Joe Rogan Experience #1487 — Janet Zuccarini & Evan Funke Transcript

Transcript

0:00 And we're rolling. Yes, but Felix is still intact. Very happy to hear that. I'd be like, well, if it happened in L in LA, it kind of makes sense that people are upset. Put that fucker up there. think there's been, you know, thousands and thousands Yeah. Where's your iPhone made? Where are you going to get your shoes made from? It's the perfect storm of craziness, right?

2:09 No warning. Hey, so are you open? So I'm sitting there at home reading all three cross-referencing and we basically have to I think if you were open full capacity, you'd be fucking sold out instantly. the pandemic really showed the inherent weakness of this industry that we run on razor thin profit margins. Now we're allowed to be seated at 60%. be open 100 the same thing with the comedy store the comedy store has no idea when they're going

5:44 But nobody knows anything. At the very basis of it, you know, there's got to be an employee log. get up to go to the bathroom in the mask if you already have a shield over your face? And it's on the honor system. If they want to come, let them. Oh, it was fantastic. They were less than full capacity. Yeah. That's what polls are. Joe Blow two tables over coughs, and then you're sitting indoors.

9:18 always been disgusting and if you don't love this business to the core, it's fucking terrible. I guess it's because it's handmade. Like if you look through the glass and you see a pastallo or pastalle in there. This guy is repping. This is tradition. I like to call it toothsome. Toothsome. Authenticity is very personal, right? And you can literally study your whole life and not even scratch the surface.

12:35 A ton. Right. I have a Jamaican restaurant in Toronto. We were all set to begin construction. Evan Funke is an amazingly talented chef, and he's available. And so when this other chef bailed on me, and I was on vacation at that time, I have a location on Abakini, which is great. because of the bad reception. And Evan did just very few items. And so I said to Evan, I said, your cooking is casalinga, which means like the housewife's cooking, like the mama's cooking.

16:41 We'll probably get into that later. I mean, at the time It's crazy. I didn't think of it as art. I thought of it as just food, you know, and then watching his show It's also processed completely different. and to be honest like i've developed a uh a gluten intolerance because i've been breathing raw flour So you've developed an intolerance because of that?

20:01 Suck it. Right. I never thought, oh, yeah. the experience. It's crazy. What's in there? like i cannot tell you how many people dm me or come to me in the restaurant they say Absolutely. Damn, you got to go all the way to Brooklyn? There was nobody. I would just send it to tables for free. So you're able to communicate through just being Italian, I guess.

23:58 It's not just ingredients. pasta you're not thinking that each one was like pressed out by hand so it's Are you crazy? Well, it is a lot of space. I mean, we were making money. there is a balance between people's health and the economy, economy. And it's been ridiculous how it's been handled. Yeah, that's what should have been done. Well, then the protests and we had to board up.

27:32 Maybe a little more. and then he's moving another restaurant, So they're getting these awards and then you're closed permanently. It's a juggling act. We operate at 14% essentially. But 20 years ago in the US, most restaurants would make 20, 25%. unless you're crazy, and you're so passionate about it. That's you. That's me. But I will all Yeah. That's so insane that Pentagon's number one.

32:26 Who knows? I think the economic effect right now will be staggering. And nobody knew that restaurants are the number one purchasers from farmers, that and institutions, schools, institutions and restaurants. Voodoo. Not enough. I've bailed guys out of jail. I've given, you know, beer money to guys like it is a true, true, true family. And you're like, whoa.

35:43 The fish stinks from the head down. And then all of a sudden, ah! So I took my time. Yeah. No, I don't. pandemic to say, in an economic upturn, people will eat pizza. On an economic downturn, people pandemic flew to Toronto to open a 9000000-square-foot restaurant to immediately close it. to build the restaurants because because that's what I I wrote a massive check for one construction site, like all of my money in my bank account, you know, out to

40:26 Because the bank, you know, owns my buildings. distancing. They're on top of each other. If anybody's got it, everybody's got it. I don't, It's going to keep going until the vaccine. but there's different types of vaccines that they're making. has the detectable levels are so small. Yeah, there's a lot of words like that that I never use. And we're going to see in two weeks, right?

43:10 Because in our lifetimes, we've never seen one of these events. They had a lot of deaths in Los Angeles, but they didn't protest the Rodney King riots the looting is just insane well in toronto today it's actually quite peaceful but uh you know And some of them are just coincidence. Yeah. this synagogue and we thought just to keep people from smashing

45:49 There's a real chance, a real chance That kind of stuff gives me hope. and it's so enforced. there's some fucked up aspects of our society. You can't have a bad apple. And I'm like, it's all so senseless. But and I think we have to be super uncomfortable for change. And I think this is the moment. I know. I don't think people are supposed to be inundated

49:20 Yep. Yeah. In a lot of ways. Mike, why do you want to be a cop? We have, you know, you just look at all the systems And you're mentioning that, you know, the kid that's stocking the shelves and he's putting Now it's like, oh, I could die from this. Vitamin C. We don't know store was working. There was like, fuck, we have to close in 30 minutes. And they're like letting everybody who's in line outside in.

52:23 when you're figuring out how many meals you're going to serve, how much food you're going to order. And my mentor, Lee Hefter, kind of instilled in me those principles that define the way that I run Because that's the reason why we do this shit is to see you, Joe Rogan, and my buddy Alex Enchin, the time I went after that, I think that was your last time out.

54:21 You Canadian right there. Talk to me. And then rest. Restraint. Just put some salt and some black pepper on it and So it's just how it gives when you touch it? This is mid-rare. Probably should, huh? Some people are just incorrigible. Say what? And you have to talk to these people? And, you know, there's ways to kind of mimic people's bodily movements and stuff to show that you've heard them.

58:02 I could only imagine. And then in the early days, I would read reviews, and it would be like somebody saying, your baby's ugly, so ugly. My history, my family, my heart, my soul, my emotion. Cooking food is so personal to the person who's receiving it. just, you know, this is how it is and we're not going to change it. If somebody asks for the You know, I think there's a lot of people that it's like everything else.

1:00:39 and people really appreciating the art of cooking. And they sell them a bill of goods when they go to culinary school. And a lot of the younger kids, they're just not willing to pay the fucking cost. hold the fuck on. The proof is in the end result. There's also a thing in, I think in being a chef where, like you were talking about You know, seasonality is a real buzzword in the U.S.,

1:03:50 That shit should taste like the streets of Bologna, the diesel fuel, cigarette smoke. So you have to coax out these nuances from products that are born in the place that you're trying to evoke. and someone who has a great palate. or sorry vintners uh that this the allocation is so small that they barely have enough to send to the U.S. If it's a new dish or a new wine or it's the same menu in an old wine, a different vintage, a different area of the region where the wine is grown.

1:06:32 I would say at least 75 to 80 percent. And I mean, you saw me. But, you know, imagine right now where traveling is really hit. now, I was just feeling uncontrollable stress, you know, with the thought of just losing everything And so I got back into working mode, working around the clock with my team. And a lot of my It started here. A lot of my restaurants have a lot of patio space.

1:09:50 Now, do you look at these new restaurants you're about to open? Do you put them on pause? Do you but now they're more willing as they realize who can take my place. If somebody who I've got a very strong record, I've never closed a restaurant. Like what percentage of- Don't go in it. And so we do it. I can't be like building a restaurant. start to realize that they're saying, okay, let's sit down at the negotiation table and work this

1:12:21 You think so? Heaven's deep. There's like celebrity spots, which I'm always like super wary of. And I think that's a lot of the reason But it's like scenes. And celebrities do go there to be photographed. It's bizarre. agree with that? I think L.A. is Why was that? Why'd they pull it out? And that's what Michelin is really geared towards rating is fine dining restaurants.

1:15:57 I think it was 2009. They pulled the Like, how does that work? They come Michelin's from France, right? They always do special requests. They always order a bottle of wine or two glasses. that mean anything to you no yeah I don't do it for them I don't do it for Like you better get a reservation, son. Word of mouth. Your best work is within your four walls and people walking out and word of mouth, right?

1:18:57 The best, the best You must. Yeah, it's like Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams. Best new restaurant in America, Esquire. So anyone traveling to LA, they're like, Esquire Magazine, number one new restaurant. that restaurant. You know, that restaurant is, it's a jewel. It's a total jewel. and just trying not to fuck it up and pay homage to the people italian approach to cooking the italian approach to living um their their reverence for land and tradition.

1:23:21 manipulate, you know, sous vide and, and turning, you know, a tomato into something else to look like something else or taste like something else. That's just personal preference. And how many times can you go there and have the experience and say, fuck, I want to go back to that place because this was so good? You know? Or remember that time we were in Rome, we had cacio e pepe?

1:25:41 Like you're playing games with the inside of people's mouths you know And I always appreciated it. That's great. Some are not. I mean, the CARES Act really upped the unemployment. get some exercise. All these things have a real measurable effect on your immune system. You know, it's really kind of a crazy experiment to see where COVID is right now because of these marches.

1:28:19 100% optimistic. We must move forward. Because, you know, again, for so many reasons, right? You know, just boil your water. that that that became a thing. Absolutely. And obviously people fucking love pizza. But like so if someone orders a steak, are you cooking steak or are you sending them steak to cook? We're sending them prepackaged cryovac steaks with instructions.

1:31:32 high heat take it off let it rest high heat take it off so you cook more like especially the t-bones So vertical. So if you just throw the T-bone on side and then side it, you have a part that's connected to that actual T-bone, the separation bone. Yeah. Oh, no worries. But I went to his restaurant There he is. Well, yeah, he's a wild man. Absolute master.

1:33:56 You've got a lawyer. And then oak for long and slow cooking. so it's just about how hot it burns and the distance how deep the coal bed is and how you I'm like, hold on a second. something like that. So if you times that by three or four different plates per person. You know? It's like a drawer. I like to do as many things analog as possible. Almond and then oak.

1:37:30 I want to know. Everything is handpicked. I go Wednesdays and Saturdays, not recently, obviously, What do you have in the ground? Some things are allowed. I'll buy broccoli from three different farms and three different microclimates with three comes from melting snow caps. Could you tell if I gave you a piece of broccoli from each place where it came from?

1:39:58 Yeah, I think so. And terroir exists not only in wine, but in fruits and vegetables. And all the grass that's down tastes like dry-ass fucking grass because there's no water. But corn makes cattle sick. Is that what you prefer? If I was to break you down like an animal, I would choose the working muscles and then braise them because they're stronger versus your filet mignon.

1:42:27 Do you cook any of that? all the way so for me if I cook wild boar I think Tuscany I think of Abruzzo I think of Yeah. It's a weird thing to call it boar, too, because boar just means a male pig. Do you serve venison or any elk or anything like that? And it goes back to knowing your clientele. because our kitchen is very small. And also meat of any kind, whether that's fish or whatever, is extremely expensive.

1:45:18 That's for me to cover the cost of running my kitchen And then we got to put a price on it. And to understand that 90% of all of our revenue goes back out into the economy. hearing you guys talk about it sounds like such a balancing act and then to be hit over the head with something like this pandemic and everything getting locked down it's you know restaurants are

1:47:17 We're not going to go back to that for the next little while. and look at that I have faith in our industry that we are creative enough to get through this. I just don't have faith in the government. It's fucking And, you know, it's really appreciated, and we all need help. and what other people do for a living, No, it's what keeps me going is is the like you said

1:50:32 And we know now that we are going to make it to the other side. Thanks for being here. Bye.