In The Weeds with Ben Randall

It's the 4th of July, so of course we're talking about food spokespeople, robot delivery services and cold-brew coffee!

Still no good news, kids!  Today we talk restaurants reopening amidst COVID-19, pizza of varying qualities, the supposed meat shortage and why Rian Johnson shouldn't be the chef/owner of a restaurant.

You guys.  Bosses.  Restaurant owners.  While it has never really been a good time to be racist, now is REALLY NOT A GOOD TIME.  Also, Chipotle continues to poison people, bakers are uniting against racism and Ben becomes obsessed with beans.

It is really tough to be funny and run a light, silly show about the restaurant industry in June of 2020.  So we aren't really trying.  Today we're talking systemic racism in restaurants, what happens when restaurant owners open their big stupid racist mouths on social media, why Bon Apetit is likely to see a huge management staffing shift, and geckos.

Black Lives Matter.  I cannot do much, but here is what I am going to do. Donate Here: https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home/#about https://www.naacpldf.org/support/other-ways-to-give/ https://action.aclu.org/give/donate-to-aclu-multistep  

Good morning America.  Today we're talking about flooding in Michigan, flooding in restaurants, chip salad, culinary whitewashing and deeply flawed kitchen 'tips & tricks'.  It's getting wild out there.  Spoilers, don't trust everything on the internet.  (You can trust us.) https://www.facebook.com/intheweedswithbenrandall/?__xts__[0]=68.ARBAxVsnxHsGG34SVyFNxEF28m0ToIcfEPiWNEVp3Q8WqCy6HDsGav6I...

Nothing's good in the world right now, so we decided to distract you by running down the 'favorite cocktails from each state', as reported to us by someone who nuzzled up to some Google Analytics.  So, America, as the shelter-in-place days grind on, what are YOU drinking?

Today we're wading into the obviously racist twitter beef between Alison "Off-White" Roman and Chrissy Teigen, we talk fancy grilled cheese, homemeade Cheetos and why aren't there mobile slaughterhouses?

Just in time for your morning commute to nowhere, New Episode!  Today we're talking Chuck E Cheese's identity crisis, being accosted by 'girl' scouts and a bread article written by a Karen who is so white, her name may as well be Caren White.  Don't you buy that flour; Caren's gonna getcha.

We continue to contribute to the nationwide flour & yeast shortage tonight, baking all sorts of incredible and inadvisable things.  Also, let's talk some more about Grubhub's terrible policies toward restaurants and look out Georgia.

Like so many of you, I am locked out of my kitchen.  I miss my home, I miss my profession, I miss my staff.  So here's a band-aid.  This will not fix your problems.  This will not fill your dining rooms.  This will not reopen your doors.  But this is 50 straight minutes of kitchen line noise. You're welcome.  

The shelter-en-place baking continues!  Steve & Ben make gigantic cinnamon rolls, against their better judgement.  Tonight we discuss CSAs, food truck theme songs and why didn't Open Table switch to setting up curbside reservations for grocery stores?

Today, in an attempt to retain some sense of normalcy, Steve & Ben talk personal grooming, where to find a quiet spot in a restaurant and kitchen pet peeves!

Today we discuss the future of restaurants In The Time Of Coronavirus, Yelp pulls some solid bullshit and is Guy Fieri the hero we deserve?

So we're in the thick of self-isolation and sheltering in place and the restaurant world is in chaos.  What can we do, what is being done and where do we go from here?  Spoilers, there are no good answers.

Ok, fine.  We'll talk about Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its effect on us, on the hospitality industry, etc.  Also, Pringles are the mind killer, and we invent yet ANOTHER imaginary band.

Oh, man, this is the big one.  Kirk vs. Picard.  Now, before you give up on us nerds, keep in mind that we have been challenged by a listener to decide who is a better captain, so we put both crews into kitchen roles to figure out who would be the better Executive Chef.  Also, we continue to rag on 'influencers', try to engineer a pizza pop-tart and we discuss when a hamburger stops being a hambur...

In our ongoing quest to improve EVERYONE'S dining experience, here is our attempt to draft a 10 Commandments For Diners.  Be a better customer, get better customer service.  It's simple.

Y'all know I hate grocery stores.  Here's another reason why.

Tonight, kids, we're pitching holiday food movies!  Also, we're constantly injured.

In this episode we discuss Ken Friedman the Coward, robots in the kitchen, New York's banning of cashless restaurants and a new heartwarming restaurant Christmas special for everyone.

Tonight we talk rare food allergies, Ken Friedman's employee and customer abuse case settlement, music about food and Michigan roads.  Because of course we do.

Welcome back, and welcome to 2020!  Today we talk restaurant closings, predictions for 2020 food trends, the Cheez Whiz spectrum and we look into why customer politeness has become an endangered species.  Also, we forget to introduce ourselves at the beginning of the show!

Just in time for Christmas, we talk about NOTHING holiday related.  Today we're talking about hiring restaurant staff, people bitching just to bitch and gigantic Twixes.  Also, we've interviewed Ali Gonzales from  https://sustainableculinarysolutions.com/ , a chef/consultant with 30 years restaurant experience.

Tonight we're talking Thanksgiving, Canadian hyperlocal desserts and Papa John Schnatter's descent into madness.