was just like, no, I was just like, I feel like it might've been like an ego thing or like a stubborn thing that I'm like, I don't want to do that. Even though it's like, at that time I was just young and dumb and like didn't realize that it's like, you pay into that. on your paychecks, you pay into that for the whole time. And I was like, I've never, I've worked all these years. I've never filed unemployment. One of my old coworkers was like, dude, you, we pay for that stuff. He's like, that's your money. You should file for it. And he's like, what's the worst that happened? They say no, and then you don't get the money.
And I'm like, all right, I'll do it. Go home, get on. It was the last day that I could do it. Oh, wow. So I filed it. It got accepted and not like a shock to me. had no idea that like unemployment COVID money was still being released. So I got like 2.5 % more than I should have. Yeah. Which was $7,500.
turned around the next week drove to Louisville with or Illinois with Chris.
speaker-1 (19:07.978)
sunk it into the...
speaker-0 (19:09.358)
That's $7,500 cash. Wow.
speaker-1 (19:12.162)
Wow.
speaker-0 (19:15.158)
So all in all, sometimes, I have to say, sometimes good things come out of getting fired. I got super lucky on that accord, but yeah, went, bought it and then kind of screwed around for like a year and a half. Like I was working on the bus, like renovating it, but the thing was such a piece of crap. It was so destroyed. The floor was rotted out in it.
There was just so much to do and I felt so overwhelmed and like, was just kind of taking it easy. I also got in at that point to like thrifting and selling vintage clothing, which was like, I was making great money at it. So it was like, was like, whatever. Like this thing's just sitting here. I'm not paying on it. Like I don't have insurance on it. It is what it is. Like making great money. I'm going to run with this. I was just like, it was me. Like I come to realize that that was just me being like scared.
and nervous about starting my own business and finding an exit, a little escape from it. But finally, it all came back around and I was like, I gotta do this.
speaker-1 (20:22.284)
was the first step.
speaker-0 (20:24.462)
the first step to like doing it.
speaker-1 (20:25.966)
to like making the truck a food truck. You took a mini bus.
speaker-0 (20:29.526)
Yeah, so it was like a full, like literally like retired from the school, full functioning school bus. So had all the seats, ceiling, floors, everything in it, even like the wheelchair lift. So like, yeah, just started with like ripping out all the seats, but it was so old that like all of the bolts holding everything down had been like stripped and rusted out. So I had to go in there with like an angle grinder and like grind off all the bolts and
So it took way longer, rip up the floor. It seemed as though the person that owned it, they would spray out the bus with a hose.
speaker-1 (21:08.11)
because everything was rusted and...
speaker-0 (21:10.07)
Yeah, like there was like a plywood subfloor and that was all just like completely rotted out and like soaking wet and like growing black mold and shit in there. It was nasty. So ripped all that out. Realized under that was like the actual floor that just had like literally shoe size holes in it. Like I stepped in, I was like checking a soft spot one time and just put my whole foot through the floor. So I'm like, all right, well that's that. So then I had to...
ripped that out, ripped the walls, the ceiling, all the insulation, just took it down to the guts and then grinded all the floor off, painted that, luckily know a bunch of people, good buddies that like, I was able to ask favors from one of my good buddies, dad owns like a machine shop and was able to order in a new sub floor, like a new steel floor for me. They CNC cut out.
So it perfectly fit in like a Lego pieces came in, welded it in, tacked it down to the floor. Damn. Did it for cost of the metal. Wow. It hooked me up. Wow. And then like, so got that down, painted that, had to put, had to spray foam. I put insulation in next. So hit up another buddy, family friend or family member, Pat Geck, hooked me up on a spray foam thing at cost. So I spray foamed it myself and then.
had to put up the stainless wall for like in a food, like in a kitchen, like to be in code, you have to have a certain grade and thickness stainless steel behind like your cook surface. I was going to just buy one sheet and then talking to our cousin, Lindsay, she's like, yeah, if it's actually cheaper, if you buy more. So I ended up
getting at cost from them, they threw me another bone. Can't thank them enough. They got me enough sheets at cost to just do the entire thing in stainless steel. So like all of the walls and the ceiling are all just flush stainless. It was a pain in the ass to put in. I put in like over a thousand rivets, whole thing. Yeah, literally. was, it was a great idea cause it, it looks so clean and it is
speaker-1 (23:28.27)
It's like building an aircraft.
speaker-0 (23:35.534)
so easy to keep clean. Yeah. I can go in there with literally a hose if I wanted to. I bet people who that. Yeah.
speaker-1 (23:42.708)
have that or like damn it and I see what you have like damn that would be nice for
speaker-0 (23:47.662)
That's what like I ease. kind of over, I overdid it. Like I didn't realize going into it, I should have done more research. didn't realize how it sounds so bad, but it is true. It kind of sucks how lax the food laws are around here and how like, I don't want to bad mouth the health department and get in trouble here, but like, they just don't care as much as I thought they would. I don't like, let me, let me say.
I don't think people are getting sick from what they're letting by. I just thought that they would have a higher standard than they do. Yeah. I should say that.
speaker-1 (24:28.76)
So with that in mind, you thought it was gonna be challenging to get this passed, so you guys went all the way and built up.
speaker-0 (24:35.694)
I went to the point of I looked up California which has like some of the strictest food laws and I built the bus as though it could I built the bus in the purpose of like if I ever want to move I can take it with me to any state. Yeah, so I built it like the strictest food laws I could yeah and So basically just way over engineered the damn thing Yeah, spent way more money than I probably needed to but in that case like it is like it's
is paid off in my opinion of doing that.
Yeah, so got the inside pretty much done.
speaker-1 (25:13.243)
Was good on the in the bus? Yeah, is that a whole nother thing?
speaker-0 (25:16.216)
got so lucky. The motor had been like 7,000 miles before the bus got retired. It went to Jasper Motors and got a full rebuild on it. and like I talked to different people and they were like, they like knew Jasper diesel engines and stuff. And like, they're like, if Jasper Motors rebuilt that, they're like, that thing will last until you don't want the food truck anymore. And I'm like, okay.
speaker-1 (25:39.426)
Yeah, jazz per rebuild, that's like a thing.
speaker-0 (25:42.286)
They're a huge company, very, very powerful. I've had problems with the bus. None of it has ever been engine problems or anything like that. Like the thing was perfect. It went through a little spell where it didn't want to start up after it ran for a little while. Changed the fluids. It works fine now. Beautiful. Yeah. So like I got so, so lucky on that. But yeah.
speaker-1 (26:05.76)
Did
speaker-0 (26:12.942)
I don't... awful at planning anything out. so yeah, I just went on it with a whim. Like I just, I bought it and we were just like, okay, we got this thing done. Now we need to work on this. And then I would spend a day or two looking at YouTube videos and figuring out how the hell to do it. Cause I don't know how to do it. Yeah. Teach myself and then go out there and just give it a try. I mean, there was, I messed up so many things and I had to like, it would take a day just to like take the stuff off and then redo it. Yeah. But it was like...
speaker-1 (26:39.501)
again.
speaker-0 (26:41.578)
I enjoyed it. mean, like, it's a great skill to have learned. Like, I could build another one out so easy now, like, less than a year.
speaker-1 (26:50.254)
That's a boss move, dude. Building your own business in the most physical sense is such a cool thing too, because you know so much about the machine that you're in. You know all of the nooks and crannies. You know what's inside. I think that's such a... It just probably speaks confidence that you don't even realize. You know I mean?
Like it probably exudes a sense of like, this is mine. I, here we are.
speaker-0 (27:24.59)
I act like it's not a big deal, but I love telling people about it. I love it.
speaker-1 (27:31.854)
Yeah, why wouldn't you? If built your own house, you'd be so stoked to show it off. Exactly. Come check out this.
speaker-0 (27:39.36)
And yeah, like it is very helpful knowing like, I know where everything is. Like I know where the wires run behind the walls. if anything goes wrong, know where to, like if one of my wiring for my bus messed up, like I knew, I know exactly where to cut into the wall to find the wire. Which is incredible to have that knowledge about the bus and like, yeah, if anything goes wrong or like something's sounding off, like I kind of know like around, and I'm not,
that mechanical, like I kind of know around about where like what it could be. Like what the problem could be. So that's really nice. And like, yeah, it just, it was so much like I did the outside, I painted the whole thing myself, had to sand it down, painted it myself, clear coated it. We put it in the hood by ourselves. That was a fucking bitch. But yeah.
speaker-1 (28:36.302)
In the brotherhood you mean the exhaust hood inside the...
speaker-0 (28:39.706)
The kitchen exhaust hood, like, had to cut a hole in the ceiling, which had to cut it through this stainless ceiling that I put in, because, you know, I didn't plan any of this out. So, like, it would have been nice to have that pre-cut before I put it up there. But, so I had to cut through that, then cut through the actual ceiling, put that stuff in. And, like, the thing that's tough about it is kitchen hoods are all designed to basically be set at a 90-degree angle, hang from a wall and a ceiling.
Okay. Where as the bus, it's just a sloping. So luckily the hood company that I got from, I was able to call them and they helped me out and did like as much as they could. So they didn't make it at a 90 degree angle, like actual like corner. They kind of slanted it. Okay. So I was able to finagle it up there and bolt it in, but then we had to build like side.
speaker-1 (29:11.864)
Yeah
speaker-0 (29:33.238)
covers and top covers and bottom covers to actually like seal off the whole thing to the wall because it didn't sit flush with the wall. So like it would have messed up like the whole like suction and pulling of everything. So like had to make like all these custom things. And I'll have to give one little shout out to the people that probably helped me the most is it's where my dad works. It's Jimco in Owensville. They, those guys saved my ass. They, they cut all these extra little pieces for me to like seal all this stuff up.
The generator, my generator on the back, I had to have a rack that was like strong enough to like mount on the back of the bus to hold the generator. So they came, I took the bus up there, they, they're a welder guy. He designed this over engineered rack that could probably survive like a car hitting it. Like I think my generator would be fine if somebody rear-ended me. It's so nice. And like he built that, he built out the rack to hold my two propane tanks.
And another, he also has built a rack for my, I recently put in an AC unit, thank God. Nice. But he built a whole rack for that and a whole like housing for it and shelter for it. It's crazy. They helped me out so much and like, I honestly would have, the bus, if all the help that I got from like friends and family didn't come, I would have been probably another like 15 over on the bus build. It was...
speaker-1 (31:00.478)
And how cool there's such a communal buy-in or communal backing that happens with people. Because every person who helped went and told 10 people about helping on the bus that this kid is making and this is what it's going to be. And I think that whether you intended or not, I just think that's a cool byproduct of asking for help and getting a bunch of help. People are like, they feel ownership in the process.
speaker-0 (31:29.548)
Yeah. Yeah. And like those guys, like to this day, they still love to come and support the bus. Like anytime I'm in Gibson County, a lot of the guys from the shop will come and like they love seeing the bus and how it works and like how well the stuff that they built for this business like holds up like through all the weather. It's all on the outside of the bus, all the metal work that they did. And like it sits through the worst of the weather and the stuff is in tip top shape. It's so nice. That's awesome.
speaker-1 (31:30.251)
I really contributed here.
speaker-0 (31:58.606)
Yeah, I mean, like, they like, they love it so much that they're like, the only payment that I did for all that work was I catered a meal, a private meal for like, a lunch for all the employees. And then once the bus was done, I came back and served them lunch with the actual bus and served them the hot chicken. And that was, that's all they wanted. So it's like, it's incredible. It's like the amount of people that helped me out. It's so, I would have probably never been able to get it done if I didn't get the help.
It's awesome.
speaker-1 (32:29.334)
So when did you decide hot chicken?
speaker-0 (32:33.836)
So the hot chicken, was like probably middle of the bus. I was like, er, it was before I started like designing, like trying to lay like a plan out, like a floor plan of like the equipment and stuff that I needed in the bus. like, before I could do that, I'm like, I have to lock down what I'm doing. Yeah.
And that's when I was like, at the same time, I'm like, I can't lock down what I'm doing before I get a name. And I was just like, I was asking friends and family and just like spitballing off of everybody, having conversations about it. Like, what do you think? What do you think? Like asking names and stuff. And my mom, we were just sitting out one morning, I was still living at their house and we're sitting out one morning, having a cup of coffee out back in their yard. And we were just chatting about it. And she's just like,
It's a Bluebird bus, right? And I was like, yeah. And she's like, well, if you're going to do the hot chicken, why don't you just call it Bluebird hot chicken? And I was like, I almost dropped my coffee. I was like, you're fucking genius. Thank you. Thank you so much. So yeah, have to give credit to my mom, Lisa Timbars.
I love it. She came up with the name and yeah, ever since then I was like, you're so right, like it is a Bluebird bus. And like I am rebuilding it at this point to look like a Bluebird bus. Like I'm putting the logo back on it. And I'm like, that's perfect. like, yeah.
speaker-1 (34:01.912)
Keep in it.
speaker-1 (34:06.07)
Yeah, it's,
speaker-0 (34:07.916)
So that was like, from there I was like, okay, I'm doing the sandwich. I gotta have some other stuff. And then it was just like finding the menu, like the extra, like the chicken bites. I was like, all right, I'm chicken sandwiches. I'm gonna do thighs, because fuck breasts. So let's be honest, they're not good. They're dry, they're shit.
speaker-1 (34:30.776)
Thank God you were a chef before you started making all these decisions. Cause I wouldn't have known. I'd like, I don't know, let's try bris. It sounds good to me.
speaker-0 (34:37.262)
Chicken thighs are so much better and they're cheaper. They're a little bit cheaper than breasts. So like that's a plus in that area. But yeah, I was like, all right, I'm doing thighs. And I'm like, gotta have chicken bites, you know, for all the kids and all the ladies that don't want to eat a sandwich. They just like some chicken bites sometimes. I had to do that. And and I'm a sucker for a chicken and waffle. Love a chicken and waffle. I was going to do just a regular chicken and waffle and then
speaker-1 (34:58.158)
terrible.
speaker-0 (35:06.99)
I started just messing around with like cornbread. And I'll have to say, Chris, Krishma is, he loves cornbread. And he was a big inspiration on like the chicken and waffles. Cause he's helped me out a lot with the bus, so, so much. And I was like, I'm gonna try the cornbread waffle. I'll just make cornbread batter, throw it in a waffle maker and see what happens. And it came out perfect. And I was like, holy shit. And I had him come over and try it. And he's like, dude, this is it. This is riffs. I was like, all right, chicken and waffles.
Oh, I love it. And then the chicken and dumplings, like just being Gibson County, everybody grew up loving chicken and dumplings. My mom made chicken and dumplings all the time. It's our great-grandmother's recipe. It might even be older than that. I'm not for sure how far back it goes, but it's like one of my favorite home-cooked meals that my mom would make. And also like Summerfest and Hobstop, big festival. Chicken and dumplings there, like...
speaker-1 (36:02.094)
staple item.
speaker-0 (36:02.808)
Yes, everybody loves it. You at least get it once every weekend. I'm like, which also like in the building of the bus, I'm like, my number one goal is like, I'm gonna be at the Summer Fest. Like this bus will be at the Summer Fest. That's like number one goal. So I'm like, I have to have chicken and dumplings on the menu. I can't not. So threw that on there. And then I had, I just like, wasn't too inspired at about like the other side.
I was like, oh, I'll do the pickled veg just because like it's a byproduct of the sandwich. It's on, I'll have it already. So might as well, you know, use up extra stock and then the waffle, plain waffle. I was like, well, I already have a batter and I doing the chicken and waffles so might as well do the waffle by itself. And then I did, I was like, what goes good with this stuff? Like going with the theme and I was like, oh, a potato salad's good. But I've never been a fan of potato salad. Never.
So I went on like a little quest of like trying to find a potato salad that I liked, like that I actually would eat. And I'm like, the only way I'm going to put something on the bus is if I will actually eat it. And yeah, I just mashed up a couple different recipes. It was like a French potato salad mixed with Matty Matheson, who is a incredible, incredible chef in like YouTube TV and YouTube personality. He's fucking awesome. But.
took his recipe and just mashed the two up and it came out fantastic. like, I actually like that. Yeah. Yeah. So it's those, it's, it was that, was Maddie Matheson and a French recipe, French potato salad. And then I think I tweeted a little bit. I added something else to it. I can't remember what ingredient it was, but that was like, I was just like, I liked this a lot. Like I'll eat this and then gave it to my family. They all loved it. And then just started like,
speaker-1 (37:33.132)
the recipe today.
speaker-0 (37:55.586)
throwing it around to friends and they're all like, dude, this is good. And even Chris, Chris was like one of like the main people that like I was like bouncing off like food ideas and like having him taste stuff. Cause he is a big like foodie. He's worked in restaurants before. Never been like a real like taking it to the level of like wanting to be a head chef or anything, but he's worked in restaurants. He's a great cook and just knows food very well. Has a great palette and taste. And like he even
does not like potato salad and he's like, dude, this stuff is good. Like he's like, I'll eat this.
speaker-1 (38:28.962)
How cool, dude. How cool to be a converter of non-believers in the potato salad realm to turning them into believers based off your own journey. Yeah. It's awesome.
speaker-0 (38:43.2)
Yeah, so that, and that was like, that was the menu. That was it. There was the chicken sandwich, chicken bites, chicken and waffles, dumplings, potato salad, cornbread waffle, and pickled veg. Cause I was like, I wanted fries, didn't want to make hand cut fries. I hate doing that. I did that at ours. I don't like And they're not that good. I'll be honest. Hand cut fries are kind of mid in my opinion.
speaker-1 (39:08.558)
They don't stay fresh long. That's it. I like them crispy. That's right. Hey, there it is.
speaker-0 (39:12.526)
And I don't want, like, they're just floppy. They get all floppy and nasty. And they're extra greasy, in my opinion. But, off that. I didn't, like, I was scared that if I had fries, oh, I have fried pickles on the menu. Totally forgot about that. Love fried pickles. We always used to do it as a family, as kids and stuff. Another staple at Summerfest for me. But, so was like, I gotta put fried pickles on there. So, put those on there.
But I wanted the fries. I was scared with how much chicken and then having to fry pickles and stuff, not getting backed up in the fryers, not having space in the fryers, and not falling behind on ticket orders. Because also when I was starting this, I kept hearing from people like, you have to have your time. Your ticket time has to be less than five minutes. Nobody wants to wait more than five minutes for food to have a food truck, which is bullshit. Let me just tell you that. That's bullshit. And also, if you are someone that
doesn't want to wait more than five minutes at a food truck, just save your money and go to a fast food restaurant because like, waiting that extra couple minutes, maybe 10 minutes, like from a food truck that is taking that amount of time, you just know that they are making your food fresh. It hasn't sat at all. It hasn't gotten nasty. It hasn't been sitting there for 30 minutes or in a little warmer tray or anything. It's made fresh and it's worth the wait.
It trust me. It's worth the wait I get I get hangry as hell sometimes and sometimes I'm all pissed off but like as soon as you have that food and it's like made with like care and love and passion and isn't just like old and sitting there put together by somebody that's just trying to like Nobody wants to work at a fast food restaurant. Let's be honest. Yeah, sometimes you have to though to make ends meet and I'm not putting it against them But if I was working in a faster restaurant, I'm not giving it a hundred percent
speaker-1 (40:56.237)
clock.
speaker-1 (41:07.554)
Yeah.
speaker-0 (41:08.59)
I'm not like talking for a billion dollar company, like how much, what you're gonna put in effort for that? Not me personally. But when it's something that is yours, you know, and it's like, I take pride in the food that I give to somebody. I never wanna give somebody something that they don't like, that they're disgusted by or that they're not satisfied with. Like you're paying me, you're giving me money so that I can live and...
I'm not gonna give you something subpar or something that I wouldn't want myself or like that I'm not gonna eat myself. I just think it's like, it's disrespectful to the customer.
speaker-1 (41:45.56)
It's real service. Dude, I remember one time, not to digress, but I remember one time, I guess you were kind of like technically my boss. my I worked at Ours for a summer. I think this was like in 2017 or 18, but you, for anybody who doesn't know, you're my younger cousin. But I remember I was frying chicken at Ours.
And you are a state, you know, big item at ours is fried chicken. And we, I undercooked it because it was like, probably I was, somebody was waiting on it and I'm like sweating over there. I'm like, shit, we got to get this out. It's good enough. And it got sent back to the kitchen and it was like cut open and the middle was raw. And you, you looked at it on the counter. You looked at it and then you just looked at me. You didn't even say anything. You just looked at me. I'm like, all right, dude, I.
I'm sick to my stomach. I am so sorry that I effed this up. But I remember thinking from that point on, like, I will never put Tate or Candy or ours in a position where, where like, that was a completely controllable mistake that I rushed just to meet up, just to like get it out quicker. how I, the thing is like, it doesn't really matter who cooked the chicken because you're the head chef. And, and, and like,
the reputation of both you and the restaurant are at stake when you serve somebody. It's unhealthy. mean, it's like, it gets them really sick, first of all, but like just the unpleasantness of it, the reputation and like having good service, having great food, it's just so easily messed up by one negligent move. I mean, you can recover from it, thank God, but it is like, it's a real service minded,
treat others how you want to be treated golden rule type move you know which takes care of you
speaker-0 (43:48.192)
Yeah, which in like, I will say like, I've, I've 100, I've served raw chicken before, multiple times, like on accident, you are, get, because that is the other thing, like you get caught up in the rush and you're like, you don't want those people to wait and you're worried about them waiting. So then you're trying to get it done as fast as you can. And sometimes you, you stick the thermometer in and it doesn't hit the center and it reads that it's done, but you weren't in the raw part. And sometimes it gets sent out and like it happens. It definitely happens.
all the time. And, but like, that is something that like with owning the food truck and owning my own business and being my boss, my own boss is like, I've realized that like, even when, like when I was working at, for other people running their kitchens and stuff, like I would fall under that same like stress and pressure. And there was a lot of times where like, there was things that like, if it's a crazy busy night and I just had one hell of a day and I'm like, in a, I used to get in a pissed soft mood all the time.
And there is times that I-
speaker-1 (44:50.584)
goes with cooking though. Cooks aren't really known for being real bright, happy, cheery people.
speaker-0 (44:57.518)
It's because it is like it's a very like high intensity and like pressure and shit It's always hot as shit. It's either hot if they are you're freezing fucking cold in those kitchens. Most of them don't have a see it's a hot
speaker-1 (45:03.224)
High temperatures, hottest.
speaker-1 (45:11.808)
OJPaj of workers. It's like a, you know, you just like work at what you get.
speaker-0 (45:16.558)
You got like, for example, like when we were at ours, it me and you and then we have like, we have like a 78 year old lady working salads at this 98 degree kitchen. Yeah, and then like, it's like a 17 year old working saute when like, there's 17 of them working saute, which like I was doing that.
speaker-1 (45:26.808)
A 17 year old.
speaker-1 (45:35.87)
Also like it is but it is you got to manage this squad of different people
speaker-0 (45:40.3)
Yeah, it's a lot and like, it's just like I've come to realize that like now in my own business is like, I've, it took time, but it's like, I don't let myself like get worked up or worried about that. Cause it's like, I have confidence in the food that I'm making. And then like, even if the person is like when I'm serving the food to them and they waited 10 minutes and they were, they're like, physically like I can see it. They're a little upset, a little sad or like mad.
like that it took longer or whatever. Like I, I always just am like, I'm so sorry about the way, like hope that like sometimes I'll throw in like an extra pecan pie bar if I thought they'd been waiting a long time or something, just a little like to smooth it over with. And then I'm always like, I'm very confident in that like once they sit down and actually eat the food and like, cause it was made fresh and like it did take a little extra time, but it was like made like I, the reason it took extra time is because I'm not going to give you something that I'm not like 100 % sure that you're going to enjoy.
That wasn't like as much as I wanted it to be. So I'm very confident in that like most of the time people, once they do have that first bite or two bites or whatever, like they will be like, okay, I get it.
speaker-1 (46:49.908)
Yeah, you're willing to accept like the you're willing to like accept that short-term uncomfortability for the long-term delivery and the payoff of that delicious first bite
speaker-0 (47:01.878)
I've always welcomed if anybody has a problem with anything that they've gotten from me, please tell me. I can't make it right.
speaker-1 (47:12.59)
Yeah, it's not like you can try it before it goes.
speaker-0 (47:14.318)
Exactly, like I want you to be satisfied and happy and like fully like willing to spend the money that you spent on the food and like be satisfied with that. So it's like I always encourage people like please reach out to me if I if like even if you had it and you left or whatever and took it back home and it wasn't what you wanted like message me on Instagram or Facebook like I will get back with you I will make it right with you.
And then like, always encourage people, like, if you go in and like you're eating something, it's not that good, like bring it back out. Like, I will make it right. And I like have no problem doing that. No shame, no embarrassment, nothing. I won't make you feel bad about it. Yeah. Nothing like that. And like, there's so much, there is times where like people have like, they've come back out and they've just been like, hey, like, cause we use thighs for the chicken bites, dark meat, and they'll come back out. And sometimes like there is a little fat on a thigh. Like it happens.
and it doesn't render out enough in the fryer and there'll be like a little bit of fat and it just like, it's, I get it. Like there's a lot of people that are okay with it, but then there are people that like are like a little bit more like sensitive about their food and like get grossed out easy about stuff, which I get grossed out about plenty of things with food, even though I'm around it all the time and cook it all the time for people. But like, they'll be like, yeah, it just has a little bit of fat in it for me. And I'm like, I'll explain to them that it's like, I'm so sorry. Like that's.
I wanna make this right, I'll get you a new order, I'll make sure it's like fresh and it doesn't have any fat on it. But I wanna also explain to them that it's like, we use chicken thighs and like chicken thighs do have fat on them and like sometimes it doesn't render out all the way in the fryer. And like, I wanna explain to them so that they understand because like you will run into it again. And it's just like, I'm not trying to like make anybody feel like dumb or that they don't know or anything, but it's like, just like a kind little like.
explanation of like what it is and then like make it right for them and like give them the food that they wanted and like every single time I've done that they have always come back out and thanked me and been like thank you so much like that was amazing and like thank you for saying what you did and like handling it the way you did and then a lot of the times like they'll even try to give me the money back and I'm like no no no no like I I we messed up and you know that is why we wanted to get back to you and we want like to make it right like I want you to come back and spend your money with me again and
speaker-0 (49:27.854)
choose us for your dinner option and stuff like that. So it's like, I always want to make it right. But yeah, it's just funny. Like people do like, for any other like food industry person that's listening to this or like food truck owner or restaurant owner is like, if you treat the people the way you want it to be treated and you treat them with grace and kindness and like respect, they will always respect that more. And they will always like,
I've never had it happen to where like they come back and like, or they don't say something to me or they're still pissed off after I give them this stuff. And also like there are those people and if they are, guess what? That's fine. Most of the time we don't want them back. So it's fine. Like it will happen. You tried your best. You did the most you possibly could to rectify and make the situation right. Sometimes people don't want that and that's fine. it's life. We live with it. Yeah.
speaker-1 (50:19.65)
think it's great. think it's what builds loyalty. It's what builds trust. Tell me about what you learned cooking with our late grandma. You spent some time baking with her, you?
speaker-0 (50:33.091)
Gosh.
Yeah, I did spend some time baking with her. I honestly like, it's one of those things that it's like now that I'm a little bit older and it's like, once you hit that like mid 20s, a little older, like you start to like, be like, damn, those like older family members that you may have lost or like your grandparents, you're like, I wish I would have spent more time with them. I wish I would have like learned more from them. But like, which is the same thing with grandma. Like I wish, I wish I could have like learned so many more recipes and.
got so many more stories about her learning to cook and stuff like that before she passed. it's one of those things, I was younger and busy with my own shit and not, you don't realize at that time that it's like, the time we have with our loved ones and stuff is finite and it will come to an end at some point and you should soak up as much as it is you possibly can. But I am very grateful for the things that I did learn from her.
and the things that I saw her do and I respect her so much more on such a more deep level than I did when I was younger. She was always like her garden, just like the garden. She'd always have a garden even when she was really old and couldn't get around as much as she would. She had a massive fucking
speaker-1 (51:54.53)
Yeah, legit garden, too. not saying like four tomato plants. Couple rows of this, couple rows of that. Candid.
speaker-0 (51:59.882)
Yeah, and she can't do anything. didn't eat fresh. She would can keep it in the basement. She froze everything froze so much stuff like I mean and she always like was always down to just like cook people meals like
speaker-1 (52:15.913)
Are you hungry?
speaker-0 (52:17.694)
Every time you walk in with you hungry, I got some stuff. I mean like, God, the amount of like her sweet rolls, which is like, was like the, that was the last thing that I cooked with her before she passed. And I love it. I cherish it to this day. And like, cause the sweet rolls, mean, just like, know, we all as kids, like you wouldn't go over to grandma's and not get a sweet roll tray out of the freezer. Yeah. Always had those things on lock.
And like they were just in the freezer on a fucking paper plate and a Ziploc bag. Probably freezer burned, they I don't get it, they were so good. They could be down there for two years and you pull it out and they'd be amazing.
speaker-1 (52:57.966)
Side note, I kept, she gave me a package of sweet rolls close to her death and I didn't eat them for like, or maybe I had like one or two, but I kept them for so long that I eventually had to them away. I just couldn't, I was like, I have to save these. It's like, until when? What are you gonna save for the rest of your life? Anyway, I couldn't let them go, but yeah.
speaker-0 (53:18.658)
Dude, I understand it. But yeah, so I went over there. I hit her up because this was around, this was during COVID. This was around COVID. And that's the thing that sucks was she had already lost a couple of her friends. you could tell that she was just like, she's slowed down a lot. She wasn't able to get out and do what she did all the time. And she was just slowing down. And was like, I want to get over there and spend some time with her. So I called her and was like, hey, like.
would love to come over if you have some free time this week and like, I want to learn how to cook the sweet rolls. I was like, you've given me the recipe before, but like, I want to see how you do it because I know how she is and like, she'll just like on the recipe, there will be like a pinch of this. it's like, yeah, like how big's your pinch? Cause I don't know how big your pinch is. have a pretty big pinch, but like, so yeah, I was like, I want to see you like actually how she does it. And I went over there and I mean like,
speaker-1 (54:03.38)
What's a pin?
speaker-0 (54:15.956)
One of my funniest memories about her was we're doing the sweet rolls and she's, she gets, we roll out the dough and we're seasoning and everything and she's cut, she butters them and then she's cutting them into strips and she's wanting me to roll them and tie them. And I'm like, okay. And she's cutting it, she cuts it into strips and she's dragging her fingers with the blade down so she makes it like a good even cut. And then after each cut,
She takes that finger that she's holding the knife with that she's dragging down the entire strip of the dough and she licks off the cinnamon in the butter. And then she cuts another one and then licks off the cinnamon in the butter. And I was dying laughing. Like I was trying not to laugh out loud because I didn't want to embarrass her or anything, but I was dying laughing. I could not wait to tell everybody. Because like, I was like, holy shit, all these years we've been just eating these sweet rolls and loving them so much.
And Grandma, she's been slobbering all over him.
speaker-1 (55:16.046)
Dude the special ingredient and grandma was kind of like a I mean I don't think any priests would argue with me and saying like she was like semi-holy like she was like on her way to becoming Probably like some low. I don't know. Maybe I don't know some level of sainthood in some regard. Yes, and there's something maybe about Her throwing a little bit of her spit in there that gave the gave the sweet roll some sort of life that we were all like damn This is rejuvenating. Yeah
speaker-0 (55:43.918)
They were like, and it's like- be a- No, it's one of those like corny things where like, oh, this was made with love, but like with her, it literally was. like, she had her spit in it. Like she was just trying to pass it on to the rest of us, you know? And like, it's just, it cracks me up. like, I still think about it all the time when I think about those sweet roles. Like, it's just so funny. And like, was able to like tell all of like the cousins and- That's me, sorry.
speaker-1 (55:45.624)
rich.
speaker-0 (56:11.758)
I was able to tell all the cousins and stuff that I like her funeral and stuff that story and like it's just like seeing everybody crack up about it and stuff and be like, my God, we've been eating grandma's spit and loving it all these years. Like it's just hilarious to think about.
speaker-1 (56:24.876)
Well, and you got to see too, I'm assuming, like you got to see her, and we all did at different points, but you're a chef. So you understand things differently when it comes to somebody cooking. But you you got to see, you got to see her, how she interacts with food, like how she interacts with the ingredients. Like you got to see how, what, what like focus she entered into when she was cooking. And I think that that, like being around somebody who's been cooking for
80 years or more and watching them interact with food at such a like muscle memory, especially your grandma. I feel like that would be such a valuable, like the degree to which you carry the spirit of cooking, like you having experienced that with her versus you not having experienced that with her. I just think that's an overall net positive that carries you as a cook, you know.
speaker-0 (57:01.87)
this.
speaker-0 (57:19.392)
Yeah. And it's like, I'll even think back of like, some days when it's like busy as shit and like I'm cooking, I have like extra caterings or like, and we're like double booked at different places and like, I'm like, all right, it's going to be a 12 hour shift to cook in today and stuff. And like, I'm just like dreading and shit. And like, sometimes I'll think back and I'm like hearing my dad talk about grandma, it's like when he was growing up and he's like, she cooked.
three meals a day. She cooked a full breakfast, full lunch, and full dinner every single day for 10 kids and her husband and never complained. And it was always incredibly homemade food. they never went out to eat. They never bought, like brought stuff home from the store that was already made. Like she made everything from scratch and never complained. And still, while doing all that, kept the house clean.
speaker-1 (57:55.137)
small army.
speaker-0 (58:14.38)
worked in the garden, helped with the farm. I mean, did all the laundry for 10 kids who's working on a farm. Like, I couldn't even imagine.
speaker-1 (58:22.894)
It's hard to believe, dude. I used to think about grandma and grandpa when I was, I think like when me and Chloe were getting married, congrats on the engagement by the way. Behind every great man is an even greater woman, probably. Very, very. But the talking, like talking to grandma about, I spent a lot of time like in college, like in my early 20s talking to grandma about her and grandpa's early years.
speaker-0 (58:32.792)
Thank you.
speaker-1 (58:51.392)
And then when I moved back to the area and then me and Chloe got engaged, I thought so much about like them being in their like mid twenties, getting a farm and like having to figure out how to build a life on a farm, raising kids, all the responsibilities of being a homemaker like she was, like everything you just listed.
and knowing that they had hard moments where money was low or just time, know, things were dying and they just had really hard moments here and there. And you think about, like I would think about that on days where I was having a hard day or like something wasn't going my way. And think like, dude, if they did that, they didn't even have the internet. Or like, that's like an extreme, they didn't have anything. I mean, they didn't, they had such limited,
Like it was just like them two on a farm. it's not like, yeah, it's like they didn't have anything to like guide them other than their faith and their families and what they knew growing up. But you just think like, dude, if they did that and it's like a slow, you you just like think about them. They like build up the course of their life and then grandma lives after grandpa. But then when she passes away, how like,
speaker-0 (59:51.95)
Thank you for watching.
speaker-1 (01:00:17.57)
You know, she never would have, she never acted rich or anything. And, but then like when she passes away, like this, like this generational wealth that her and grandpa created gets like fleshed out into the, like spread across the family. And just like a beautiful long story that is inspiring for young people who are getting married or like trying to do something, trying to build something, trying to start their own thing. I thought about them so much.
as inspiration during those early years.
speaker-0 (01:00:48.974)
Yeah, they truly is inspiring. I even like on to digress from the whole food thing and go into one of my other little passions of clothes and the whole reusing of old garments and making them into new and stuff is like, I got when we were going through cleaning out grandma's house since I was still in town, I was helping. I go over there every once in a while when they needed to move a bunch of boxes and stuff. And we pulled a bunch of stuff out of one.
speaker-1 (01:01:17.166)
I wondered who went and got their hands in there first. It you.
speaker-0 (01:01:22.008)
pulled a bunch of stuff out of their crawl space and in one of the totes was just like a bunch of old clothes that from the farm, like from the kids and stuff, there was like some old dresses and stuff. And then there was two pairs of Levi's jeans, old Levi jeans, and they were tethered. I mean, and like, it's so funny because like you could on the tags, like I still have them to this day, I reworked them some, fixed all the holes and I wear them now. But on the...
tag on the inside, you can see where it's it's written out like, John T marked out and then Bernie T. So like they were hand down like they were John's jeans that then got passed to my dad and he wore them as farm jeans and then grew out of them and she didn't get rid of them. She kept them. And now I like, it's one of my favorite pieces of clothing. Like I have them, they have my dad's name in them.
I've repatched all the holes. even, and then I took one of them and put like, I cut out a bunch of other denim in heart shapes and then patched all the holes with hearts on those. And like, they're so sick. They're one of my favorite pair of jeans. I love them. I barely wear them because I'm scared to get them fucked up. Dude, I just like, even like, it was so inspiring like to see even her like, the amount of like, it's not like she had to because like once, like in her later years and stuff, like,
she had some money, like she could have been like spending money on stuff and things, but like she's still like, even when she was older, like she didn't want to buy new shit. She just like still like kept and she'd patch her own clothes and do little sewing things and like never wanted to get new stuff really, which is so like, it just, I love it.
speaker-1 (01:03:06.766)
It's like a counter stance to our culture where like everything is replaceable. Buy a new one, get another one, get it easy. It's cheaper, it's faster.
speaker-0 (01:03:17.144)
clothes off line off like Tmoo or something and after two washes you're gonna throw it away because it's a piece of shit. Like I see like with that stuff like I always like I always think of grandma when I'm like trying to like repurpose clothing and stuff and I'm just like if she could do it I can do it you know. Yeah. It's one of those things like I can wear this stuff like she like I don't have to go buy new shit like don't get me wrong I do like buying new clothes. Yeah. We'll still go buy new stuff but I just love like
so much about like all like how she lived and it was just yeah
speaker-1 (01:03:51.006)
simple I'm so you're you're I never told you this but I believe that you are an artist at heart. Thank you. speak like an artist the way that your process is with the process the way like the way that you talk about experimenting with things before like you just experiment I think I like this you share it with people that you trust you get their reaction you start sharing it with other people get their reaction it just reminds me so much of like
speaker-0 (01:03:57.838)
Thank you, I-
speaker-1 (01:04:19.586)
the way that great musicians work or the way that great painters work where it's like they're guided by their inspiration and their conviction, their hearts, and they find themselves in it and they just figure this stuff out. And it speaks through, it speaks through, yeah.
speaker-0 (01:04:31.403)
I appreciate it.
Love to hear that. Because yeah, it is very, I would say I am more of an artistic person than a calculated person, if you would say that. But I've always been that way and just like cooking was one of those first outlets of artistic value that I had and being able to do stuff with that. But yeah, I mean, hobby, I have a hobby of making clothing and sewing clothing and
creating like if you look at that as like art and stuff which a lot of people do and like I look at it as like art of my own and stuff but it's just like yeah I yeah I don't even know where I was going
speaker-1 (01:05:16.846)
Like the thing, all of that feeds into your creative ability to express yourself. And I think that like the fact that everything on your menu is something that you created, like you put this and this together to see if it's what you liked. I mean, I guess I'm gonna assume maybe most places are like that, but the fact that you really like got it all right first before, or like you got it how you wanted it before,
it became a thing. You didn't just like go buy cheap shit and try to pass it off. Like you really, I was trying to think this where I'm like, did I dream this or did I have this conversation yesterday? But I was explaining at some point recently about your hot chicken. Like it's real hot chicken. And what I mean by that is like it's baked into the chicken. it's, or it's like, it's not a chicken breast with shit like
Yeah, top of it's not like hot sauce on it. It's like, which is not, I mean, guess that's form of hot chicken, but this is this is artisan style hot chicken.
speaker-0 (01:06:28.686)
It takes like a hot chicken sandwich to a new level. does. It's a lot more than just like, yeah, like a Frank's covered chicken breast on a sandwich. It's completely different, which like, and that's, which I think dry rub, like, cause it is like, it's literally, it's just in a sense, it is just a dry rub. Like when we get done frying this chicken, we dip it in a hot oil, like a pepper oil that we make.
speaker-1 (01:06:39.459)
different thing.
speaker-0 (01:06:56.408)
peanut oil mixed with like infused peppers and then we season like shake on the heat loss which is it's just a dry rub but I think like dry rubs have really taken off in the last couple years like people love a dry rub yeah and a lot more than a saucy wet wing you know yeah so yeah
speaker-1 (01:07:15.758)
I remember having dry rub wings at beat ups like five years ago, six years ago. I'm being like, wow, this is a whole different experience and I love this. Just so I could see why people like the alternative.
speaker-0 (01:07:30.136)
Yeah, and that's like, that's the other thing I got so off track earlier when you were talking about, we were talking about the sandwiches is that like, it's not a traditional Nashville hot sandwich. Like a traditional Nashville hot sandwich is like the spices and everything, like they just dip it in, like it's all in the oil and they pull it out and they don't shake extra stuff on it. But like, I just like, I ended up doing it as like a ease and like less of a waste thing of like,
dipping it in just like a pepper oil and then doing the spice on it. Cause it's like, you use a lot less spice that way. Spice is expensive as hell. it honestly like I have and other people have told me, but it's like, I think that that version is almost better. Like not trying to be like cocky and be like, I'm better than like the whole Nashville hot chicken style. Cause it's, it is Nashville hot chicken adjacent. it is, it is technically, but it is like, yeah, my own twist on it. And it's like,
It's like, I like to always tell people it's like, it's a combination of a chicken, like a banh mi sandwich and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Cause it has like the veggies and all that and the sauces and stuff. But yeah, so it is like in that category, but it is not like, I'm not trying to say like it is Nashville hot chicken. It's in that category, but it's not what everybody's used to. It's its own little thing, you know.