Delicious Discussion with Jeni of Jeni's Ice Cream

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Tasty Journeys: A Deep Dive with Jeni of Jeni's Ice Cream

In this 614 feast podcast episode, Jeni shares stories of her European adventures – from picking fresh fruit and savoring baked plums to the delights of making pesto and opting for home-cooked meals in her Airbnb. We dive into the affordability of Napoli-style margherita pizza and marvel at its ubiquitous charm, even in the fanciest pizzerias.

Jeni’s Ice Cream on Ted Lasso

Jeni's authenticity shines through as we talk about her brand and social media. She recalls her favorite moments of Jeni's ice cream on TV, notably its feature on "Ted Lasso." She reveals a behind-the-scenes tidbit about reaching out to Jason Sudeikis and her admiration for him. Jeni’s thoughts on the Kellogg's Pop Tart x Jeni’s Ice Cream collaboration.

From a humbling beginning of sleeping in her car in Upper Arlington to creating an iconic brand with Jeni's Ice Cream, Jeni reflects on her journey, emphasizing the highs and lows.

We also dive into deeper territories, exploring themes of death, light, and shadow. We discuss the dual nature of death: its metaphorical significance and its looming reality. We delve into the essence of resilience, and the power of overcoming past traumas.

Best meal in Columbus, Ohio

We didn't shy away from lighter topics either. She gives a shout out to Comune and shares her quest to find the best Napoli-style margherita pizza in Columbus, Ohio. To wrap things up, we discuss potential memoir themes, the importance of gut health, and the hidden sugars in our foods.

Jeni is incredible, she’s very warm, genuine, creative, kind, interesting, thought-provoking yada yada yada. She rules, and I’m so thankful that she did my podcast again. Also, she got us matching hats that say Always Been Weird.

Brick House Blue Podcast Studio

This episode was recorded at Brick House Blue The Loop | 6515 Longshore Loop, Suite 100, Dublin, Ohio 43017. While most of my episodes were recorded via Zoom, Jeni had the great idea of doing this one in-person. And guess what popped into my mind first? Brick House Blue. Not only do they offer a stunning, acoustically-optimized podcast studio, but the affordability is truly unbeatable at just $30 an hour. Beyond their podcast amenities, Brick House Blue is a vibrant hub for open coworking, impactful meetings, virtual mail services, and more. Nestled in the heart of Bridgepark Dublin, their location is both picturesque and convenient. And if you're ever in need of such a space, their website is a breeze to navigate and book. I can't recommend them enough!

SPOTIFY PODCAST LINK and APPLE PODCAST LINK

Big Night (1996) - Film Feast

Food is definitely a character in this 90’s indie film.

My buddy Ben Verschoor and I analyze this movie through the lens of food.

The 1996 indie film "Big Night" is examined through the lens of food.

The movie revolves around two brothers who own an Italian restaurant that's failing. Primo, the chef, wants to stick to traditional recipes, while Secondo, the restaurant manager, wants to experiment and do marketing. The film raises questions about life, art, and money. The opening shows the brothers' relationship perfectly, and the movie feels very real. There are plenty of food porn scenes, and the pasta-making scene is incredible. The movie explores the value of authentic food, and Pascal, a character in the movie, offers some interesting advice on how to succeed in the restaurant business. The movie's ending is bittersweet, and it leaves the viewers wondering what happened to the brothers.

Big Night movie’s final scene

The final scene with the omelet is top notch film making. It’s so simple but powerful.

614 feast podcast Film Feast

I normally have delicious discussions with the best restauranteurs in Columbus, Ohio, foodies, and friends. I wanted to combine my love of food and film. So, occasionally, I’ll have my friends on to discuss the food in movies. Food is frequently the character in a movie. Food is very often subtly important to movies and tv shows. This podcast is available on my website, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Alissa Henry co-host of the popular Ohio Lottery TV show, Cash Explosion.

Good Day Marketplace is a lifestyle show that Alissa Henry co-hosts on fox 28

Occasionally, she reports on Good Day Columbus. Since she was a little kid, she always knew that she wanted to become a journalist. Her passion for performing and hosting was ignited during her high school days, where doing announcements served as an inspiration that led her to fall in love with this field.

Alissa Henry co-hosts Ohio Lottery’s Cash Explosion tv show and co-hosts Good Day Marketplace both air on Fox 28. She is also an OU grad, avid reader, runner, and so much more. 

She never imagined becoming a TV host, but the opportunity to host Cash Explosion came along and it instantly became her dream job, exceeding all her expectations. Life is full of unexpected paths and opportunities, and she never thought she'd end up here. Years ago, with determination, she uploaded her demo reel on YouTube which led to several meetings that ultimately led to being selected. It has been almost six years, and she's still going strong, loving every moment of it. Cash Explosion is the longest-running state lottery based game show.

Alissa’s an Ohio University graduate so naturally I asked her about social media journalists vs college educated journalists.

Can you believe it? Her and her husband got engaged in front of a Cold Stone Creamery! Speaking of ice cream, have you ever wondered how many servings are in a pint? We love chatting about Dairy Queen blizzards, Culver's mix-ins, and Cold Stone creations. I had a roommate that would eat a single bite of ice cream once a week. One tablespoon of Ben and Jerry’s once a week, insane behavior. We'd rather indulge in a whole pint every now and then.

Almond M&M’s and tortilla chips are her go to munchies.

Unpopular food opinions

• Alissa doesn’t like seafood says shrimp is slimy and disgusting.

• forget the fish,

• lose the lobster,

• NO to the entire sea.

• Alissa loves Romeo’s Pizza and their sweet sauce.

Top 3 Columbus, Ohio restaurants

Top 3 restaurants in Columbus, Ohio according to Alissa are Brassica, TAT, and Scali’s for their delicious Italian food and pasta dishes, and Third & Hollywood. Fun fact, Third & Hollywood, NorthStar Cafe, and Brassica are owned by the same company. Bonus fun fact, I worked at Third & Hollywood years ago before I moved to NYC.

Most expensive restaurant she’s had is RH at Easton, it’s a rooftop restaurant on top of Restoration Hardware. French fries were 18 dollars! The food was so expensive she couldn’t even taste it. Expensive restaurants set expectations so high it can be challenging to enjoy it. Some things are so expensive they get under your skin.

Film feast - Alissa Henry

Favorite food related moments on movies and tv shows.

• Film feast, Alissa shares her favorite food moments in cinema, and "Soul Food" takes center stage. This movie depicts the power and significance of family meals, as Sunday dinners bring loved ones together and create lasting memories. While family and romantic relationships are certainly important aspects of the film, it's the food that steals the show. Through the mouth-watering scenes of soul food cooking and family feasting, "Soul Food" showed Alissa the true importance of a family dinner, and how it can strengthen bonds and create a sense of togetherness.

• Film feast, Alissa shares her favorite food moment from Sex and the City, a scene where Kerry is on a date with a guy named Berger and indulges in a mushroom swiss burger. Alissa recalls the cheese stretch being so tantalizing that she's been hooked on mushroom swiss burgers ever since. This moment in the show captures the essence of how food can evoke desire and pleasure, and it serves as a reminder of how a single moment in a movie or TV show can have a lasting impact on our tastes and preferences.

Alissa firmly believes that melted cheese is better than cheese sauce. For her, the ultimate cheese experience is when you get that satisfying cheese pull that just makes everything taste better. This love for cheese led her on a culinary adventure to Aruba, where she stumbled upon a TGIFriday's restaurant that had the most loaded nachos she had ever seen. Each chip was topped with a generous amount of toppings, making every bite a flavor explosion. But the cheese love affair didn't stop there, as she also discovered Chuy's in Columbus, which served nachos with just as many toppings per chip. Nachos led to taco talk and Alissa had never heard of birria tacos, so I suggested she try my favorite option in Columbus, Los Agaves food truck in Clintonville, Ohio.

Alissa tells me about the concept of "shelf cooking" or "reverse meal prep," where you use the ingredients you already have in your pantry to make a meal. Tips and tricks on how to be efficient and creative in the kitchen with what you have.

The conversation then shifts to restaurant reviews and the importance of being honest in your opinions without being harsh or mean. I share my approach to reviewing restaurants and how I strive to be as objective and honest as possible. The topic of tagging restaurants in negative reviews also comes up, which Alissa said is kind of wild, what do you think? 614 feast podcast is based in Columbus, Ohio and this episode is available on my website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.

Tiffany Ima anti-diet, body confidence coach

Gain a new perspective on body positivity and intuitive eating.

614 feast podcast with guest Tiffany Ima, a body confidence coach and anti-diet influencer, discover tips for body confidence, self-love, and ED recovery. Insights into the anti-diet movement and wellness. Trigger warning: discussing eating disorders.

Healthy at any size.

Together they discuss building a healthy relationship with food, rejecting societal pressures to conform to a certain body type, and prioritizing self-care. Tune in to gain insight into the anti-diet movement and approach food in a healthy, positive way.

Where do men fit into the body confidence movement? Fat liberation is a more accurate term when talking about body positivity for bodies that are being stigmatized. Body positivity in mainstream media tends to be focused on white cis women.

Tiffany Ima’s content is very vulnerable and authentic. Her content, captions, and thoughtful comments are educational and engaging. I ask her how she creates content if she’s having a bad day and if she ever gets empathy fatigue.

Top 3 misunderstandings about body confidence

1 being anti-diet doesn’t mean not caring about your health

2 body diversity is important

3 healthy at every size

What is wellness to you? Health is a privilege. Intuitive eating explained. 

Unpopular and polarizing food opinions, Tiffany says mint chocolate ice cream is disgusting. Also, fruit is trash, because it’s not consistent and can often have bad textures or spoiled.

Top Columbus, Ohio Restaurants

According to Tiffany Ima two of the top restaurants in Columbus, Ohio are Katalina’s and Flip Side just to name a few. This podcast is available here on my website, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts etc.

Columbus, Ohio style barbecue - Hoggy's BBQ

How to deal with mean comments on social media

How to deal with hater comments.

Hoggy’s made videos about troll comments on TikTok and Instagram. 614 Magazine did a write up on the video, Kyle tells me about the write up and how mean comments affect him.

A drunk driver drove their car into Hoggy’s Restaurant on 830 Bethel Rd, Columbus, Ohio.

Hoggy’s BBQ and Star House

Hoggy’s donates their leftovers to Star House which is a great organization. From Star House’s website “Star House operates Central Ohio's only drop-in center for youth, ages 14-24, who are experiencing homelessness. Our drop-in center services are provided 24/7/365 days a year. At our drop-in center, youth are provided access to food, clothing, hygiene items, laundry facilities, showers and a safe place to be. Beyond basic needs, our clinical team provides therapy and case management, and partner agencies provide on-site and community-based access to stabilizing resources, such as housing, transportation, health care, employment, education, addiction services, legal aid, government benefits, ID cards and more.”

Hoggy’s recently had two influencers come in and make content. SnipingForDom has over 600,000 followers on TikTok. Big K’s Que has over 165,000 followers on TikTok. Kyle said that both of them were very friendly and gave him quality feedback.

Kyle’s Film Feast movie choices were the tomato scene in Lord of the Rings Return of the King and the cakes in Marie Antoinette.

Is Banh Mi the best sandwich?

Kyle’s been eating a lot of Bendi Wok n Bar because he loves banh mi sandwiches. He thinks it might be the perfect sandwich, it’s good to go but he suggests dining in. He goes for the shaved pork banh mi and his significant other orders the cashew chicken and of course he sneaks a couple of bites. 

Kyle says it can be true that one place is good, and another place is good as well. Everyone can win, multiple places can be good, all places can have merit. A barbecue community would be awesome, Kyle Turner owner of Hoggy’s is down to collaborate and connect cc Ray Ray’s, Hanks, etc. 

The future of Hoggy’s? The main focus is high quality delicious food but also, they’d like to have multiple locations. If and when they do expand, they want their current Bethel Rd location to be the smoking hub and they’d deliver the food to the satellite locations.

Tommy Boy (1995) - Film Feast

Discussing the food in the movie Tommy Boy (1995)

Food is a character in Tommy Boy, in this week’s episode of 614 feast podcast my friend Sam Famolaro and I discuss and analyze the movie through the lens of food. We mentioned all the food scenes that stood out to us, did we miss any?

The movie starts out with a young Chris Farley dropping his lunch box to stop a dog that was chasing him. Cut to a frat party with frat party food, Tommy Boy nailed it, Tommy and his rugby friends had a party and they just had one pizza box and a bag of chips. Very realistic college party vibes.

Sam asked me when I went from college parties with no effort to adult parties with charcuterie boards and effort. It’s hard to pinpoint, Sam’s theory is once you’re a homeowner you start to care and make an effort. I think renting your own apartment counts too.

The M&M scene from Tommy Boy

It’s so funny because it showcases the characters' personalities so well. David Spade is so worried about his car, he’s prim and proper. Tommy is a wild card silly goose, eating candy in his car and of course, makes a mess. Sam’s unpopular snack opinion is he doesn't like M&M’s.

What’s the best road trip snack?

Sam and I both agree Combos are the perfect road trip snack. Also, we both only eat Combos on road trips. What’s the best movie theater snack? Sam says the obvious choice is popcorn. His secondary choice is Twizzlers. We talk about sneaking snacks into movie theaters. Also, is movie theater food good? Soft pretzels, burger, pizza, etc. it’s very expensive and low quality but is it worth it?

More food relevant plot points for Tommy Boy (1995)

Tommy Boy has a mini fridge in his office. I think it’s super cool and great for drinks and hot sauce. Sam doesn’t think a mini fridge is a worthwhile thing to have.

Rob Lowe is introduced getting off a bus, drinking milk from a carton, then punching the glass where a kid’s face is then he throws the milk carton in a baby’s face. 

Tommy’s love interest offers him a bear claw and Sam has never even heard of that donut, in Sam’s defense, it is a mediocre donut. 

What’s the most difficult food to eat while driving? Tommy eats fries in the car and grossly squirts ketchup into his mouth. Sam says fries are definitely hard, I’ve eaten nachos and a gyro while driving. 

When Richard and Tommy are arguing about Tommy failing at sales, Richard says your dad could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves. Tommy misses the point completely and only focuses on the ludicrous idea of a ketchup popsicle, hilarious.

Tommy want wingy

The Tommy Want Wingy scene is iconic, Tommy’s desire to get chicken wings made him be a good salesman. He was kind of charming, kind of confident, very convincing, and he got his wings. 

Sam and I say it’s ridiculous to order a shrimp cocktail from a random diner in the middle of nowhere.

After Tommy’s first sale, the next scene shows them at the hotel and Tommy says he’s going to leave to get a pizza. He asks a pretty lady where the gym is and eventually comes back to the hotel sans pizza.

Which movie character would you go to brunch with?

Sam said Ray Zelensky and I said Tommy.

Utica New York food staples

Sam tells me about Utica food staples.

Moon Pie cookies which are very similar to a black and white cookie.

Tomato pie which is a cold thick crust pizza with a layer of tomato sauce and parmesan cheese on top, 

Utica greens commonly escarole sauteed with garlic and olive oil. Per Wikipedia most recipes include hot cherry peppers, pecorino cheese, breadcrumbs, prosciutto or another cured meat, and sometimes chicken broth.

Chicken riggies which is basically penne ala vodka with chicken

Check out Sam on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. This podcast episode is available below, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.

The Yellowbird Foodshed co-founder Benji Ballmer

Mount Vernon, Ohio - The Yellowbird Foodshed

The Yellowbird Foodshed collaboratively collects food from Ohio growers, a foodshed is the geographic region that your food comes from. Where it’s produced, where it’s consumed, as well as the route that it takes to get there. The Yellowbird Foodshed is based in Mount Vernon, Ohio and they’re going into their 10th year this year.

Top 3 reasons Yellowbird Foodshed is better than a grocery store

• Their customers want to know where their food comes from. Who grew your food?

• The food speaks for itself, it’s fresher and tastier. Also, with Yellowbird Foodshed you know where your food comes from, it’s mainly from farmers they know in Ohio. If it’s from outside of Ohio they’ll let you know where it’s from. Each product they provide has been sustainably raised, harvested, and transported.

• Yellowbird pays a higher percentage to growers, for example at a major grocery store for every dollar spent on a head of lettuce the grower might see 6 cents but at Yellowbird Foodshed the grower sees close to 65 cents.

Top 3 Central Ohio Restaurants

High quality, farm fresh food makes it hard to go out to eat. Going out to eat can be very average especially compared to the freshest, highest quality, local produce and meats. 

1 Pizza Nerds in Newark

2 Ghostwriter Public House in Johnstown

3 Harvest Bar & Kitchen in Clintonville

Vegan meals vs. Meat meals and I’d rather have a B rated meat dish than an A rated plant-based dish.

Local food near me?

What defines local? Countless restaurants claim to be local but actually use food sourced from all over the world. A restaurant might say they’re local, but they’re using the same food from Sysco or US Foods. 

Film feast. The best representation of food in a movie or tv show. Benji’s answer is Meet Joe Black and the cake scene. Benji’s favorite snack is homemade popcorn. He’ll take Ohio butter and maple syrup and mix those together, pour it over local Ohio popcorn, and a little bit of salt too. Sweet and salty, sounds like a delicious snack to me. Top 3 Ohio popcorn producers are Shagbark, Till, and Clutter.

This was a really fun podcast episode. 614 feast podcast is available on my website, Apple Podcast, Spotify, and more.

Freedom a la Cart CEO Paula Haines

Columbus, Ohio based freedom a la cart

Paula Haines is the CEO of Freedom a la Cart. This podcast episode was recorded in November of 2021. Paula is an incredible person, she’s very smart, empathetic, kind, and she’s CEO of a great company that does a lot of good things. We recorded this right around the same time that my digital marketing business was getting busy, that’s why there was a delay releasing this episode. Better late than never.

Freedom a la Cart specializes in the long-term road to becoming self-sufficient.

Freedom a la Cart is a social enterprise non-profit that works to support and empower women that have experienced sex trafficking. We talk about management’s trauma informed training techniques. They have tons of resources and services available for survivors. For example, they help with obtaining a driver's license, getting an apartment, a job, etc. Freedom a la Cart also does a saving match program, which helps the survivors get their cars and other expensive purchases. Freedom a la Cart specializes in the long-term road to becoming self-sufficient.

I asked Paula how Freedom a la Cart deals with empathy fatigue on a personal level and a business level. She tells me about a three-year plan they’re working on to have a new Freedom a la Cart in another city. Catering, cafe, and non-profit all in the same building help serve the community.

Motivating stories of people overcoming adversity

Paula tells me about two different employees that overcame extreme adversity. Earning people’s trust and teaching them that people can have positive intentions. Provide them with valuable work experience, help support them while they figure out what they want to do and help guide them. Really motivational episode.

Freedom a la Cart feeds the soul, builds confidence, pride in creating a delicious dish, food is science and art. Food ticks the boxes for healing and learning. Paula tells me about her favorite dining experience at Rose’s Luxury in Washington DC, which her son in law worked at, none other than BJ Lieberman of Chapman’s. Paula’s unpopular food opinion is she doesn’t like pizza!

Top 3 Columbus, Ohio restaurants

Paula Haines Top 3 Columbus, Ohio restaurants are Chapman’s Eat Market, Veritas, and Bibibop.