Today we're bringing you (drumroll please) The Destination! We've finally arrived and spill the tea with Special Guest Jon Gabrus about how to decide what to eat in a new location and why you can't miss Dumpy's. We discuss the delights of boring cities, what we're too old for and fire dancing before realizing that Matthew needs to get out more.
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Matthew Amster-Burton 0:00
Hi I'm Matthew
Molly 0:05
and I'm Molly
Matthew Amster-Burton 0:06
and this is spilled milk the show where we cook something delicious. Eat it all and you can't have any.
Molly 0:10
Today we will number one we have a special guest number two, it's travel food to
Matthew Amster-Burton 0:17
yes or producer Abby said maybe it's travel food three, because we did the first one twice kind of. Oh,
Molly 0:24
no. Okay, so anyway, perhaps listener, you have heard one of our two or maybe only one. previous episodes on travel food. Matthew, we recently did one where we talked about food that you take on an airplane, like whether you bring it from home or you pick it up at the airport, but food that you bring on an airplane, yeah, this
Matthew Amster-Burton 0:44
food that you eat at the airport. But this is different. This is travel food to the destination.
Molly 0:50
That's right, we have arrived at our destination, and we're going to be talking about it.
Matthew Amster-Burton 0:54
And we've always said like it's been it's been a tenant of our show that it's not about the journey. It's about the destination,
Molly 1:01
right? That's exactly right. That's it. And few people say that, but we do. Yeah,
Matthew Amster-Burton 1:05
we're taking a stand here. Like screw the journey. Yes.
Molly 1:08
Screw the journey. Let's talk about the destination. So okay, so Matthew, specifically, we're talking today about like, how you choose where you're going to eat once you like, get to where you're going, like, let's say you're traveling to another country, you're traveling to a different city, how do you choose what you're going to eat? What do you go for?
Matthew Amster-Burton 1:28
Yeah, and I think we'll probably talk a little bit about kind of just some, like fun travel and food memories as well. But mostly there's going to be like people and people have asked us about this, like, you know, kind of the research phase like both before you go and like once you're on the ground, and we're gonna we're gonna have a special guest, who's who's kind of a newly minted expert on this topic, I think, because he hosts a travel show on true TV.
Molly 1:53
That was a delicious tease, Matthew, thank you. All right, let's
Matthew Amster-Burton 1:57
let's hit memory lane. Okay.
Molly 1:59
So you know, here's the thing, here's what I have come to realize. So I think there was a time in my life when I used to put a lot of research into where I was going to eat when I was traveling. Yeah, I mean, there was also a time in my life when I was traveling a lot more than I am now. Sure. But I think that, you know, there used to be really good, like on the ground publications like to remember timeout in New York to
Matthew Amster-Burton 2:26
I'm so glad you mentioned this, because like, I you know, I lived in New York for a year, and I would read timeout every week. And I think we had a subscription to it. And like that, like that. And like kind of Eric Asimov's chief restaurant column, like, that's how we decided where to eat? Yes.
Molly 2:43
So I remember when I was living in Paris, which is like 20 years ago. Now, God even more than that, actually. If you picked up Polyscope, which was like the weekend, the little team member, please go, I've seen it. Yes. If you wanted to know, like, when movies were you know what the movie times were or what band was playing at the Olympia or whatever? This was, this was like, 1999. Right. So the internet existed, but it just wasn't that great. Yeah. And so you would pick up?
Matthew Amster-Burton 3:12
Right? There's nothing wrong with it.
Molly 3:14
There's nothing wrong with the internet is that benevolent force. So I would pick up Patti scope every week, when it came out. I think it was like on Tuesday or Wednesday or something you'd go to the news kiosk, so you take it out might have been Tuesday or Wednesday also. So in property scope, you would not only you know, learn about movie times, shows theater, etc. I think there was something about like new restaurants. But the part I'm really trying to get to here. And as we as we know, I tell all my stories in paragraph form, and I'm finally getting around to it. Is that on the final page of Polyscope, the back page, just inside the back cover should have been the center. Yeah. Polyscope, I believe had an agreement or like a contract with timeout. And there was an English language page at the very back of Patty scope. And that was where I would find out. Well, if I wanted to not have to do the work of reading I was
Matthew Amster-Burton 4:13
gonna say did you not know enough French at this time to read a capsule restaurant review? No, I
Molly 4:18
definitely did. I definitely did. But there was something about you know, they, you know, it was really interesting reading pappy scope in French, right? Where where things were written by Francophone people for Francophone people, versus the timeout English language page at the back, which was written by like English speakers for English speakers. And so therefore, like, there would always be a slightly different inflection on it like they in what way? Well, they inferred like a different level. They inferred different reference points, right. So I used to learn a lot about new restaurants or even like bakeries and like food festivals and things that were going on. On The ground that way and then I think when the internet when the internet were a couple of inner dots yes we are sailing on the internet not
Matthew Amster-Burton 5:12
to sail sailing the web. That's what they call it. We're going to get the golden headphones surfing is so proletarian we only sail though. Anyway, we're gonna get the golden headphones.
Molly 5:27
You know? I mean, what's what is like the internet adjacent thing to like a golden fleece?
Matthew Amster-Burton 5:32
I don't know, like, like a gold plated laptop? Oh no. Okay, yeah, anyway, I'm gonna think about this. Okay, Holy grail.com.
Molly 5:43
At a certain point, I started to kind of get a little like, I started to discover that I liked it when somebody else planned the trip. Like, in my, in my first marriage, Brandon and I became friends with a couple other people who were like really good travelers and really good. Like they loved doing research into our destinations. And oh, my gosh, there is nothing better than to have a friend to travel with Who does your research for you? And here's the part where I kick it over to you, Matthew, because when we went to Tokyo, for the first time, you were my friend that way?
Matthew Amster-Burton 6:19
Yeah. So I really enjoy being that friend. I enjoy doing travel research, the things that I feel like have changed for me over time is like, I've like kind of lost my sense of FOMO in the sense that, like, I don't care about eating at the best place, or like, you know, what are the 10 best places, or like the best burger in town or anything like that? I just want to eat like, pretty well, and like, you know, have some local experiences that would be different from what I could get back home. Yeah, yeah, I also have really lost my, my tolerance for schlepping. And so like, you know, in the past, I would be like, Okay, let's look at timeout or whatever the local website is, or whatever, and pick, like, you know, I want to eat at these eight places, and they're all over town. I gotta go all over town anymore. I am too, like old and tired to go all over town. I want to go find some good places in the neighborhood that I'm going to be staying in. And that is good enough for me.
Molly 7:18
You know, it's interesting, though. I think that for me, some of that feeling is dependent upon the city in particular, like Tokyo is such an easy city to do that in right New York, such an easy city to do that in. For instance, when Ash and I went to Greece in 2018, and we were just spending one night in Athens. I did a lot of research into where I want to do dinner that night, because we had like one night to eat dinner in Athens. So I don't know, I feel like some of it is context dependent for me. But in general, I I agree with you. I don't have that kind of FOMO anymore. Yeah, I just want to eat like good food and not work too hard for
Matthew Amster-Burton 7:57
it. Yeah. And when we were in when we were in Tokyo, we mostly ate in our neighborhood. Yeah. Which is, which is a neighborhood that has like 1000 restaurants in it. Yeah, we just have a lot of neighborhoods in Tokyo.
Molly 8:08
So when you were living in New York, though, were you still in the like doing research?
Matthew Amster-Burton 8:13
Absolutely. We would go we would go all over town. And we like we took a family trip to New York, like not long before the pandemic and we the most memorable part of that food wise was we went to flushing and that was my first time going to Flushing which is which is one of New York's to Chinatown's and it's just like one of the most amazing places I've ever been. And I think we mostly ate according to I think it was New York Magazine that like on their website they had a you know you're spending a day in Flushing here's here's like a food crawl you can do and we didn't go to nearly all the places but we got like spicy tofu for $1 at a place that's also a florist shop that was that was pretty much the best thing we eat in New York and like a little like deli counter that makes up Peking duck buns and some spicy you know, spied one times in Chile oil at a different place. And like that, you'll be able to that was that was like our you know, friend telling us where to eat was New York Magazine, and it was extremely successful.
Molly 9:11
You know, I'm thinking about So thinking back to that trip we did in Tokyo together, which was actually hold on when this episode comes out. It's five years ago.
Matthew Amster-Burton 9:19
Oh, man. Yeah, maybe can we do that again? I know I keep saying that. But
Molly 9:22
you gotta go back. But I'm thinking about you know, I think I did a little bit of research before we went I don't know if you like delegated to me to do research into bars.
Matthew Amster-Burton 9:32
I think I do remember. Yeah. Did you you discovered bar Victoria. Right. Did you?
Molly 9:37
I feel like I just I discovered Wow. Now I really sound like an intern not know, member Nakano beer. Coco. Yes. So that was like the beer workshop place that was like built like, like some kids like wooden jungle gym.
Matthew Amster-Burton 9:54
Yeah, definitely.
Molly 9:55
I read about that somewhere on some English language internet publication. bar Victoria, did we read about that? Or did we just see a sign?
Matthew Amster-Burton 10:04
Maybe we just saw a sign and went in. And it's the most delightful tiny like, 10 seat bar.
Molly 10:09
Yeah. And the sign is so unassuming. I think that I always feel like you can't judge. Well, in the States, I always feel like you can judge a bar by its neon sign. Okay, it's it's design hurry graphics
Matthew Amster-Burton 10:27
in or like it's no sign and you just have to know it's there. And maybe there'll be a password.
Molly 10:31
Yeah. Or like a telephone you have to pick up when you like, stand inside a phone booth or something?
Matthew Amster-Burton 10:37
Yes. So let's, let's pause here because our guest is going to be here in a minute.
Molly 10:41
So our guest today is John Gabriel is a very funny person. John is the host of the high and mighty podcast. He's also an actor, and improviser and the host of the new true TV show 101 places to party before you die, which is a show that neither you nor I would ever be invited to host Matthew.
Matthew Amster-Burton 11:00
That's correct. We're not party people.
Molly 11:04
We're not party people. But John is and I really hope he's going to bring the party to the show today.
Matthew Amster-Burton 11:16
So John gave us thanks again for joining us.
Jon Gabrus 11:19
Yeah, please. Thank you for having me. Are you kidding? Any opportunity to talk to strangers about myself? I take
Matthew Amster-Burton 11:25
it is fun, isn't it? Yeah. I
Jon Gabrus 11:28
mean, with the exception of like police officers, like the checkout person that like, this is a situation in which I am prepared to talk about myself. I don't say well at parties, but here on spilled milk. I'll go, I'll spill tea on spilled milk. Let's. Yeah,
Matthew Amster-Burton 11:45
I don't even know if that term existed when we started this show.
Molly 11:48
Oh my god, Matthew, I thought you were gonna say you didn't know what the term meant. And I was gonna be like, done this on a show before. I
Matthew Amster-Burton 11:54
know what spilling tea is. Molly. Thanks. Okay.
Molly 11:56
Okay. All right. So
Matthew Amster-Burton 11:58
John, you and Adam pally host a travel show 101 places to party before you die. And I guess my first question never having been involved in a travel show it all is. How does that work? How much do they tell you where to go? And what you what to eat? And how much control do you have?
Jon Gabrus 12:14
Well, I'm assuming it's different on every show. This show has like, one. I mean, not weird. But one cool thing about it is that Adam and I are executive producers were creators show it was we went out and pitched it. So we have a little more say ahead of time. There's not really any surprises, per se, but like, there'll be like, Hey, we're making a list of potential cities for season one. Once we got picked up, where are some places you guys would like to go in America? So we were throwing around or like places were connected to like, Adam was like Miami. I was like, I would love to go to Hawaii. And those are two cities. We got to go to this season. Yeah.
Molly 12:50
And so okay, we So Matthew and I both, of course started with episode one, which was Mark Denver episode. You've also done Richmond. I mean, did you intentionally choose sort of what Miami is like a big American city? But did you intentionally choose kind of not headlining cities?
Jon Gabrus 13:11
Yes, part of our pitch was that because Adam and I, like started our traveling by driving to assorted colleges within four hours of New York to perform improv comedy at so and we would seek out and be like, you know, if it goes actually kind of fun, it's like, Yo, we got fucking loaded in Delaware, you know. And like, we would have these like fun nights and random, like, shit. So when, when we were putting together the show, one thing they thought of was like, we should have the cities that like, the TV expression would be like, Adam and I are the party like so like we can. Like if you and your friends are good time, you can have a party in Richmond. And I ended up taking away the most from those cities because I was like, Oh, this fucking rules. I had no idea. And also Richmond I can recommend my brother and his friends go to like, Denver, I can recommend like, Oh, dude, you got to like, it's not like, you got to go to St. Barts fam. Like, you know, like, it's like you get drive to one of these cities and like, and like on a teacher's salary, enjoy yourself for the weekend, you know, like you can get after it in the city. And I even though I am now a TV host who is being paid by a network to party at this city. But I love the idea that Denver has so much to offer and is not one of those expense, like super expensive yet, who knows maybe our show will turn the tide to get that one on one pop. But like it's not like a super destination. And then when we went to keep going off what you said, Molly, when you went to Miami, you decided like let's show aside to Miami because we're not club guys. We don't like the clubs you don't like loud spots like that. So we were like, can we show a Miami show about partying without because to Adam and I partying is eating to Cubans and being sick to your stomach for the rest of the day. Like that's my To the original title of the show, the book we bought was called 101 places to get fucked up before you die. Yeah, I saw that. And a lot of our pitch was how Adam and I were like, getting fucked up doesn't just mean alcohol and drugs. It could be like I had so many oysters I am fucked up now, like I had, I did not need to ice cream cones for dessert. Now I am fucked up. So we bring that energy into party because when you're 40 Partying is not the same as when you're 22.
Matthew Amster-Burton 15:27
We wouldn't know hardware like we're like 2323
Jon Gabrus 15:31
You wouldn't be partying but it's all the volunteering that's eating up your time. It's crazy to be a doctor and a podcaster. And one of them Hey, borders you guys are
Matthew Amster-Burton 15:44
I'm glad you mentioned that about like the list of cities because like, we like I found I think Molly too, like as we've gotten older, like visiting a boring city is kind of more fun because you can it's cheap. You can like you know figure stuff out yourself. And when you get back nobody says to you like you didn't go to such and such barbecue place in Austin. Like you fucking blew it right?
Jon Gabrus 16:04
Well, you only ate at Lockhart and Salt Lake you didn't get Franklin. So it's like, okay, I didn't have I can't eat. Yes, 14 different ribs in a weekend. Well, yeah, that and also, even when you do the research, you're like, Well, this is allegedly the best burger in Richmond. It's like, there's not like, in like LA. It's like 11 per neighborhood according to infatuation. And it's like, I guess I could walk to 10 of the best burger or 10 of the 100 best burgers in LA, but I'm gonna fucking kill myself doing all that. So these like narrow, targeted things, and then also their cities that are more known, like, when you go to New Orleans, you know what you're gonna do when you go to New Orleans, when you go to Nashville, you know what you're gonna do when you go to like, like, when you go to Denver, or Richmond, you're like, what should we do here?
Molly 16:50
You guys should do so. So I'm originally from Oklahoma City. And Mel and I traveled to Oklahoma City together. It was great. And Matthew loved it. And so I think that I didn't love growing up in Oklahoma City, but you should do an Oklahoma City episode.
Jon Gabrus 17:06
Well, that's volley. That's really interesting. Because isn't that crazy? When you invite someone to where you were from or you hit and you kind of disliked it? And they're like, Whoa, is this what it looks like? Oh, my God, you guys had you had this growing up? And you're like, Yeah, and you realize how much you took? Like how much you just like took it for granted or hated it? Because it was you lived with your parents and it was oppressive or whatever. And then you're like, oh, yeah, I did grow up. Within a five minute drive to the beach. That fucking rules. Yeah, but I need someone else to say it. Yeah.
Molly 17:35
The thing about Matthew is the more boring the place, the more he loves it. So I don't I don't know.
Matthew Amster-Burton 17:42
But here's the thing, like we stayed in a neighborhood in Oklahoma City, that's pretty much like my neighborhood in Seattle, which is like a hipster neighborhood. But in Oklahoma City, everything was half the price or less. So I was in heaven,
Jon Gabrus 17:53
you'd go in, like in Portland, Oregon, going to the dispensary. It's like, the tax is like 1/10 of tax in Los Angeles. Yeah, I was take I was blown away. I was like, now I see why people move to Oregon. I might start monthly going to Oregon to have a nice dinner with a friend or whatever. But also buy $700 worth of weed and fly at home and make it like I think it'll like you know, offset the cost of the plane tickets. Saving money on candidates. It'd be great. Yes.
Molly 18:25
So okay, so. So once you are on the ground, in any given city, whether it's for the show, or just personally, if you've been to if you're going to a city you've never been to before, how do you decide where you're going to eat there? Do you use Yelp? What do you what do you do?
Jon Gabrus 18:43
This is a good question. I am a leaner on friends in those situations. So yes, I will know like I'm very my brain is crazy. So I will know like, what three friends do I have, or acquaintances that I know are from that area, or their partners from that area, or I've seen recently on social media that they've been hanging out in that area or someone I'm like, oh, Brooks wheel in his Oh, he's in Montana. If I'm going to Montana, I'm asking Brooks, for example, you know, ideas from Oh, this guy I know is from St. Louis. So when I go to St. Louis, I'm gonna reach out to Pat Walsh or whatever. So for me to get to have all these. I'm that's privilege. I just have 1000s of friends because I've had 500 jobs in the last five years. You know? I'm making 10s of 1000s of dollars with my 1000s of jobs. It's wonderful the industry is great entertainment works everything's going really well for us and I'm gonna be okay. I live in a tiny apartment with right now. No running water fun we're getting fixed ASAP Oh, no. Crazy Monday morning and again. But, so I would reach out to some of these people i i will like search the Eat my classics like Guy Fetty Bourdain Padma check, like all the big travel shows, and see if they've gone there and watch their episodes. Phil. And then I will also like fuck around, like in the infatuation, like infatuation and eater are good bets for like, yep. So you've just Google like, you know, Kansas City Food and like, that'll just be enough to get like an idea. And then you can go and then you got you go in from there. And then like, I'm like, you know, cereal. I'm like hunting a cereal. I'm mind hunting here. So it's
Matthew Amster-Burton 20:34
crazy. Well, yeah, I
Jon Gabrus 20:35
have a crazy wall with like, red string. But if someone mentions a place that I also saw Bourdain go to then it gets like, we got to try to go here, right?
Matthew Amster-Burton 20:44
Extra thumbtack on that. Yes, exactly. And
Jon Gabrus 20:47
then like, depending on how long you're there for, you got to like place some of the stuff too, because like, I don't like to have like three fine dining meals in a weekend. Yeah, but with something we brought to the show. That is when I travel with my wife, it's a little different. We're fine dining, a little more than seeking out like the nasty fried chicken sandwich that's like 40 minutes outside of town or whatever served in like over a toilet. On the show, we do our fancy dinner, our quote unquote, last supper on the last night. And that used to be what we did back in the day would be like, alright, we need one baller dinner, and you push it towards the end of the trip so that you could talk about the trip over the baller dinner and like we brought that into the show. Yeah, where? A lot. You always have that to go like we're going to Wolf's tailor on Sunday. Like you're always just like, because people ask to like, you'll talk to other servers like oh, how long you in town? That's another great Yes. In addition to having one baller dinner planned, Adam and I and myself, I bring this energy when I travel alone, but we kind of developed this in our travels together. You gotta leave a couple of slots open for server concierge local rec goes, you can't have all your dinners book because you want someone to be like, Oh, well, no, it's Saturday. It's fucking chilly night over at blah, blah, blah. You gotta have chili, you Oh, if your intent. What are you not going to have chili? And you're like, Fuck, no, we were supposed to eat it the fish fries. But like, you can't have that. So you need like a little bit of like, you need a little fluidity so that you can win. Like the dream is when you're at some late night bar and like locals or the bartender is like, Alright, guys, we're closing up here. I guess we'll see you all at dumpees or whatever. And you're like, what's in there? Like, dumpings is where everyone goes at four in the morning and you're like, I am not missing? dumpees Like that's always like, and it's like, you know, french fries on a burrito with the fucking and then like, you know, everyone's drinking. Vodka. Dr. Peppers are some shit. Like, those are the places I'm always stoked to find.
Matthew Amster-Burton 22:49
Is there is there a food that like you know, anywhere you go, you're going to try like a burger or a taco or a doughnut or something that you find everywhere but has local variations. Yeah, I
Jon Gabrus 22:59
feel like what you just those, those ones are like the like the triumvirate of America where it's like every town is like, we're a budding hipster town. So we have a place that does the following things quote unquote, really well. Pizza burgers donuts fried chicken fried chicken sandwich. Yes, like. So one of my favorite genres or cuisines of food or mediums however, whatever word the word is. My favorite medium is sandwich is carb wrapped, you know fat and protein. So anyway, I can get that I'm always down to try because those are like I'm from New York. So I grew up eating like deli sent. I'm like Italian deli sandwiches. You know, Italian and Jewish delis both proliferate all through New York. Italian deli sandwiches growing up. So I'm not necessarily chasing all I need to try in Italian. But I'm always curious about people's breads and sandwiches. And I'm also a real sucker for this is the gross thing locals eat here. Yeah, like, my fucking cat nip. Where it's like most people, most tourists won't even try this. And it's like, I'm just waiting in line and everyone's like, here comes the human garbage can ready to try whatever the fuck we put in front so that I'm always the guy that's like, what's it called? Boy? No one likes it. Okay, I'll try it that oh scrapple Yeah, I'm in haggis. Gimme blood sausage. Let's go. Whatever it is. I'm always down. It's a bag of Fritos where they dumped chili in it. It's like past the floor pitch like I just like I'm down to try. I made a rule with myself early on that I'll never say I don't eat blank and have a blanket food statement. I don't eat
Matthew Amster-Burton 24:41
a lot of stuff. Me too. A
Jon Gabrus 24:42
lot of stuff I hate but if someone else makes it or recommends it for me, I do not say I don't really like tomatoes on sandwiches or I don't love cooked carrots. Like I don't say shit like that. If someone I am a customer first I am a hat. I have been a server I exclusively on restaurants and bars my whole life. I am a giant who's actively pursuing not rocking the boat in any way. I will just eat, I will get the wrong order, eat the whole thing and then order the thing I asked for. And they'll be like, Oh, I'm sorry, did I never give you that? I'm like, not a problem. Just charge me for everything. I just also want that.
Matthew Amster-Burton 25:20
No, that's, that's I'm glad you said that thing about like your tribe, whatever the greasy thing that people will try and dissuade you from because my wife and I are going to Calgary this fall for the first time. And so I did the thing I Googled like what is what is local Calgary local Calgary dish. And apparently there's this Chinese Canadian dish called Ginger beef. That sounds like it's like kind of like General Tso's Chicken only beef and grease here. And I'm like, we're going to try that for sure. We're gonna,
Jon Gabrus 25:45
we're gonna break out an afternoon where we try that down in the hotel.
Molly 25:51
Okay, so John question. So the cities that you've done so far on the show, are those all cities you had been to before? Are some of them new to you? Any new favorite
Jon Gabrus 26:02
destinations? Interesting. Yeah. So thinking of the list, almost all of them were cities I had been to before. Okay, but but not under, not as like a grown up like not all of them were as a grown up who can make their own decisions. Like, like, I've been to Miami with my family and my friends family growing up. I've been I went to Portland for a birthday weekend. I've been to Maui a couple of times. So a beach guy and I only lived in LA for like 10 years. So I've started going to Hawaii. I've been to Atlanta but like only for work and never for like, like to see the city. And then the Moab Utah I had not even heard of until I got an email of the eight cities we were going to and they were like I love it. We finalized Moab and I was like, I like texted paly the coach. I was like, Have you ever been hurt? He's like, I thought it was a typo dude. Like a word doesn't look like a word. Right? It looks I think it's supposed to be MOBA or something. It's Moab it's like two vowels next to each other. I don't get it. It's not my job. So that was the one that took me by the most surprise. I had no no expectations whatsoever. Went to it. Fell in love with it. And I think maybe because I had never been there before and never heard of it and like only got a taste of it for the weekend with the show. That's the city we went to that I want to go back to the
Matthew Amster-Burton 27:30
places it is like skiing is like National Parks is
Jon Gabrus 27:33
like Yeah, it's like outdoorsy, okay, F if, yeah,
Molly 27:37
the like I had like some super outdoorsy roommates in college who made me feel you know, indirectly quite inferior but they were busy doing things like going mountain biking and Moab like on spring break and stuff.
Jon Gabrus 27:50
Yeah, so Moab is no joke. When the episode airs, you guys will see this like 75% of the people we talked to like servers waiters, bartenders brewers have based jumped, which is like leaping off of something not with a parachute. And the above the amount of people who had base jumped here was pure. Like overall and then that's I'm using that as like an indicative of the vibe of the city like the guy who's the guy who's making your burger. Yeah, who's making your elk burger like they eat like the most standard like I burned 7000 calories a day working out. So this is what I get to eat. Always like dough cheese pizza, IPA. It's like that's what we get. Because we are. We are furnaces. We are machines. Every server is like oh yeah, Mount Moab. I'm a mountain biker. So I had to come out here someone's like I'm a kayaker. So I live in I live in a converted van out on on Bureau of Land Management land and I'm a dune buggy guy. Oh, I'm you know, I'm a hiker. I'm a repeller everyone's got like, some insane activity that would be like, you know, if you lived in any other city, that person would wear that as their personality right but in Moab it's not enough to differentiate yourself like, like, I swear to God, I met four women who are like, Yeah, I like to do this insane outdoor activity and a lot of my friends we like getting a get into fire dancing like on the cliffs and stuff like that. The abundance of people you know, I shouldn't even just say women I think six different people told me that that that's the thing they do they're like
Molly 29:31
wait a minute get naked and go fire dancing on the
Jon Gabrus 29:33
Yeah, it's like everyone has like craziest skills like I don't know how to explain it feels like
Molly 29:39
I loved it. That's a skill. I mean, it is a skill. It is a skill.
Matthew Amster-Burton 29:45
The first time
Jon Gabrus 29:46
to get it right right. Yeah. It's definitely something spectator sport at first like you want to watch a few before you get involved yourself.
Molly 29:53
Did you meet any fire walkers?
Jon Gabrus 29:55
No. I mean, maybe I did. They just didn't lead with that because everyone had like doesn't activities, you know, okay. And for me, I'm a budding outdoors person like in pre pandemic, like I grew up in like the suburbs near the beach. So we had no like mountains or woods or anything. But now that I'm in like my late 30s I'm 40 now but a couple years ago in my late 30s in LA, there's, it's like, I got an I got three hours, I could drive to a campsite that's in the mountains, or the beach or the desert, I should get into camping. And I got into it's so hard. And then the pandemic came, and it was like, Oh, perfect. This camping is the only thing that feels safe. And then I went to Moab and I was like, I have to come back here. I have to get a Subaru Outback. I have to live here for a month like it just like activated me in some way.
Matthew Amster-Burton 30:40
Okay, so probably we have to wait until the episode comes out for you to answer this question. But did you BASE jump into our fire dance for the show? And let me let me take BASE jumping is my worst fucking nightmare.
Jon Gabrus 30:52
I would base jump I would try it if they could guarantee like, like if if it was absolutely idiot proof, and I couldn't make the mistake or they were like, they were like, No, we had a 300 pound person BASE jump previously, because that's my biggest fear is that everyone's like, yeah, there's no weight limit. And then they're like, oh, wait, never had someone this size do it before. They're always like, everyone can do it. I'm like, No, I'm 300 pounds and dents and they're like, oh, okay, maybe not. And so I would base up we don't I think we might even have like a fake card that pretends We are based in the episode. So this is all for the spilled milk kids out there. You get the inside scoop. Yes. But yeah, that was rad as fuck. And like I had been to Puerto Rico before but like, always on like a family vacation and never on like a friend like a classic New York east coaster like now my mom flies. We don't have to drive to Florida anymore. We fly to San Juan. And I just have a new I had like a new affinity for Puerto Rico. after that. I did more stuff than just like the hotel and walking around Old San Juan, which is like family shit. Like I got to I got to go to a rain forest, like ride quads and a rain ATVs and a rain forest and like, there's a rain forest that's ostensibly in America now. Like that's the only one and it's in fucking Puerto Rico. We got to go snorkeling. And the food and bar scene and Puerto Rico is popping off. It's like it's yeah, it's good vibes down there. People seem to be having fun.
Molly 32:23
There's some fantastic food writers. They're two really great ones. Alicia Kennedy. Her husband question. I'm totally blanking on his name right now. Oh, no, I shouldn't have brought this up.
Jon Gabrus 32:36
That's okay. Notes, Mr. Kennedy. Yeah.
Matthew Amster-Burton 32:40
All right. Well, well, this has been an absolute blast. John, thank you for thank you for joining us. And what would you like to plug other than 101 places to party before you die on true TV?
Jon Gabrus 32:50
Yeah, check out 101 places to party before you die on true TV 1030s On Thursday, you can follow me on social media at Gabriel, my last name. And then also I have a few podcasts. So if you're into like generalized chat shows, check out high and mighty that's just me talking to different friends about predetermined topic. And then I have action boys, which is a paid podcast behind the paywall, but we do like three hour episode two and a half hour episodes about classic action movies. Way too deep of a dive. No one asked for it. It's truly not everyone's flavor. So enjoy. And then I also every Monday night host a show called on Spotify live called the movie buff, which is just a live call in show where we're talking about whatever movies came out that weekend. So I got some real recurring freaks in their life feel like Howard Stern with a
Matthew Amster-Burton 33:39
wow man screen Colin freaks. Yep.
Jon Gabrus 33:41
It's a dream. rostered. Quite the community of 20 lunatics and I'm having the time my life.
Molly 33:46
Oh, good. Good. Good. Thank you so much, John,
Jon Gabrus 33:50
thank you so much. And I look forward to checking out your podcasts and live now that I've been on it. I should listen to a few. Yeah, we
Matthew Amster-Burton 33:56
recommend it. It's pretty good.
Jon Gabrus 33:58
Thank you so much. Guys. Have a good one.
Molly 34:02
That was super fun. Yes. Which of the cities that they've done on 101 places to party before you die? Which of the cities are you going to go to?
Matthew Amster-Burton 34:11
Oh, gosh, so I have a friend in Richmond. So and like I think the food in Richmond is very good. So that that is appealing. Like I have I also have friends in Denver, like online friends who I've never met, so probably I should go to Denver.
Molly 34:25
I you know, growing up in Oklahoma, we used to, like drive to a lot of places in the like Southwest and it's pretty centrally located in I think it's like 12 hours by car Oklahoma City to Denver and
Matthew Amster-Burton 34:37
great that's that's really relevant information to me. Yeah,
Molly 34:41
it sure is. So, no, I have good memories of Denver.
Matthew Amster-Burton 34:45
Yeah, I've never been all right. I've never been to Moab. I've never been to Puerto Rico. Like I've never been to Miami. I've never been to it's possible. I've been to Portland.
Molly 34:55
I don't think I've ever done more than have like a layover in Atlanta.
Matthew Amster-Burton 34:58
Yeah, I've never been I think Portland may be the only place that that John John and Adam went to that I have been to.
Molly 35:06
Wow. Okay, well, goals Matthew to Calgary next maybe
Matthew Amster-Burton 35:11
they'll go to calgary like Yeah no I really like like this experience talking to John strengthened my resolve to like prioritize going to two boring places I'm putting that in quotes, but also I can go to an interesting place and make it boring. Yeah, I like hanging out in one neighborhood and like not going to the restaurant that everybody says you should go to.
Molly 35:31
Yeah, it's a special skill you have right Matthew I wonder Do you have a now but well for us this week? I do
Matthew Amster-Burton 35:45
my now but wow, is it book it's a new book called jobs for girls with artistic flair by June's survey, or Gervais, it's GRV AI s. And it is a why a novel about that said in a Long Island tattoo parlor in the mid 80s. And the main character is Gina and she wants to be a tattoo artist. But a tattooing is a total boys club at this time. Gina is also newly estranged from her mother and is just starting to realize that she may be gay. So there she has a lot going on. I'm about halfway through the book. And like one thing that I find really refreshing about it compared to some other books that I've read recently is that Gina like faces really realistic, believable obstacles, and makes the kind of real life mistakes that someone at that age would make. And like there's, there's a real lack in this book of like, like contrived conflict. And I really, really am enjoying that. And also I've learned a lot about tattooing, which is something I know nothing about. But you can tell that, that the author like you know, was either like there at this time, or like, you know, has deep roots in the in the tattoo world or just as an amazing researcher, because like I learned, for example, that when you're when you're learning to tattoo, you obviously can't spend like your you know, year of apprenticeship starting out like using people's actual skin. So you practice on things like grapefruits and pigs trotters
Molly 37:10
Oh, okay. Wow, what a what a terrific way to bring it back to our food show.
Matthew Amster-Burton 37:17
That's right grapefruits, and then you can eat the grapefruit maybe I don't know it might be full of ink.
Molly 37:21
What about this Trotter?
Matthew Amster-Burton 37:23
Yeah, good crisp, crisp it up a little under the broiler? Okay, perfect. That's jobs for girls with artistic flair by June Gervais. Well, our producer is Abby circuit tele, please rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts and you can
Molly 37:37
chat with other spilled milk listeners on our subreddit that's reddit.com/are/everything spilled milk.
Matthew Amster-Burton 37:43
And thanks again to John Gabriel's for joining us today and thank you for listening to spilled milk, the show
Molly 37:50
that's BASE jumping in to your ears.
Matthew Amster-Burton 37:56
We certainly are from a great height. I'm Matthew Amster-Burton.
Molly 38:00
I'm Molly Weissenberg.
Hey, I'm vamping. Matthew has left the bathroom where he tapes and he's going to go get some water because he says it's hot in there and Matthew should be back soon. Oh, here he is. He's gonna find out that I've been vamping. It's me. Hi. I've been talking the whole time you've been gone.
Matthew Amster-Burton 38:28
You're You're a classic Vamp