Hey, it's Neil Savandra.

You're listening to KFI EM six forty The four Report on demand on the iHeartRadio.

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Of KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.

Hey, everybody, it's The four Report, All Things Food, beverage and beyond.

I am your friendly neighborhood folk reporter Neil Savandra.

How do you do?

Saturday?

Is kind of a sanctuary.

Three hours from two to five.

We get together and just kind of push away the heaviness of the news during the week and celebrate food, the people that make it, eating at home, going out to eat, cocktails, zero ABV cocktails.

Whatever it is that is for your palette, We talk about it.

Today.

We're broadcasting live from the Manhattan Beach Food and White and Wine Festival.

We were out here last year for their first one.

We're out here this year.

Starts at six for VIP, seven o'clock for general admission.

There might be a few tickets left at Manhattan Beachfood and Wine dot com.

If you do come down, say hello, I'll be roaming around.

The show will be over at five, so I get to go enjoy everything at six o'clock tonight as well.

I was hoping this gentleman would join me, very curious to talk to him, Chef Hugo Ballanos Balanos to make sure you're Is this you here, chick, chick?

Oh, that's you at the Four Seasons in Westlake Village.

So I grew up in Newbury Park and the the Four Seasons what gem And it's one of those places that I liked telling people you're gonna you're gonna drive right by it.

If you don't know it's there, you nailed it, honestly.

So I'd like to tell you there's like a beachside.

Chef Neil Frasier coming up.

Look, legend, the legend just here.

I think he's the reason.

Everybody's the reason I'm here.

But I love point.

People are always looking for these places day trips or going to do something, And the truth of the matter is Westlake Village is incredibly lucky to have it.

It's a it's a neat place of food is spectacular.

So I'm thrilled to meet you and have you on the show.

No, it's an honor to be here, honestly, and I can't be more thankful for Scheffnin who just came up behind me to say hi, and being here in Manhattan Beach.

Just trying to highlight Westlake Village because, like you said, it's a bit of a stone throwaway.

But we're fifteen minutes from Malibu.

We're looking at sant Lnica Mountains.

I mean, we have three pools, we did a complete renovation.

I mean it's completely different from when it opened in two thousand and six and spectacular.

Then.

Yeah, shine that light.

No, just to get a massage there, or to you know, go.

And eat artifact Neil biggest spall in all four seasons in the entire world.

Really, Yes, Yeah, it's insane.

It's absolutely insane.

I have a dear friend who lives out that way and we would constantly be for the holidays and stuff, given each other certificates for massages and the like.

It's just it's a really special place and obviously you and the way it's set up is you could stay there and you don't know where you are.

Yeah, it's just it's its own little enclave of beauty and great flavor.

You know the founder, you know, ri Ip miss and Murdoch.

This last year he passed away I think at the rivaled age of one one oh four.

Yeah, it'd all be so late.

He opened up the hotel with the idea being attached to it a center for health and well being, and we do just that all over the place.

You can come in and get a whole cure scan, DNA scan, calorie count, dietitians and we have five great outlets that you can also indulge in.

Japanese restaurant, coint of Canna, California, Prossy Mediterranean restaurant.

I mean we also do big weddings and the wedding happening right now.

Honestly, I'm like, you know, I'm nervous.

I'm speaking to you, and brunch and everything.

The whole thing represents dinner.

And then we just added the whole pool thing, which is amazing.

So it is does that have an eating element too?

Near the pool is?

Yeah.

We do a Mediterranean concept.

They're called the Cove, which is fantastic.

Do Mediterranean bronzinos, yogurt, marinate, lamb chops.

You know, euros, wag you euros.

It's fantastic.

Wow.

It really is a special place and it was neat to see it go into an area that I grew up in or nearby and to see that it's a it's you know, because people go up to like we were talking about, OHI Santa Barbara, all these things, yet it's right there.

Yeah, you could go and you will feel like you're nowhere near la, you know, and you can the way the trees and everything and the walls were makes you feel you're an enclave.

Absolutely.

I mean when it's a huge wa there too.

Yeah, it's gorgeous.

So what are you excited about the food?

So are you bouncing around from?

Do you oversee all of the I.

Oversee the entire property, all five outlets.

So it's a great pride of mine to highlight a single outlet and all the chefs.

It's a beast of a job.

But you know, that's how I wake up every day.

Honestly, I can't get enough of it.

There's always something to do with this property.

It's it's donning.

What's the initial the initial food genre that you fell in love.

With me initially?

You know, I'm just a kid from Guatemala.

Came here when I was seven.

I found a great mentor though, and a Wolfgang Puck which took me under his wing, sent me to France, sent me to New York, sent me to work with the best of the best.

So I grew up in California, like just cuisine at Spago Restaurant, doing a little bit of everything, fresh pasta, great sushi, great French food, and you.

Know, and literally a mentor.

I spent twenty years with working there at the Cut Restaurant, at the Four Seasons in Beverly, Woolshire, I ran the hotel Belair for ten years.

And you know, I'm so lucky to just kind of be blessed by having these great leaders around me, Wolfgang pluckily hefter, and I'm just I'm blessed.

I'm happy to be here now.

And you know Neil, who I call a friend and another mentor.

Oh, Neil Fraser's great And it's funny.

Nobody has anything bad to say about Neil Fraser chef.

He just does want to try.

Yeah, he's a good guy.

About the pleasure of having him on the program many many times.

Hugo Balanos is with us.

I keep in my head after you described UH having a mentor in Wolfgang Puck, what it must sound like a young boy from Guatemala talking with Wolfgang Puck as his mentor and the're both going, what what you want me to put him?

Where?

What?

I don't even know if he can pronounce appetizers.

Yeah, but that's that's cool.

And you know what there I love that about food is there's always a mentor.

Yes, there's always somebody to help along.

So I know we are limited in our time together today.

But what is UH?

Give that pitch?

Invite people out, tell them what they should look at.

I'm gonna try this with which you brought.

Tell me what this is.

I'm gonna tell you what you're trying.

Anyway, we talked about a little bit.

You're trying a little bit of memory here, because meat is memory.

And this is Snake River.

Gold label Ribi Boise Idaho.

I can't tell you enough about Snake River and the fantastic product they have.

We're doing it with a sundried tomato salcerosa caramelized corn salad.

It'll blow you away.

Honestly, it'll me in your mouth.

It already did.

It's like it's like the best of it already did angus And then.

Brother tries.

He's got he's got the look on his face he knows you know, yeah, please, holy smokes, chef, that is perfection quality steak absolute but that is memory.

But man, that bark on there, that all that just is lovely.

It's just perfect.

A little season blend I put on there.

I can't tell you.

I can't tell you your listeners.

I'll tell you on a side.

You know, whatever was while when there's a secret ingredient or something, I always go, well, thanks for coming on, chef, what was that that ingredient again?

And they go, oh, no, I'm not Yeah, it's passion.

It's your mother's love.

Ye.

That's exactly what a pleasure, you know.

When I'm going out and visiting out that way, I got to come by and check it out.

But I I just it really is a beautiful location.

Four seasons Westlake Village.

If you go out there, say hi to Chef Hugo Bolanos out there doing great things overseeing all of the restaurants there.

But when I was looking over the chefs, I'm like, you know, I've never met Hugo I think that would be really great because I love you.

Know yeah, now, I know you, yeah, yours you.

Me and my wife will just say there next to each other, you and I will talk about steak.

She doesn't eat red meat.

She's like, get these guys out of here.

I'm trying to get a massage.

I'm like, oh, that's not okay.

So anyways, bone in or bone out when it chef, what a pleasure.

This steak is fantastic.

And what's the name of it on the menu.

It's a snake river gold rob Oh.

Boy, that's that's ridiculous.

Almost slapped you in the face.

All right.

So Fork Report on Neil Savedra KFI AM six forty.

You're listening to The Fork Report with Neil Savedra on demand from KFI AM six forty.

Hey, everybody, it's the Fork Report, all Things Food, beverage and beyond.

I am your friendly neighborhood Fork reporter Neil Savedra.

How do you do?

Broadcasting live today?

At the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival's second year, man eight knocked it out of the park last year.

It's a perfect place.

Cloudy, yes, but still warm and nice.

A little bit of a Breeze is going to be perfect as it starts popping off at six o'clock tonight for the VIP event and then seven o'clock for general admission, So it's going to be great.

They just have a superior lineup of Chef's great food and we're giving you the best sample we can for the limited time that we're out here as well.

Of course, you can go to Manhattan Beach Food and Wine, all spelled out dot com there.

They dropped another fifty tickets and announced it here at the beginning of the show for VIP.

Don't know if those are gone, but they might have some other tickets here if you're looking for something to do tonight, I highly highly recommend it.

And everything I've had so far has been spectacular as well.

Alice may Is who's going to join us right now.

Chef may is with Atagirl.

It's a Mediterranean right, Yes, I haven't had the pleasure of going yet, but tell us a little bit of that coastal Mediterranean vibe.

Yeah.

So we just opened six months ago and we're doing California Mediterranean, which is really fun because we get to take influence from any part of Europe.

That borders the Mediterranean Sea, including Morocco North Africa too, So it's really fun to be able to pull all those influences in our menu.

I think people often eat it's I love that you say that, because people get confused as to what Mediterranean means, and there's so many flavors and textures.

Being somebody who travels and going to Morocco, it's different than something you're going to have in Italy, or any things that you're going to have along or even in Israel or you know, different parts of the world.

Every year, people ask about diets on the program, all kinds of things, and the only food and diet not is in restrictive eating, but eating great food every doctor will tell you is eating Mediterranean.

What do you think that magic is about Mediterranean food?

I mean, the reason why we chose Mediterranean was that me and my partner and mentor chef David, we just love eating Mediterranean food.

So there is all just items that we like to eat ourselves and like to make, and so that was really the inspiration behind building the menu.

And I think it's great.

Because we get to bring in really beautiful California produce.

We get to use a live wood fire grill, so that's great.

Yeah, we got a custom Argentinian style grill.

So we cook over live fire.

We rake the coals for and that's how we cook our skewers, which is a huge core of our menu.

What's the fuel you're using in that white oak?

White oak?

Great choice, nice bright, bloomy smoke.

And that's wonderful.

Yeah that is and to have that is something it's not easy out and by the way in the Southland to get permits and stuff for live fire cooking.

Yeah, that's cool.

And so you're doing lots of coobs.

What are some of the the proteins and are some of the product that you're putting on.

So some of the really popular ones are a double r ranch beef tenderloin.

Yeah, that one's really nice and tender.

We season it with wagu fat, so what's not to love?

Oh man, I want to be seasoned with waging fat, not just my own Mexican fat, but wagon fat.

And then another one that we use is Lumina Farms.

Lambloin Lima Farms is an Australia they're actually one of our supporters for today for the dish that we're.

Serving, And what's the dish today?

Today we're doing a spice lamb meatball yep over a creamy herb semolina, the spice tomato horisa sauce.

So it's a really like.

Fun play on a classic of just you know, meatballs over a creamy semalina, but it'll have really nice fun spices too.

What is I genuinely believe if you ate Mediterranean every day, it would solve most of your physical issues.

It's just is one of those what's your go to what's one of your favorite things at at a girl?

One of my favorite things would definitely be the diver scallop skewer.

Oh wow, yeah.

So we cook main divers scallops.

We actually caramelize them on the planche and then we just kissed them on the girl a little bit for a little bit of smoke, but they just cook nicer.

What a nice combination.

And that protein will absorb that smoke quickly too, so you don't want it to overpower it.

And it's just a little bit of a Oh that's fun.

And then what is it served with?

So all of our skewers are served over a keen watt buli and then served with a whipped garlic tomb and then an assortment of sauces.

My favorite is the spicy herb shug.

So is this green pestiy looking?

Oh yeah, very.

Really vibrant, a little bit spicy.

So that's one of my favorite ways to eat it.

And we've also recently started bringing in cluga hybrid caviar, so I like to add caviar.

On top of my divers scallops.

Oh geese, wow, you're not bougie at all more please know, but that makes it, I mean that brininess and loveliness on top of that, I could see where it would marry well with it.

Now, it's still only six month months old at a girl in Manhattan Beach here, but so I haven't had a chance to get there, but I do know the response has been amaze ball, so thank you.

That's got to feel.

Really good, it really does.

It's been really nice to see the support, especially being part of the Sim's restaurant group, so we have a big pool of regulars thankfully that are able to just you know, come out and support and check out the new kid on the block.

And we're right next door to our sister restaurant, Ryla.

So it's super cool.

Yeah, that's awesome and it's such a it's a beautiful area too.

Yeah, it's going to work.

Shouldn't suck?

Huh, definitely not.

I started working near one pier and then I moved to another pier.

Yeah, that's good to be able to do.

What do you want that people that haven't tried at a girl that are looking to maybe if they're an Orange County, San Diego anywhere in LA, to come out for a day trip or something to taste.

What are you gonna What would you invite them to try?

I would definitely do the chef's plate, which is an assortment of our breas and spreads.

We do a beautiful buttermilk pita in the House of Rosemary Facaca and four different spreads to pair with it.

Definitely build a platter with the skewers.

If we do three or four, we'll do this right, really nice platter to kind of feature them all.

Our house extruded pastas are really fun.

Oh that's cool.

I taught my chiefs how to use the extruders, so I'm not personally making them, but they are.

Because that's a labor of love.

It is really is, but we excreed all our passes in howse, so any of those would be really fun.

And then save room for the bass cheesecake.

Oh my gosh, that sounds awesome.

And then after all that, go for a walk down.

Yeah yeah, beach, I dude, everything, Maybe maybe leave the walk out.

I'm outroll my wife could roll me around.

I mean right, yeah, I got everything in there.

Chef.

What a pleasure to meet you.

That's the voice of Alice my and she's at at a Girl here in Manhattan Beach.

It is coastal Mediterranean and that description.

If that doesn't get you off your rs to go out and taste, I don't know what.

Well, but what a pleasure to meet you.

Thank you so much, the best of luck to you.

That sounds like everything is off to a great start there at Atta Girl.

Another new place you got to check out in the Southland.

It's the Forkport of Neil Savedra.

We're broadcasting live today from the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival.

You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on demand from KFI AM six forty.

Neil Savader here with the Fork Report, Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival is where we are today.

We're doing the we're doing the pregame, We're doing the tailgate party before VIP starts at six.

General admission starts at seven.

We were told by Shelby Russell at the very beginning of the show at two that they released fifty VIP tickets.

I don't know if they're gone, you'd have to check, but you can go to Manhattan Beach Food and Wine all spelled out dot com Manhattan Beachfood and Wine dot com and get tickets.

I highly recommend this event.

You know me, There's a lot of events I get invited to.

I don't get to go to all of them, and this is one that I make sure.

It's the second one.

Last year was a knock out of the park, just great chefs.

And one of the reasons is the man I'm going to talk to now, Chef Neil Fraser from Redbird Viviana is here and really are you curating all of the chef They all praise your name, and I'm here because of Neil.

It's funny.

There was a TikTok last year and like the thing was like why are you here?

It was like Neil Fraser Neil, and I.

Was like, I went viral.

I went to my chef at Redbird.

I'm like, dude, I went viral on TikTok waiting my whole life.

You know, I get asked to a lot of things, and so when I asked people in return, they usually say yes, and I've had to return the favor.

And I've done a lot of other events the last couple of months.

But you know, last year was a real success, and I was I was saying to Shelby a couple of weeks, you know, a couple of minutes ago that you know, just looking at his eyes, he's like, you know, like his eyes are down here.

They're not like last year.

He was like carrying furniture and covered in Saint oxide and you know, set up the whole party by himself.

This year, it was.

Definitely more organized.

In the interview that it was great and last night was fantastic.

I mean, I don't know how many tickets were sold.

I think around nine hundred, but I can't imagine if there were a hundred more people here it was they're running out of room.

That's the thing.

It's I'd like when it's very well curated for the experience.

And I say this to Shelby, who I've known for many menu any year, is that that's because he's a foodie.

He likes he likes to go events.

He doesn't want it to be a suck experience.

No, and it doesn't.

And it's like, I think there's, you know, the right amount of food.

I think there's too much beverage.

Like there's no way you can taste everything beverage wise here.

I mean there's twenty five wineries and a lot of cocktails.

You would be crawling home.

You can listen, listen to this.

Someone just walked up from.

Yeah beer beer with vodka.

Fuego hard ginger beer with vodka.

Yeah, I'm starting off with my San Pellogrino chow.

Lime to start the day.

That's good because that's all over my glass.

That is very good.

By the pool, that's what we need next, Yer, we need a pool.

Yeah.

Then you won't ever get rid of me.

I'll just be I'm talking about Delta air Lines, about putting that in.

There people, you know what speaking of that, there's you know, this is a big deal to me because I know a lot of people put these things on.

You've got Delta Airlines there, the official airlines.

You got West Drift, Manhattan Beach, official hotel here, which is spectacular.

Manhattan Village is the shopping and dining center out here.

San Pellegrino of course, sub Zero Wolf, which Wolf I have in my own home, Great fridges.

You know.

It's like, yeah, it's one of those things like that I wanted forever and finally got.

Oh man, here comes trouble.

I can just feel it.

You can just feel it.

I can feel a celebrity Chef Tino coming by again not dropping the F bomb.

We appreciate that.

Always a pleasure for you not to curse on live radio.

I was checking in the West Drift Total yesterday and there was a guy blowing in my ear or not a guy, a person blowing on my ear.

And I turned around.

It's you know, it's Chris go oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he'st I was being stocked for once.

No, he's croquetted.

You were hoping your fingers were crossed.

So what's going on, Chef?

This is a great event.

Well what's going on at Redbird Viviana?

And you know, we're plugging along.

You know, it's a summer was a little light, you know, as far as downtown goes.

But you know, went to the La Tourism event this week and definitely gearing up towards, you know, a great rest of the year and really looking forward to all the things that are coming to Los Angeles, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, Yeah, and really trying to position ourselves to be part of all those things.

And I was I was watching the guy who was the x Metro, the guy who was ahead of x Metro, the you know, subway system in Los Angeles, and he was saying, how why the subway system sucks in LA?

He got because they all terminate in downtown LA.

And I was like, that's kind of good for me, you know, yeah, you have to get off, and you know, we're a block and app from a subway station now, and you know, it's it's kind of it's kind of cool to be in the middle of something.

And we you know, we first started looking into space as I orged for Thomas Keller at Checkers in nineteen ninety one.

And I've always wanted to be downtown ever since.

And it took us, you know, fourteen fifteen years later to find a space and then you know, open it after and.

In a beautiful place at that with the fire and everything else like that.

It's been it's been a tough year, you know, for sure.

I was, yeah, that fire.

Our fire in the dining room is great.

Yeah, yeah, the fire and Altadena and the it was not awesome, but yeah, the fire the dining room is beautiful.

And we're doing an event with Brad Metzger in a couple weeks La Chef Cone, and it's the first time we've really we've done a lot of like whole property buyouts, like we have the Disney Anty party tomorrow night, but not a whole property buyout where people are like using every nook and cranny, like I was saying to Brad, like they're gonna use every spatula, every spoon, every sheet, pan will be used for that event because we have panels and guest chefs and all sorts of salons.

After.

I'm actually doing a collab dinner with Alice Waters, which is gonna be kind of fun.

Cool that She's like, how many do vegetables in alien?

I was like, perfect, you can get a simple one and all the complicated one.

And you know, we were talking about you know, Dan Barber's you know, kind of created tape ladder.

They do it stumb Barns, which I really it's like the first thing you've got if you haven't need there before.

It's definitely worth a trip.

It's in a little up upstate New York and it's on a Rockefeller property.

They have sixty acres there.

Then they you know, they have other property that's managed by others they're growing vegetables for And the first thing you get is this piece of wood with these nails coming out with these beautiful vegetables and you eat them and you're like, oh, it's a little thing of let as you put in your mouth and everything's like seasoned right and crispy and some kind of like that's kind of my inspiration for this thing with Alison.

I've never met her before.

I did at Zoom with her the other day, but I'm very excited for that.

And just for you know, our staff to you know, you know, rub elbows with you know, some some great chefs, which is always nice to you know, pay back to our to the community, the people that work with us at Redbird, and I hope that they get some good stuff out of.

It and that's going to be inspiration for everybody involved.

I imagine those types of events for sure.

Yeah, I mean I think you know, it's funny.

I was one of my chef friends who unfortunately passed away a couple weeks ago.

We did a memorial for him on Monday night at Rosa Blue with Steve Sampson, and you know, that's like the one thing, like the community when all of us get together like these events.

Like the reason a lot of people do these events is just to see their friends, you know, because they don't get to see their friends all the time, and you know, it's like, oh why, you know, why are you there.

It's like, you know, how often do I see Chris Cozantino or yeah, you know Stephanie Izard or you know rig Garcia.

I mean, it's like they're all my friends, but don't see them all the time.

So it's nice when we're all in the same place and you know, we can sit down after and have a cocktail and enjoy the community of you know what we've been building.

You know, for me since you know, nineteen ninety I've been working in this business, so it's a long time.

Do chefs even have downtime.

Yeah, absolutely everybody does, you know, I think that.

But it's constantly doing like charity work or events like this or running a restaurant, and I always feel bad, like.

I'm Onlike I really I don't work as much as I used to.

I always say I want to work smarter, not harder.

But like I'm in like twenty two days in a row or something like that.

Not everybody, you know, not every day was like you know, an event or you know, running the restaurant, you know, and then Monday, I'm getting certified to be a Wagou samier at Ice Culinary School in Pasadena, WHA, which is kind of cool.

They're you know, flying people in from Japan to like basically, you know, I'm not gonna be a master of wagou, but definitely learning.

More than I know now.

Just invited a couple of chefs to do.

That and how cool is that?

Yeah, So it's nice to like, you know, continue to learn.

You know.

It's like, you know, it's always you know, what we say, like you know, contending to polish the stone, and I think, you know, even coming events like this, I mean, you know, I didn't you know rip Cozantino's you know, dish apart.

But you know it's like, I'm like, is that beep tar tar pomegranates an octopus?

And He's like, yeah, with an octopus XL.

I was like, of course, of course it.

Is, why not?

You know, I was excited to met the Hugo Bolanos from Four Seasons Western Village.

He was delightful.

And the meat he brought to the table, yeah.

He said he was going to bring something specialty.

Oh, it was insane.

And I brought out to Newbury Park.

So I remembered when that place popped in and it's a gem and you could easily pass it on the one to one if you don't know it's there.

It's you know, I mean, you know David Murnoch you know, built that whole community.

That was kind of the biggest thing he built, like later in his life.

And uh, it's it's an impressive place.

And Hu goes an impressive guy.

I mean, I've known Hugo and his brothers, you know, for a really long time, and you know he obviously, you know, was when in the Wolfgang chain Gang for many years, and I was.

Really surprised when he left because he was.

I think his last position was at the hotel bel Air, which was like, you know, kind of a management deal, but definitely something that Willkang owned for a long time.

You know, it's good to see him, you know.

Change gears and do something with his his name and his face on on the on the light.

I love.

He's not only a delight, but he's he's you know, he's a great mentor.

He's he's you know, like like me, like he's he's enough of a balance between like serious and you know and not serious.

Like it's not like he's not a he's not a drag to be around.

Well, I told I told him, I you know, listen, there's a lot there's there's a number of people that aren't so nice in the in the culinary arts.

Sometimes I never hear a bad thing about you.

That's good.

Yeah.

Ever, Jason Bowlan, who's our sepherd Redbird, said to me maybe three or four months ago, he goes, Neil, I've never seen you Burner Bridge, and I was like, thank you, and I thought about it.

I was like, there are definitely some people i'd run over and a crosswalk, but.

There are not many.

And uh, you know, I always say, like if I if I yell at somebody in my restaurant, which it's been a long time since I've done it, It's followed up by an apology pretty quickly and like and analysis of why I yelled at somebody, because it's not how I want to be, you know, it's it's you know, it's funny when you know, uh, people pass you know, my Ted, my friend Ted Wyland died, you know, way too young, my age, and you kind of look at like, you know, it's not I look at my legacy, but I look at like how I want to live my career.

And you know, I was talking to somebody today about retiring.

I'm like, like, how do you want to be when you retire?

I'm like, I've always wanted it, like the you know, the ongoing joke, what does your retirement look like?

You know, it's a big box in the middle, and you know I'm in it.

You know, I don't.

I don't want to retire.

I want to be able to work forever.

Do I want to have to go to work every day?

No?

I don't.

You know, but you want to be challenged, you want to be.

And it's still like it's it's so much part of my life.

You know.

It's like, you know, I raced bicycles as a kid, and cycling is still a big part of my life.

I mean, just like Los Angeles a big part of my life.

And I was you know, we still my mom was in the assists of living.

But I you know, we still have my family home I was born into, you know, and my mom lived in that house for you know, I don't know.

They bought it in nineteen sixty seven for thirty eight thousand dollars in Lower Canyon, you know, and the family that's living there now has three kids, also grew up in LA.

Their kids are going to Wonderland, same elementary school I went to, and you know, Los Angeles, you know, is like people always say, like what happened in LA?

Like what was the you know, what turned the tide from you know, being a place where there's no good food to a place that was good food.

I'm like the publicist, there's always been great food.

Yes, it's always been great and maybe it's not, you know whatever the fine dining part, which I you know, honestly, you know, that's the that's the that's a whole that's easiest part to me.

You know, it's like charge a lot of money, hire fifty cooks, you know, do great food.

It's like really the soulful.

You know.

It's like when you have really great ox tail, you go to a really great jamake in restaurant, you go to like have some really sensational ram and in a place you're not really thinking about it.

You know, it's like that's to me, like that's what I love to eat.

For one.

You know, it's like the greasier and the crazier the better.

Like you know, first time you have great oxtail, though, it's like, yeah, that's not something you ever.

Or gizzards or hearts or you know, things that are and they're not done for like shock value.

They're done because it's part of you.

You get to a Pervian restaurant and you go to a you know it's a kaya restaurant or you know something that does you know Japanese sekewers.

You know, it's it's fun.

I mean, I have a florist that works with us.

Stand by one second, chef as we get some some news in here.

Chatting with a chef Neil Frasier from Redbird Viviana Downtown.

We're here at the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival.

It opens at six o'clock for VIP, seven o'clock for general admissions.

Stick around.

More to come as we wrap things up.

You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on demand from KFI AM six forty.

Shaking the heaviness of the news off on a Saturday from you know, two to five.

We always have a little sanctuary here to just celebrate food, the culture behind it, people creating it, going out to eat, cooking at home, just everything worth celebrating in life.

And today we're doing it for the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival.

It's second year.

It's gorgeous here.

It's just a little bit of breeze and enough overcast that is going to reflect all the lights that are about to pop on here when the music starts and everything goes as.

It opens at six o'clock, and we're looking forward to that.

Chef Neil Frasier, who is the event host this year and really put things together with all these chefs and beverage purveyors and all kinds of people that are here because you know, Chef Neil knighted them and said they are worthy of the event.

Of course, he's with Redbird Viviana downtown and Larry Schaeffer joins us.

Is it Santa Barbara wines.

Tercearra wines up in Santa Barbara County, Okay?

Excellent?

Well what did you bring for us today?

Welcome to the program.

Well, thank you for having me.

I brought a blend called Curiosity.

It's a non vintage blend of some not very well known varieties.

I like playing outside the lines.

So this is a kunwase carrying on and Senso.

Larry, you don't know what you brought us, do you?

I know exactly, But it's got stuff in it and things, and it comes from everywhere.

No one knows what it is.

Drink it.

No, I know.

Exactly what it is.

Oh, I love it.

Well, most of the time someone goes that's these things.

I love that it is a little deeper than that.

Well, I'm owner wine maker.

I'm not a salesperson.

I know everything that goes in to my wines.

It's part of being a small producer.

Just like a chef knows every purveyor they have.

I know every piece happened lovely thank you.

That is very lovely.

Super good.

I tend to bring lighter wines to events like this.

I was gonna say, I want them to go well with food.

It's delicate, but it's got great flavor, you know.

To me, I had some great steak from Hugo just a little bit ago this.

It would have been a nice little combination for that.

The heaviness of the fat you wipe down by this easy.

But I'm doing a you know, a tune of Crido to go well with that as well.

It's you know, it's still you know, balancing nice and not too much no, not too many tenants.

Yeah, but it's bright and it's fresh and it's very lovely.

That is very very nice.

What do you want people to know about your wines and how can they find them?

Well?

I am a very small producer up in Santa Barbara County.

I have a taste room in downtown.

Let's leave us.

I've been making wine for.

About twenty years.

I love making wine.

I love more than that talking about it and not talking geeky, but trying to relate to people.

So I try to use food terms to describe wine.

Be guys, everyone can relate to food wine.

Language is intimidating.

So if you go over to my booth, you'll see a sign that says, how do you drink your coffee?

And that's how I start the conversation like that, because when people drink coffee a certain way, it's indicative of all kinds of things, including wine, that they're going to prefer.

So I I drink cappuccinos, what kind of wine do I like?

Well, the question is can you drink coffee black?

And do you enjoy a black at all?

Or do you need milk in it?

I need a little milk in it.

I don't, but I don't put sugar in my coffee.

So generally when people put milk in their coffee, it tells me.

If you drink Scotch, it's not gonna be neat, it's gonna be on the rocks.

Yes, it tells me you're gonna go milk or bitter sweet over really dark chocolate.

You might go about seventy percent, but generally not much more than that.

No, I like bitter sweet chocolate, the bittersweet, yeah, but not like ninety percent.

Well, ninety nobody eats.

It's like eating a bar of chocolate.

My my wife eats it, I'm gonna guess, so generally think about bitter, right, why do we put milk and coffee?

Generally you put milk or cream and coffee to cut bitter.

Well, if you don't like bitter coffee, you're not gonna like bitter foods.

If I give somebody who drinks her coffee with cream a cocktail, it's probably not gonna be in a Grony or Campari good.

But that is something that somebody who drinks their coffee black is gonna want.

And when it comes to wine, people who drink their coffee black tend to like earthy in rustic reds.

They don't mind tannin.

They don't mind a cdity because it doesn't bother them.

I like that breakdown.

That's a really good way to introduce people to what they what they may like, the path of good path.

I love the gies and boulevardiers and mescal and the grannies.

So it's like my second drink after martini.

You know, so well.

People put milk in their coffee for different reasons too.

I mean, most people put it in to cut bitter, but some people put it in because of habit.

Some people put it in because they like their creaminess.

Some people put it in because they don't like cold things.

I don't like hot things.

Excuse me, don't want to.

Chill things down.

My favorite guy wouldn't drink his coffee black, but he loved everything bitter.

I'm like, why not, he goes, well, my dad woul drink it black.

My dad would breathe on me.

I hate my dad.

Oh so, just like with food, the psychology and sociology of why we eat and drink.

So that fast.

Why don't you lay down, We're going to break this down.

How is your relationship with your family?

Well, my dad God, well, then a dry wine.

My mom is in an assisted living Yeah, my parents were.

You know.

My mom is still one of my you know, biggest supporters.

And my dad told the day he died, was you know, one of my best friends.

So well, that's a good thing to have.

It was not bad.

That's why you So that's why you're a good dad.

I try to be a good dad, you.

The best I can, and a good grandfather, which I'm also you know, still in what it works with.

So that's so crazy when someone my age says their grandfather.

No, I know she's gonna be two in February.

My kids eight.

And minus three, so yeah, I got a while.

Yeah, my youngest is twenty and my oldest is thirty five.

So Larry, we're just about to give things over to Tiffany Hobbs, who's coming on shortly after this.

Where can people find you?

So my taste room is, like I said, in downtown, let's leave us have a website, so it's ter Sarah with a T T E R CEO lines.

I'm not sold in too many places in the LA area.

I'd love to be, but I'm a one man show.

So I do take part in wine bars and other things like that.

I do a lot of winemaker dinners down in this area.

Hopefully I'm going to hook up with Neil and a couple of other cent of our Recover wine makers and come down.

That'd be awesome.

Well, this is perfectly lovely.

Thanks for bringing it on.

Thank you for having me appreciate it.

Larry Schaeffer and Neil Frasier.

What a pleasure.

Thank you.

It's going to start popping off, boys.

We're gonna come by the station in a minute.

Yeah, I need to get set up.

Yes, I will and you've got to get your tail in the studio again sometime soon.

Please, I'm sure we'll have a lot to celebrate.

Sun good fingers crossed.

Here you go, Thank you, pleasure.

It's the Fork Report.

I'm Neil Savadris.

Stick around for Tiffany Hobbes, who will give way to Michael Monks, so go know where.

To all of you hanging out with me at the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival, thank you so much.

Have empathy, be kind to each other, and I'll catch out on Monday when I fill in for Bill Handle starting at six am.

This is KFI and KOSTHD to Los Angeles, Orange County.

You've been listening to the Forek Report.

You can always hear us live on KFI AM six forty two to five pm on Saturday, and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.