Fountain Avenue Dishes
Listen in as the cook, Ann, and the dietitian, Emily, behind the long-running source for dependable recipes dish about how it all got started and offer a glimpse into what this new podcast will bring to the table.
Fountain Avenue Dishes
Food Insecurity, Abuse, and Addiction: Gabriel Painton's Path to Success
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Gabriel Painton survived food insecurity, abuse, and addiction. Now he’s using that experience to inspire high school students and create space for meaningful conversations beyond the curriculum. Listen in as he and Ann delve into key moments of his remarkable story.
Recipes mentioned in this episode:
Miso Salmon
Dark Chocolate Avocado Pudding
Mexican Flank Steak
Welcome to Fountain Avenue Dishes, a show where we talk about food and nutrition and the fascinating people and stories they connect us to. I'm your host, Ann Fulton, and today's story is really special to me and I think it will inspire a lot of people. I'll be talking with a man who happens to be one of my older son's all-time favorite teachers, but whose story, his and personal journey with food extends far beyond the classroom. I am so excited to introduce Gabriel Payton. For the last 17 years, he has been a social studies teacher at McCaskey High School, right here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He is married to an elementary school teacher, and together they have two sons, one in seventh grade and one a senior. Gabriel loves to read, travel, run, go to the gym. He is an avid Pitt fan, and he enjoys an occasional craft beer or cocktail. So welcome to the show, Gabriel. I am so grateful that you are here and willing to tell your story.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you for all the kind words, too. But I feel like I'm just gonna let everybody down now after all those kind words. I think we should just end here. No, no.
SPEAKER_01Your story is so compelling. And um for the record, I am a McCaskey graduate. I was there I didn't know that. Just did I never tell you that? I did not know that. I was there a little before your time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Class of 88.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, slightly before.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just a few years. But in honor of today, I am I pulled out the McCaskey colors, red and black.
SPEAKER_00I thought I saw that underneath there.
SPEAKER_01And so I really I realized I don't have a lot of red in my wardrobe. So I had so you know what it is? It's an old, it's a very old McCaskey cross-country t-shirt.
SPEAKER_00Love it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So and I have to keep the sweater over it because it the studio is a little chilly. Chilly is a little chilly. So I'd be having like goosebumps if I could.
SPEAKER_00You kind of feel at home being uh in ice rinks all the time. So true, true.
SPEAKER_01You have yeah, you've got some hockey players in your family. Um so um, yeah, so and I do happen to know that our we red and black are McCaskey colors, of course, go tornadoes, that our favorite color. We had blue. Blue. Oh yes. So I actually have something if we have time that is not really food related, but kind of that I feel like at the end we need to circle back on to the blue crew. Just sort of a fun little aside. So we'll try to wrap up with that. But um I like to start with just sort of some fun, rapid-fired questions because, you know, just before we get into that sort of the meaty part. So you mentioned I I mentioned that you enjoy a you know, cocktail on occasion. So what is your favorite cocktail?
SPEAKER_00Uh just a vodka martini, dirty. Okay. Yeah, that's that that's my favorite. It's go-to. All my friends make fun of me, you know. They're always like, that's not very punk rock, because I love punk rock, and they're like, that's not very punk rock, a martini. So it's solid. It is solid. It's definitely my go-to.
SPEAKER_01I'm kind of an old-fashioned kind of a person.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I like those too, yeah, especially during this time of year. Uh over winter time, they they hit really nice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, when the weather's cool. Yeah. Um, so what was your favorite subject when you were in school?
SPEAKER_00Um, you know, it was probably always so history, social studies, politics. Um always really into, I mean, because of my family situation, I was kind of forced into being very aware, acutely aware of politics. Uh, and so even as I was like, I was the only third grader that v uh voted for Jesse Jackson in our mock collection for our school. So, you know, when they were we were doing a mock election for like uh George Bush and uh Michael Dukakis, and I was the only one that voted for uh Jesse Jackson. So I've I've always been uh pretty political, so that's always been my favorite social.
SPEAKER_01Jesse Jackson came and spoke at my college.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness. Yeah. Oh, that was awesome.
SPEAKER_01I haven't thought about that for years. Um okay, so what's your go-to breakfast? I mean, teacher, you're up and out early.
SPEAKER_00So honestly, this is pretty boring, but every day, every day is the same thing, um, you know, except for on the weekends. But it's two eggs and fruit, fresh fruit every morning. And then I use uh a justice seasoning from um Penzies spices. Ooh, yeah. I love Penzies. They have good spices. Oh, they're wonderful spices.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, really good. Uh coffee or tea?
SPEAKER_00Uh decaf coffee.
SPEAKER_01Decaf. Uh sweet or salty.
SPEAKER_00Uh salty for sure. Yeah. Not a big sweet fan. But the older I get, the more I appreciate sweets.
SPEAKER_01So they have their place, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm looking forward to trying some of the chocolate avocado puddings and stuff like that. Oh, yes, new recipe on the fountain. Yeah, that's a good that's a good one. Well, I'm looking forward to it, because I like I said, the older I get, the more my sweet tooth comes, you know, into prominence.
SPEAKER_01So this is a good one for a teacher, I think. What is your favorite thing to do on a snow day?
SPEAKER_00Um start a fire in my fireplace. Uh you know, sometimes that that can turn into a day drinking day with my friends. Uh martini. Yeah, that that can be a lot of fun on a snow day. Um spending time on sled riding at Buchanan. But uh I also believe it or not, I like to I have three older neighbors who live across the street from me. Like Juan and Judy and Rod and Miss V, and I like to shovel their stuff there for them. And I just it it's like gives me my exercise, but it also makes me kind of kind of makes me feel good too to do it.
SPEAKER_01So you mentioned Buchanan Park, you say Buchanan, so I know because uh that's where I sledded when I was a little girl and I would take my boys uh sledding.
SPEAKER_00It's the best we can do. Yeah. Being from Pittsburgh, like that's they say that's a hill. That's not a hill, right? When you're from Lancaster, it's a big one. It's like the best place to go. It's a good one. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um so favorite book? What do you like to read?
SPEAKER_00Um oh my gosh. It's hard to pick. That is hard to pick. Um but I really liked East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and I really like the Grapes of Wrath. I just remember in elementary school, um, I had a a teacher, Miss Son, who would come and pull me out of class to read The Grapes of Wrath. And we would read it and discuss it and then connect it to like um you know current events back then when you know when I was in elementary school, and it was just really neat to just be able to leave class and and and do like you know, what seemed you know more fun things. Yeah. You know, we would read a lot of stuff like the you know opera, like listen to operas like Phantom of the Opera and read plays and you know, a lot of literature we read together. So it was cool. But I would I'd definitely say uh probably the grapes of wrath, but for you know, nonfiction, um that's tough. Uh maybe the prison notebook from Tanya O'Gramshi. So that's a a a big favorite of mine that I go to and and read out of a lot.
SPEAKER_01So Okay, thank you. Okay, so changing gears. On my older so I referenced my older son John, who just loved you as a teacher.
SPEAKER_00I wish we all had uh 30 of him in a class. I adore him. Oh, that'll make his day. He's he's amazing.
SPEAKER_01I vividly remember him coming home from school on his first day of his ninth grade, his first day at Mikkowski, and he's like, you have to hear this story that Mr. Payton told the class. And he went on to tell this detailed story. I mean, I would have thought it was verb- I didn't hear the story, so I don't know that it was clear verbatim, but he was clearly clinging to every word, so engaged, and it was so impactful what you said. And I'll get more into sort of his reactions later as we talk, I'm sure. But could you tell the listeners your story or a Cliff Note version of it, the story that that he would have heard that day?
SPEAKER_00So I I I, you know, for for years, well not years, but uh maybe the first two years there um trying to connect with students, you know, I don't think they really knew where I was coming from because of the way I I look today and the way I sound today and things like that. And a lot of times when I mean sorry, meaning that the way that you look clean cut. Yeah, yeah, right, right. And they it just it doesn't sound like I grew up in Pittsburgh or I don't look like I had anything, you know, any struggles and and you know, growing up. And then when kids would be having issues and I would, you know, talk to them one-on-one, and then I would share with them, and they would always be like, Mr. Why don't you let us know that? And so I was like, okay, well, you know, I think John's year maybe have been the first year I did that, but I was like, okay, you know, the first week I'm gonna let them know like where I'm coming from. But being like a social studies teacher, I also had to interject some, you know, you know, political stuff in there and some societal stuff in there and some economic stuff in there. So um I essentially just told the story. Uh, you know, I said, well, I'm gonna tell you a story about a kid named Jamal. And of course, the name kind of registers a picture in a lot of kids' heads. And I go through the story about what happened to Jamal, and then at the end, I say, Well, you know, what if I told you Jamal kind of So So just backtrack?
SPEAKER_01Give us the the highlights of that story.
SPEAKER_00So uh my my father was an air traffic controller uh who was constructively fired on August 3rd in 1981 by President Reagan uh when they were going on strike for you know better equipment in the towers, higher, you know, wages and stuff like that. And when you know he went on strike, they fired him and it it led to him being blacklisted. Um I don't I don't know whether it was officially blacklisted or not. All I know, and when you're you know four, five, six, seven, eight years old, it doesn't matter if it was official or not, he was not getting hired by anybody because he was an air traffic controller. And so that led to a lot of food insecurity in my house. Um, you know, him not being able to work, or him, if he was working, he was putting together piecemeal jobs like um, you know, uh knocking down houses in Pittsburgh for demolition crews or working at Radio Shack, or he also did like at a bakery overnight some stuff. And um, you know, my mom would just worked as a secretary uh at a place that washed the inside of tank trucks, so just not a lot of money. Um, and we had a lot of people living in in our house. Um we had a three-bedroom house and we had anywhere between 13 to 15 people living in that house. Um and that was I I later found out so that we didn't lose the house. Everybody chipped in so that we could stay in a house at least. And you know, the just not a lot of food. Um, you know, eating you know, buttered noodles a lot with dollar store garlic salt. Um, you know, not a lot of any good food that was sustaining or anything like that. And I remember being hungry a lot because when you have that many people in the house and you don't have a lot of money for food. Um I I remember s stealing ketchup packets from uh fast food restaurants and putting them in my pockets and then you know, going to the bathroom at school and eating the ketchup packets uh because I was hungry and not wanting to do it in front of kids because of you know the stigma of that. Um and it was just you know, uh I just remember always feeling like I wasn't getting enough food. Uh and unfortunately, because of you know what my dad did, like we were consistently denied uh free breakfast at school, free lunch at school. They they denied our our applications for it and stuff like that. Um you know, we didn't have a school like McCaskey where it's 100%, you know, to to reduce the stigma of kids who need it, so everybody gets it.
SPEAKER_01It wasn't like that where I had forgotten it used to be different that you had to apply. You had mentioned that to me, and I was like, you know, I that everybody can get it now, right? And you don't have to go through a right process.
SPEAKER_00So me and my three older sisters were all denied. Um and you know, it it was um it just not a lot of good food, you know, maybe like bacon grease on bread and stuff like that, that kind of stuff. Yeah. Uh to kind of make you feel a little bit f more full and whatnot. Um and of course, with all of that stuff that came along, was you know, my dad was a you know a big time drinker, and that led to some other issues in the house. Um led to a lot of unhappiness for my mother, who uh unfortunately took it out on primarily me because I was the boy and sometimes my three-year-old sisters physically. Um, so uh just a lot of chaos in that house growing up for sure. But the one thing that, you know, besides you know getting beat a lot was the the being hungry a lot. Um that that really bothered me.
SPEAKER_01So and then how did that impact your performance in school and as you grew up?
SPEAKER_00So I I I I was um in elementary school, you know, it was it I I still managed to do it. I don't think elementary school is very challenging. But then when I got to middle school and things got a little bit more difficult and I really had to focus and stuff like that, I I just remember being like, I don't care. There's other things I'm concerned with. It just everything else in school seems so trivial in comparison to like what I was feeling in my head or what I what I thought I was going through. So I was like, no, I I I don't really care about school. And that's where I really started to mess up uh in seventh and eighth grade. And then by the time I got to ninth grade, like I was a really, really good football, basketball, and baseball player, and I was playing three sports and um really good at baseball. Uh and then about my sophomore year, I got introduced to uh drugs. So I started doing a lot of drugs. Um, everything pretty much you could think of except for the three big ones like crack heroin or meth or any of those things. I knew not to ever touch those because my aunt um who lived with us uh she was addicted to crack and and heroin. And I saw what it would do to her, and I just remember as a kid with my mom going to like different crack houses where we lived in Quariopolis to go pull her out of there and bring her back home and stuff like that, and just walking through these houses that were like dark and human feces on the floor and stuff like that, and just being like, I just knew like don't ever do these. Yeah, because like once you do these, it's like a big deal. And because I started doing drugs, like it just I stopped doing sports to me. Like drugs were more of an escape and seemed more fun and kind of took my mind off of things. And so um then one day, like I I woke up and my parents were at each other's necks as they were daily. I can't remember day they weren't. And um I just remember it it was it was like my junior year, maybe, and just being like, oh my god, like if if I don't make serious changes in my life, that's gonna be me in 15 years. Like I'm looking into the future, into this like this crystal ball showing me like that's gonna be me. And literally the next day, I was like, I'm done. I'm not doing drugs. I was smoking, I smoked, but I picked up smoking cigarettes, which is I know it's probably like crazy for you to hear when you know who I am now, right? But like I did because of my friends and stuff, and and I picked it up for maybe like a a year and a half, two years, and I had never smoked a cigarette again that day. I just made the decision.
SPEAKER_01How old were you again at this point?
SPEAKER_00This was like my 11th grade year, like October of my 11th grade year. And I was just like, this is this has got to no, this has got to end. And I I didn't have a lot of credits. Um, you know, my grade point average at that point was like a 0.667 grade point average. And I was like, I gotta get out of this school. I gotta go to an alternative school, which is like you know, the Burley school here. And I accelerated all my classes and graduated in like nine weeks. Wow. Right. I just went to my teachers and I was just like, give me everything I need to. What are we gonna do this year? And my math teacher was like, Oh, we're gonna do chapters two through thirteen in this book. And I just accelerated through it. And I was like, I gotta get out of here. And I and then after that, then I just got a job working construction where uh at the uh construction company where my sister worked. She got me a job there. Um and worked there and and then went to community college and then transferred to the University of Pittsburgh, and then came out here and then got certified to teach and became a uh a teacher at McCaskey. And that's the story I tell. And I'm just like, well, what if I told you like Jamal, you know, what if I told you he actually well I actually I say, where do you think he is today? And a lot of kids, the hands go up and they're like, he's dead. Um, he killed himself, he's in prison, uh, he's this, he's that. And then I go, well, what if I told you he actually woke up one day, realized he needed to make changes? What if I told you that he went to school or you were construction, then he went to school, and then he did this, and then I keep going and I take it once. What if I told you that the school district of Lancaster hired him? What if I told you he taught social studies in room 209? And that's the room the kids are sitting in, right? And they're just kind of like, and it's funny because then they're like, wait, hold on, room 209, and they're like, wait, that's this room, right? And they start to see the light bulb. You're Jamal, and I'm like, yeah, I am. And they're like, what? And it's just like there's a moment of just like complete silence where everybody just like in their chair, they're like, What? Like, we didn't know it was you, and I'm like, yeah, and I was like, and then that leads to the that whole issue of like problems in society that when I said the name Jamal, they didn't even think twice, they accepted it. It's like that that's okay.
SPEAKER_01Because and for those who are listening and not watching, you're white, you look rather you're dressed in a sort of a clean-cut way, you have your hair cut close, you're in good shape, you know. So we it's uh sort of the stereotypes that we naturally gravitate towards.
SPEAKER_00Naturally accept. And that was one of the lessons I said. I'm like, where are we at in society that we have just become comfortable and it and we accept that this is the fate of people of color many a times? That you guys were like, oh, no big deal. This is just what it's like to be black and American. It's like, that's really sad. And I said, I want you guys to start thinking like that the rest of the year in this class, like this idea of the these things that we just accept. Uh, and we shouldn't. We shouldn't accept that as that's normal and that's okay, and I'm not shocked that this is somebody who is a person of color who's growing up like this. They were only shocked when they found it was somebody who was like me. And I was like, that's not okay. So I also turned it into, you know, a government lesson and a huge teaching moment and so impactful because you're sharing such a personal uh the the most personal thing that you really could share about yourself, the the struggles that you've that you grew up with.
SPEAKER_01Um and I remember asking John recently, saying, you know, what are your takeaways? Like what when you listened to that, what what were you thinking? And he said, one, like for a teacher to share, like you normally like there's a kind of a separation between like a teacher's personal life. And he said, I've I'd never had a teacher just share something so personal and um so heavy. And I said, Did that change how you went into Mr. Payton's classroom every day? And he said, Oh, absolutely. He was like, I was way more engaged, and because I felt like he was giving us something in return for what he was expecting from us. And for sure. And that he really listened and cared. And he's like, I know he said this. He's like, I know I wasn't an equal with him, but he made me feel that way. Yeah. Which I thought was a really sort of a nice compliment for you to hear. Yeah, it is amazing. So I was gonna ask, was there like a person, place, or a moment that sort of where you the trajectory shifted for you? But really, you said it, it was just kind of like a light bulb.
SPEAKER_00Well, it really was. Which is weird is kind of remarkable at that age. Yeah. I just again, it was it was every day where my parents were at each other's throats, and it was just like that was it. It it hit me like a ton of bricks. Like, you're gonna be on the couch ten years from now, still here, and just doing this, or or doing it with somebody else, being just as miserable as these two, and I knew I had to like make some serious changes.
SPEAKER_01What was in that moment where you had that revelation, did you did it feel like super heavy and like a weight on you, or did it feel like in were you sort of like inspired? Yeah. Because like you're like, I can do something.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because for the the longest time, I feel like one of the the the you know the the problems with that we do, and you know, at least in my experience and and and my lived experience in this country is that you know you we we tell kids like, oh my goodness, drugs, drugs, drugs, you do you're a loser, you're done the rest of your life. And so you kind of you think that and you internalize that and you're like, oh well, there's no hope for me. They told me, like, I've already started doing drugs, I'm done. My life is over, I'm just gonna be a loser the rest of my life. And that's kind of the message, at least growing up in the 80s, that's what it was. Like, don't you. Dare even try. And if you do, it's all over. You're done. You've ruined your life. And so I kind of was like, I believed it. And then I started, you know, when when I had that moment, and I just remember being like, no, like, no, I d I'm still young. I'm I'm still really young. And I, you know, I I've I've got a lot to prove.
SPEAKER_01Uh do you feel like the the all the the problems that came later when you were in middle school and high school and you got into the drugs, do you feel like it was rooted in the food insecurity? Is that was that foundational to the other problems? Yeah, exactly. Because I think it's something we hear so much about these days is food insecurity, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And um, you know, for me, I've been lucky. I never experienced that. So it's hard for me to like talk about it in any authentic way. But you are somebody who I think is you're so worth listening to because you have that story and and you were able to kind of turn it around. Um and you're still, I think, very engaged in on that level.
SPEAKER_00I I think that that's been able to help me though, as as being able to to build relationships with students, especially some of my students who are also coming from food insecure homes. And you know, one of the reasons I do tell that story um, you know, is is the idea to my students to be like, if you are, like you can come talk to me. Like I can totally empathize with you and I can I can help you. Like I'm here to help you. That's why I took this job. Um, you know, I would love to have had a teacher recognize it and say, Let me, you know, help you.
SPEAKER_01Have you had many students over the years who have come to you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And not just that, like I I had a a a student who was um who was doing heroin. And I I I I mean, I I don't know if she ever went back, but as long as I knew her, she's she stopped. I helped her with that as well. And I used to go out with her and um her her brother that she called his name was, but I used to go out with them on the Saturday before Father's Day every year, got to breakfast with those two because they said I was like their their dad. Um and so I I've had kids that have come to me not just talking about food and um you know grades and and but also like hey, I'm you know, I have gotten into it and and I need to I need help. I need to get out of this. What do you recommend? And I've I've helped.
SPEAKER_01Um so yeah, I it's it's uh Yeah, you know, I teach some cooking classes at the benchmark program, which is actually where we record this podcast in their very cool um podcast studio, um, which they use as job skills training for the kids who are in this program. But um Will Kiefer, who who started this program, I can remember him telling me that you know mentors are a really important part of their program, but how important it is for them to have mentors that the kids can relate to who have had the same struggles. So, you know, that's very much you. You're you the kids can relate to you. And I think going back to what John's feedback, that you know, you you always were a teacher who listened and cared and made the kids feel like you were on an equal playing field. Sure.
SPEAKER_00And I I I would hope that that's what every teacher at least gets into the profession for. I mean, maybe over time things change and people, you know, leave it for different reasons, but I would hope they all teachers got into it for that, to help people, to listen to kids and try to get them on a you know, an equal playing field, or at least as much as they can get them on an equal playing field before they leave. Um so I'm and that's always been my strength, honestly, was being able to build those relationships with kids. And as long as it works, I'm gonna continue to do it.
SPEAKER_01What would your teenage self say if he saw you now?
SPEAKER_00Uh well, excuse my language, but he'd he'd first probably want to kick my ass. He'd probably say, you sold out, man. Who are you, right? Like look at that car you're driving and the clothes you're wearing and stuff like that. Um because like I said, I as a youngster, I was filled with a, I'll be honest, I was filled with a lot of anger. And in my story, there's some other terrible things that I I I left out of that story here, and sometimes for the kids too, that bad things that had happened. And I was filled with a lot of anger um and a lot of angst, and and that's I got into punk rock and I just, you know, I I feel like that actually helped me to wake up, right? Because it was opening my eyes that there was other problems in the world far bigger than what I was going through. And and um, so that that's one of those things that helped me break out of it too, is you know, that that music genre. But um my you know, former me would probably be upset, say that I I sold out and I'm in the system now. Uh but then after they would see that, you know, what I was doing now with kids, especially in the school district of Lancaster, when we're you know we're talking about you know economically disadvantaged kids, um, and kids coming from a lot of trauma situations and stuff like that, I think young me would be, I I would hope, proud.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think so. Um so you said you lived with you a lot of people living in your household, sort of extended family, not all family? Like not all family. Um so was there and we talk these days about how the importance of a family dinner, right? Even if it's not like a traditional family. But w did was there ever a quote family dinner?
SPEAKER_00No. Yeah, not really. Uh, you know, just too many people, or you know, not being around. My sister's constantly not around um when we got older. I mean, thank goodness my two older sisters were around when uh I was younger, or else I probably wouldn't have eaten anything. They cooked for me. Um my mom was not a uh person who cooked. Like I could probably count on two hands um growing up how many times she cooked for me. And now when she cooks, it's like I'm gonna go to Costco, I'm gonna get the sliced ham and put it in a crock pot, and that's it. Like, no sides, nothing, just sliced ham in a crock pot that I'm cooking for you. So, you know, it it the family dinner didn't exist for a long time. And then then my dad kind of like I think recognized that, and then he started to learn how to cook and tried to do it. Oh, bless his heart. Not the very best cook at all. I just remember being like, oh my god, what is this?
SPEAKER_01I can remember my dad didn't cook at all either. I can remember one time we tried to make macaroni and cheese and he didn't realize that you had to cook the noodles first. So they were a little crunchy. Yeah, El Dente. Yeah, that was a good one. El dente supreme. Um so, and then you know, we would joke that that was really his way of getting out of like future cooking, you know. Right, right, right. No, thank you, Ma. Um so now you're a parent of two boys, both teenagers, right?
SPEAKER_00Oh, once he's 12, he'll be quite he'll be 13 in June.
SPEAKER_01So what is a family and busy times, because those your kids are involved in sports and school, and y you and your wife are teaching. What is there a normal is there a what does family look dinner look like for you now?
SPEAKER_00It's it's uh every night pretty much. Um exceptions like maybe on a Saturday. Um if you know in the hockey world, that's usually two games on a Saturday doubleheader. So sometimes when we're together, we'll go out to eat on Saturday, in between like my older son Xavier's first hockey game and second game, but every day Monday, um Monday through Friday, it's we're eating together. And Sunday, we're we're eating together. Uh it's it's really, really big and very important in our household.
SPEAKER_01Would you say that your childhood experience informed th this your desire to have that family dinner? Has that become a priority because you didn't have it?
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, but also because my wife did. And she said this was really important. And you know, we're both well read, and we read the studies about how important it is to sit down as a family and have that time around the dinner table. Uh and study after study says that's very important for the development, you know, of your kids. And so we that's something that we're strongly are committed to. Um, you know, and I'm just so blessed that Danielle cooks for me every night. I do all the things, I do all the cleaning.
SPEAKER_01So do you cook it all?
SPEAKER_00I do. Uh I and you know, I I try to do like on a Saturday or a Sunday, I'll look up a recipe, you know, I'll type in like a chicken meal that's hearty but not too difficult, you know, like I'm new to this. So I'll I'll cook a little bit. Uh I'll do some grilling as well. Uh but pretty much she does all of the cooking. And I I just then you know dinner's done and she goes in and and sits in the living room and reads or talks to the boys and I start the scrub down of the kitchen. So I it's it's a process.
SPEAKER_01Clearly do the lion's shirt cooking in my house, but my husband is a very good dishes doer. Yes. And I appreciate that so much. I mean, it really is like he he really he'll occasionally grill, um, but just helping with the dishes, it's it's great. I like it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah it gives my brain a break. It really does.
SPEAKER_01There's a lot of value to that. So are there any foods that as a kid were you picky?
SPEAKER_00Or because you just would eat anything. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um I although the the one thing that I I kind of remember as maybe somewhere along, I feel like it was somewhere in middle school, so mid-90s. I remember just being like the one thing I'm not gonna eat is McDonald's. I hate that company. And I I literally haven't not had anything, not even a ketchup packet from McDonald's.
SPEAKER_01And was it because of like the ketchup packets in that sort of like your to be honest?
SPEAKER_00I uh the the two places that I got the ketchup packets from were usually Wendy's and Burger King. My aunt worked at Burger King, the one that had the drug addiction, and she would bring home ketchup and pickles. So, you know, I she would steal them from I can say now she can't get in trouble. She's dad. So but but uh she yeah, so like I that's where I was getting from. But I just remember distinctly just being well aware of like how terrible McDonald's was for the environment for some reason. I don't even know if I saw it on a show or something. I feel like there was like a something like an episode on something like um MTV used to do these shows where they would talk about like the Holocaust and stuff like that. I feel like they did one on McDonald's. I could be mistaken, but I just remember being like, oh, no, I'm never going there again. And I didn't really like it, but for the most part, no, I I wasn't picky, right? I I I was if there was food around, I would I would eat it.
SPEAKER_01Were you aware? Did a doctor, a school nurse, a teacher any um did they ever identify that there was a problem, any nutritional deficiencies that you were you were aware of?
SPEAKER_00I don't remember. We didn't really have health care once my dad got fired. So um I didn't go to the doctor. Like I I went to the doctor when like this pinky got cut off um in the garage door and or when I broke my nose when I got hit in the face, uh, broke my leg. I went to the doctor then, but I don't we didn't go for checkups and stuff like that. Like even dentists, we didn't go for checkups, you know, unless something was really wrong. So there wasn't any doctors or anybody that were telling me uh I was having nutrient deficiencies or anything like that. And I I just feel like where I went to school, uh the teachers didn't seem to be really concerned about that at all.
SPEAKER_01Family dinners are important. Yeah. Specifically what you eat, are you do you think what like what what it's very generally what types of food you eat now? D does how is how you eat now informed by what you had or didn't have as a kid? Absolutely. How do you sort of describe your style of eating now?
SPEAKER_00Way healthier. And again, if I never eat butter noodles again, I mean it's really weird though. There are days where I will cook it for like whatever reason. I'll just be, you know what, I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_01Does it feel like a comfort food in some way?
SPEAKER_00Almost like a nostalgic thing. Like, yeah, this got me through, right? That that kind of thing. But yeah, my my eating habits now are are just like almost neurotic uh uh on how I am with that because I feel like I have to make up for everything I missed out on as a young person. Like I feel like I I'm behind the eight ball now, and so now I gotta make sure because my diet was so terrible as a young person, with you know, not getting enough food for sure. The food I did get, like ramen noodles, oh my god, eating those twice a day. Which I I know again, I'm gonna probably have some some health issues later in life because of how bad my diet was growing up. So I'm trying to like correct that, fix that. Um every day for lunch, I have a bowl of uh fresh fruits and veggies raw, like today, um you know, gooseberries, raspberries, blueberries, um snow snow peas, carrots, um, celery, tomatoes every day. Something of that blend of that just every day with some leftovers, like today was like pasta with vegetarian or vegan sausage. Uh so those types of things. And I I I do eat red meats and stuff like that, and I try to be really healthy and eat fish. Um, I kind of drive my wife a little bit crazy when she's asking, like, what are some meals she could plan for the week? And I'm like, no red meat, no pork, chicken, you know. And she's like, Oh my god, this is really like, Aren't you tired of chicken? And I'm like, nope, nope. So I eat a lot of chicken too for lunch. Um it's probably easy to pack and bring. Yeah, it is, and pre-cook it. And and and sometimes even giant has um this pre-made like fajita chicken cut up, it's like grilled chicken. Okay in a container. It's it's very easy. Uh, and it goes good with my fresh my medley of uh medley of uh fruits and veggies.
SPEAKER_01Well, if Emily, who sadly she normally is here and having the discussion with us uh for this show, and she has a sick child today, unfortunately, but she as a dietitian she would say, you know, our bodies are so resilient, and in terms of long-term, you know, I think she would probably comfort you that you probably have righted the wrongs and and and you should not worry about that. Um but it is interesting how our just our life experiences and what we had or didn't have, you know, kind of shape what we eat. And um and I think in this day and age there's so many messages uh out there in the news on social media in terms of, you know, we have have like the fast food, junk food sort of culture on one side, and then we have the diet culture on the other. And and I think neither extreme perhaps is great. But and and it's hard to find that balance, I think, you know, on on the best day under the best circumstances.
SPEAKER_00I guess the trick to just finding consistency too, long-term consistency in what you're eating is healthy, is where a lot of the fads come through are people think it's like, oh, it's one nutrient I have to do, or it's you know, it's you know, it's protein. I I gotta eat just protein. And it's like, no, it's like uh you know, it's not just a fad.
SPEAKER_01We hear so much about protein, protein, protein these days, right? Yeah. And uh and I feel like there's this undercurrent of like, really, it's all about fiber. And uh so that'll probably be the next thing. But I but I do think there's there's value to that. You know, we uh you know we hear we should be doing this, and we think, oh, I want to do well by myself, so okay, I'll you know, I'll I'll do that. And um, but but it there's so much of a groundswell sometimes in terms of what we hear. And then it becomes like, well, I in fact I said I asked the question the other day, like what and I asked this of Emily as a dietitian, like, what makes a food high high protein, right? Like it's that's a term we hear all the time. And there was this whole interesting answer, but she actually had to kind of research it to figure out like you know, what actually does. Right. And um but there's so many and just being in the recipe world, I'm always seeing recipes sort of um being sold as high protein when they're just inherently high protein. Right. You know, like a high protein chicken and rice. Well, like the marketing. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Um but it becomes that clickbait. Yeah, for sure. So it's just it works, though. And it's har it can be really hard to just like suss out like what's important, what yeah, and I think to your point, variety is. And I always say just like cooking a little bit is great because you know, chances are we're gonna be eating a little bit better if we're taking the time to use just those whole ingredients that we all talk about. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00And about patterns too, like making sure you're keeping some some consistent patterns with your diet as well. And not just, you know. I I mean, at least for me, long-term patterns in terms of eating right. Um I know that I do on on like one day a week on the weekend, on Saturday, I'll eat whatever I want.
SPEAKER_01You gotta do it. Yeah, like pizza wings or whatever, but like I'm like that too because I feel like I j I generally like a lot of healthy foods. Like I love vegetables and I and but I also like really like chocolate and I like ice cream. I have that sweet tooth, but but see, I like salty too. Um but I kind of and I go back and forth. Sometimes I feel a little guilty when I'm having like my nightly bowl of ice cream, but then I'm like, you know what? Like you I gotta enjoy life too. You do. And and it it and it's like I have to kind of tell myself, remind myself that it's okay. Like, don't make if I'm gonna enjoy it, if I'm gonna eat it, enjoy it, don't make myself feel guilty.
SPEAKER_00Just enjoy it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, for sure. And and I do that on the weekend, that one day a week. It's just like my day to do whatever I want. Yeah. Yeah. Which is because it keeps my sanity.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Do how do you parent your kids in terms of what they eat? When they were little, was it hard? When as they get older, was did it become more difficult? Because you know, kids like want like they see what other kids are eating and school lunch. Like how how how did you navigate that?
SPEAKER_00So we were really fortunate. Like both of our boys were quite adventurous when it came to food. Like they were eating sushi at the age of like two and three, and it was like, this is great until we got the bill, right? Wait, this isn't great. Like just with the chicken fingers, kid. Yeah, right? But like, no, they were really good about food. And it's funny because when you do have that access to good food, like you don't want to eat the the bad stuff. Like I do on on the weekend, but you know, if you go out like on vacation for a week and you are eating bad poorly for like three days in a row, you're like, you've had it, right? Like, at least my body is like, no, not another bad thing. Knock it off. Like, get yourself a salad.
SPEAKER_01That's when I totally crave the crunchy salad.
SPEAKER_00Agreed. Yeah, and I I do that too when I go home to Pittsburgh a lot. When I visit, of course, I visit all my favorite restaurants that I don't get to eat at whenever I want. And it's like wing suds and spuds, it's Brighton Hot Dog Shop. And we'll be driving home on the turnpike, and my wife will be like, What should we have for dinner tonight? And I'm like, lettuce, just lettuce. I can't eat anything else bad. Like my body can't handle that. And so, like, we've always had those healthy diets, and so our kids picked up on it. And they don't, I mean, they they don't really like bad food. It makes them feel sluggish and not okay, and so we're we're we're pretty fortunate. Um, you know, I I think both of my boys have probably had McDonald's once each in their entire lives. And their their mother-in-law, my my mother-in-law took them. Uh, you know, I just remember one time in the car we were driving, and this is with Xavier, my oldest, he's the senior at McCaskey, and he was like four, and we were just driving down the road, and we were like passing McDonald's, and he was like, That place has good nuggies. And I was like, What did you just say? And he's like, That place has good nuggies, and I was like, like slammed on the brakes. I was like pulled over. I was like, When did you have McDonald's? And he was like, Uh, Grammy took me, and I was like, called up my wife. I was like, Don't let this happen again, please. And she was like, Oh, don't worry, I'm gonna call it right now. And um, you know, they just they they don't like that food.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I learned that grandparents kind of get a free pass to give the grand kids anything they want. Um, and because I kind of struggled with that a little bit too when my kids were little, because you kind of I felt like, oh my gosh, it's gonna like ruin like you know, all of the things that I've sort of instilled upon them. And then I learned that okay, I need to just not worry about this, it's gonna be fine. Um, but I think also I guess what I'm hearing is that certain things, and tell me if this is too strong of a word, is are like kind of triggering for you. I mean having right? I mean, and understandably.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And you know, it it's that's a good way to put it. They are. And and so that's why sometimes like it's good that my wife keeps me grounded in a lot of things um in my life. And that's what I'm too like, okay, you just you just settle down. He he had uh an order of chicken nuggets for McDonald's. Yeah, because McDonald's no, you don't have to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01It could be something somewhere else, fried food, whatever, right? And um, but that for whatever reason that one place is for so many reasons kind of sp takes you back.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Yeah, and so it's like, but she'll she'll she'll keep me grounded. And again, I said I'm very fortunate that both of my boys don't like to eat bad food. Like, of course, on the weekend they'll do the pizza and wings and stuff, and but they too. A after like a day or two, if we're on vacation, like and we're in Miami or something and we're eating or Chicago, it's my favorite food city, right? Um, they'll be like, Okay, can we just do something healthy? You know, especially my older son, he is all about being healthy as a hockey player. It's just not to worry about it.
SPEAKER_01I feel like kids with sports that can also make it different. Then they learn about it from coach coaches and um they oftentimes learn, you know, just that how to fuel their body and why it's important.
SPEAKER_00Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01And from a different from someone other than a parent, which I think can be helpful.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Uh so if you could go back and pack your younger self a school lunch, what would you pack?
SPEAKER_00Definitely keep the the fruits and veggies. They make me feel so good. Like honestly, and when I don't have them, I feel bad that day. Like I just feel sluggish and not good. So I would I would definitely do that. And maybe even just something simple like peanut butter and jelly. Would your younger self be happy with that? Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Peanut butter and jelly.
SPEAKER_00I love peanut butter and jelly. I mean, I probably would have, as a younger kid, I probably would have liked a roast beef sandwich or a ham sandwich or something like that. But now I'm like sliced jelly meats. Like I like them, especially like the Italian, because I'm half Italian, right? So I'm I'm I'm I love all the Italian sliced meats, but like I know I gotta stay away from them.
SPEAKER_01So you know, isn't it fun to go back and like well, you know what? Okay, for me it's fun to go back and talk about school lunches. For you, probably not so much.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they'll yeah, not.
SPEAKER_01Because for me, it was about, you know, like I had a lot of there was like that school lunch envy, like somebody else's lunch. Um, but I had a good lunch. Yeah. Um, and you know, for me, like I remember I like I love peanut butter and jelly now, but uh when I was a kid, I didn't. I just wanted cheese sandwich. Yeah. Nothing else. Right. Just cheese, a little bit of mayo. Yeah. Um but I I I do remember just certain things being so happy to see them in my lunchbox. Like a tasty cake. I was like, oh, that was amazing. And when my mom got those at the grocery store. Um and you know, these little snack packs of pudding, which were in metal cans then with a little like in the lid, right? Oh, yeah, I remember that. And like I was so happy when I had that. And I could I can if I think about some of those foods, it just takes me back to this kind of like it feels so like I think nostalgic. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Um and then I take a step back and think, I'm so fortunate that I have those memories because and that my memories weren't the the ketchup packet memories that that you have. Right. Um and but also how much tougher and more resilient, and you know, just the lessons that you chose to learn from that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It definitely has made me who I am today. And I feel like I'm I mean, at first it was the typical teenage, like, oh, why me? Like, why like all these other people here at school are fine, but you know, well not necessarily everybody, but uh just why does it have to be? Why does it have to be? But then as I got a little bit older, I was I realized that it opened my eyes to a lot of things in this world, you know, that that I probably would have just I don't know, been snowed over like a lot of people that I encounter, you know, every day of my life, where it's just like you have no idea about what some people go through. And it really opened my eyes. So I'm I it's really weird to say and i is that I'm I'm almost kind of grateful now for it because I feel like it's made me a nicer person, a more empathetic, more compassionate person.
SPEAKER_01I was just gonna say compassionate, and just anecdotally, I know that you maintain so many relationships with former students, and I think that is a testament to the type of teacher you are, the compassion that you have, that you're just one of those teachers that um so my aunt was a teacher, and years later, she was in the doctor's office, and as she was, and then she had a nurse who was delightful, and when she was paying, the nurse came up to her and she said, I kept on wanting to say something, but I was kind of embarrassed. She said, I had you for my aunt taught uh all grades in elementary school, so I forget which grade, maybe first grade, and you were my favorite teacher, and your name is my password.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. And that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01My aunt was just like, oh my gosh, all of these years later, like she remembers me and I'm her password. And I feel like you are probably a lot of people's password.
SPEAKER_00Well, that would be nice to know. Uh that would be nice to know. But Mike, my my students, I get a lot of I mean, even just on Sunday during the Super Bowl, I had a um a student who I mean I I love dearly, Michael O'Brew, and he texted me, he was like, I just wanted you to know I just got promoted to a senior position, and it's because of you. Right? And he was like, every time I move up in this, and he works for Travelers Insurance up in Britain. He's like, every time I I do I have to let you know that I'm moving up. And I I I do get these all the time, and I it's just so fulfilling to get that feedback. It's priceless. And like in reality, everybody just wants to feel valued. We all do, all humans, they just want to feel like they matter. Yeah. And you that's just amazing. Like, you know, hearing that story about being the password is amazing. And that just she probably was just sat there and was like, wow, like, yeah, I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01But it's like the things you don't know that are out there. Like she that was just a c a coincidence that she was happened to be at this doctor's law, like and that she came into contact with this woman years later and actually and that she told her, you know, she could have just never known that. But it was kind of neat that the stars aligned and they met all of those years later.
SPEAKER_00Well, I think it what was really cool about the district that we're in at at School District of Lancaster is that they they kind of foster that like relationship, you know, with with students to to like take take them on, like be like, hey, like I really care about you. And they it's not really people don't get weirded out about it, right? When you have build relationships with kids, they know that that's like the like how you connect, then you can reach them and and and help them improve their lives. And so for me, I've I've been very fortunate to be in this district, I think, because I have been able to stay in contact with so many former students. Like my entire Christmas break is going out with former students, you know, like just this past year, it's like two a day sometimes. Like I'm meeting with one person in the morning, one person in the afternoon for coffee or breakfast or whatever.
SPEAKER_01Um, you know, that's why you drink decaf.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness. Well, I I do drink, uh it's really weird, but I I'll drink a caffeinated drink sometimes at uh lunch. I do decaf in the morning because if I start with decaf, oh my goodness, I'm insane. My students are just like, too much. It's 8 a.m. Settle down. Um Roll Reversal. Yeah, they're they're the one yeah, I sometimes joke that that that they're the adults in the room. That's great.
SPEAKER_01So, okay, a couple closing thoughts. Yeah. What are your what are your thoughts on school lunches and breakfasts, the the the free lunches that you didn't get? And because you know, we often hear, oh, they're so bad, or like, you know, what what what do you have to say on that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, this is weird for me because like I mean, if you're hungry, you don't care that you know they're there lunches that are being uh essentially, you know, the lunches being provided might not be the healthiest options at times. And for me, I think there's a tremendous amount of if certain giant corporations weren't profiting from the free breakfast and free lunch, they would be eliminated in a second. I feel like a lot of times that we don't really care if kids are eating or not. Um but it's it's there and it's it's pushed for because there's money to be made off of it for certain people utilizing tax dollars. But for me, if you're food insecure, I don't care how it gets there as long as it's there. So it's kind of like a you know a catch-22, so to speak, there. Um and if you are, you're gonna be happy that it's there. But um again, like I I I definitely think that if if somebody wasn't profiting off of it, they wouldn't necessarily be there. I'm happy that they're there. And I understand, like, you know, when you go back and you look at President Truman who first started lunch programs and and you know, he was doing it because there were so many people that were there, you know, during World War II draft that were um essentially denied entrance into the army because of food-related, health-related uh issues, health issues. And that's where they couldn't join the military because of that. And he saw that as a huge national security problem. And he was like, we need to make sure kids are being well fed, that way they can join the army. Right. And I don't whether me personally, I I don't know if that's a good reason to give you know people who need food food. Um, but if you know, again, as long as it's there, that's all I'm I'm I'm happy that it's there, especially for a lot of the kids in our district. And I'm uh more than willing to to pay taxes uh to make sure people are eating. Um and to be honest, 100% transparency, I'd rather it go for feeding people than you know dropping a bomb on somebody somewhere else for my tax dollars.
SPEAKER_01So if there was if there was one thing you could change about how we approach food access in this country, what would it be?
SPEAKER_00Um That's a really tough question. And um I mean I I really think i i it it would have to be a reorganization of our economic system, to be honest with you, because uh one of the papers that I wrote for my master's degree in public policy was um talking about food security and safety by 2050. And uh, you know, we don't we don't really have a food shortage problem on Earth. That's not the issue at all. We're like producing tons of food. We can feed a couple billion more people than exist on the planet, a lot of the numbers that I saw, you know, were around 12 billion people were producing enough food to feed. Some people are overeating, and unfortunately, too many people don't have food because they don't have the dollar to get it, a dollar to get the food. And so we don't really have a food shortage problem, we have a food distribution problem. And that distribution is directly tied to our economic system. And I think that that's the one thing that I would change because that's just that's not okay. Right? Human life should be protected, and like that comes with the meals. And it's we should definitely make sure that, especially in this country, that there isn't anybody who's hungry.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, agreed, agreed. Well, I uh so appreciate your coming here and sharing your story. I mean, it's so impactful, and the way that you have you uh turned your challenges into motivating forces in your life, how you are sharing them with uh class after class after class, year after year with students, and helping to shape young people's lives today. I I you know, I think you're helping to create the change that we need to see to hopefully provide greater access to people. And to your point, it's such a complex problem. Um, but I think we need more Gabriel Paytons out there to thank you. That's amazing to make progress. Thank you. So, again, thank you for coming and really just talking about things that are can can be tough to talk about.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. I really appreciate you inviting me on here. This has been an experience. I've never done this, so really cool. And the kind words, it's gonna make me cry.
SPEAKER_01Well, you're a rock star. Thank you. So, okay, so we like to just finish with like what are we cooking like today? And maybe, or maybe it wouldn't say.
SPEAKER_00She she I I texted her, I said, Oh shoot, I forgot to ask you this morning. They end the podcast with, What are you eating for dinner tonight? So I texted her and she said something about a honey glazed chicken with over rice and some um vegetables. And and I said, Did you just look that up because you knew that this is you wanted to sound fancy for the podcast? And she was like, No, I am fancy. I'm always fancy. I love that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I love that. We do a lot of the like the chicken or the protein and the rice and the veggie. And then because you can kind of flavor it anyway. I'm a big fan of like a simple sauce or a vinaigrette or something to pull it all together. And then the leftovers are good. You can, and I'm a mixer, you can mix it all together, chop it up. My husband kind of likes everything separate so he can kind of do it. So you can kind of keep everybody happy. Um I interestingly enough, I'm not cooking tonight because it is my younger son's birthday. Oh, are you guys going out? And I we are going out. He has been so plug for um local restaurant Luca. It is his top two favorite restaurants in Langster, Luca and Passerine. And he has been wanting to go to Luca. And the last couple of times I've tried to make a reservation. You have to like really try ahead. Like they book out a way and I haven't done it early enough, so I've failed. So this one, I'm so he doesn't even know yet. I'm surprising him. So we're going to Luca. So but for breakfast, I ate leftover miso salmon from last night, which is a funny thing because I grew up eating, we talked about sweet and savory earlier on. Yeah. And I grew up eating a sweet breakfast, like cereal pretty much every morning. And that kind of set me up to always kind of crave a sweet breakfast. And as I've gotten old, and I remember if somebody told me like they ate, I had a friend who ate pizza for breakfast. If somebody told me they ate like a dinner-y food for breakfast, I'd be like, that's weird. But I as I get older, I kind of find myself I could eat leftover like dinner for breakfast.
SPEAKER_00Uh this might sound weird, but leftover Mexican for breakfast, I is I love it. I love it. Because like people do breakfast for dinner.
SPEAKER_01I'm here to say dinner for breakfast.
SPEAKER_00I'm with you. I'm 100%. I'm backing this train for sure. Okay. Yeah. Where where else do you think your your go-tos are for like, let's just say, like, not like a very nice place, but if you're gonna go out to eat in the city, like where are your go-tos where you're like, this is our spot?
SPEAKER_01Okay, so we like to go to um I like Say La Vie and um and the Belvedere. Say La Vie, we like to go to the Fulton Theater. For those who uh live in Lancaster, they probably know what an amazing theater the Fulton Theater is. And just coincidence that I have the last name of the theater. We're not no relation. No.
SPEAKER_00I think you gotta check that out just in case.
SPEAKER_01Fulton is such a common name in Lancaster, and it's Robert Fulton, inventor of the steam engine, is w why that name is popular or c common here. Um but my um but but no relation to my husband's family. And um so it it's an easy stay love is an easy walk to the Fulton. So we like to just like walk there. And they have good deals. And you know what I love for just a really casual um Cafe 18.
SPEAKER_00Oh, right, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Sometimes I go there with students for it's a great like for they have great bowls, sandwiches if you just want um sprout.
SPEAKER_00Uh I love sprout too. Yeah, that's a good one. Good picks. That's Vietnamese. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Do you have any favorites?
SPEAKER_00Uh we like uh the loco china that's over in the Zotropolis. That's kind of we go there, that's a a good Friday night thing. Um I really like uh American Bar and Grill.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's a good one. ABG Wings?
SPEAKER_00Yes. They I think they have the best in the city. Yeah, their Southwest ranch, I really love.
SPEAKER_01So Okay, I have a wig, okay. Like all respect to ABG wings. They're like everybody loves them. I do have, if you want to make them at home sometime, a wing recipe that will knock your socks off. Um I just made them two nights ago uh because my younger son requested them. And bonus if you get the wings from breakaway at Central Market. They have the meadiest best wings and they'll cut the so good. So good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would like to take you. And I also want to try the slow cooker Mexican uh or flank steak that's a pitch you had. That looks amazing.
SPEAKER_01That's a good one. I love flank steak. Well, we could talk food all day pretty much. I love it. Yeah. So we'll come back for a part two sometime. All right. Um, because I know there's a lot more that we can talk about. But truly, thank you for your time. Thank you for sharing your story, and thank you everyone out there for listening, for watching, and we'll see you next time.