You guys, it's time to talk COVID again, and its effect on restaurant employees, restaurants themselves and the economy at large.  Also, we talk about GrubHub trying to sneak into Disney, snow and Chicago and the Great Grape-Nuts Shortage of 2021.   As always, find us here:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/774902433251568 https://www.instagram.com/chefbenrandall/ (instagram) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-weeds-with-ben-randall/id869521547 intheweedswbr.com @wurstharold (twitter)

You guys.  I got to sit down and have a discussion.  Like with real people.  It was glorious.  I met with the owner (Lacey Irby) and head chef (Ryan Brosseau) of Dear Margaret, an intimate French Canadian bistro that just opened in Chicago! (https://www.dearmargaretchi.com/) Give us a listen!   As always, find us here:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/774902433251568 https://www.instagram.com/chefbenrandall/ (instagram) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-weeds-with-ben-randall/id869521547 intheweedswbr.com @wurstharold (twitter)   And find our guests  at DearMargaretChi on Instagram!  

Heya kids!  Today we're rockin' some Audience Appreciation!  We talk returning to schools, Oreo's bonkers flavors, GrubHub drivers being pieces of shit without any repercussions, and of course, Taiwanese food.   As always, find us here:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/774902433251568 https://www.instagram.com/chefbenrandall/ (instagram) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-weeds-with-ben-randall/id869521547 intheweedswbr.com @wurstharold (twitter)  

Today Ben & Steve are sampling candy from Japan and mustard from the National Mustard Museum!  No news this week because we're all waiting to see what the next season of 'America Implodes' brings us.   As always, find us here:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/774902433251568 https://www.instagram.com/chefbenrandall/ (instagram) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-weeds-with-ben-randall/id869521547 intheweedswbr.com @wurstharold (twitter)  

Today we're talking about food media's predictions for the 2021 trends, which include austerity, the continued rise of vampiric third party delivery systems, and the death of the salad bar.  But there's hope!  There's always pizza!   As always, find us here:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/774902433251568 https://www.instagram.com/chefbenrandall/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-weeds-with-ben-randall/id869521547 intheweedswbr.com  

Happy soon-to-be-New-Year everyone!  Is it too early to celebrate?  Probably!

Today we're talking weird one-off junk food flavor combos, the continuing miasma of confusing COVID-related directives for restaurants and how operators are handling all of that.  Also, you can drink in airports!

Today we're talking Christmas (holiday) Cookies, Guy Fieri's foundation for out of work restaurant folk, and the 2020 food trends that never were.

Tonight we're talking about DoorDash's new grift, Christmas menu plans, Arby's and we're working on a 2020 wrapup, which is just as horrible as you'd imagine! Find us here: @soberchefben (twitter) ChefBenRandall (instagram) inthweedswbr.com [email protected]

It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and we're up to our eyeballs in leftovers!  Today we talk turkey roasting, family favorites, international listener mail and US politics (obviously). Catch us out in the social media world! Instagram: ChefBenRandall Twitter: @soberchefben Email: [email protected] Website: intheweedswbr.com

You guys, it's almost Thanksgiving!  Tonight we're talking pie (again), ChowNow and (for some reason), raisins.  Do you have a family favorite Thanksgiving dish that NOBODY else eats?  Tell us about it!  Find us @soberchefben on Twitter, ChefBenRandall on Instagram, or email us at [email protected]!

You guys.  Steve went to Disney. Like the World.  The Happiest Place On Earth.  Or, possibly the Happiest Place To Get Coronavirus.  Let's find out!

Tonight we talk about the future of restaurant assistance from our 'new' federal government, and we have a guest!

You guys.  Brach's has made an abomination.  Also, we talk Halloween in the time of COVID, restaurant dining restrictions, the further shenanigans of GrubHub, and we rank candies.

Right when everything's about to crash down, that's the best time to injure yourself, right?

This episode we're talking 2020 COVID kitchen hiring, Halloween, cold coffee, non-traditional Thanksgiving and the end (?) of restaurants in this country.

Today we're talking ongoing staffing issues in hospitality, weird fruit hybrids and food on sticks.  Who doesn't love food on sticks?

Sorry we skipped a week, kids, but I lost an employee two weeks ago and have been up to my eyeballs in production work.  On top of my management work.  It's been a ride. Today we talk restaurant cover charges, restaurant openings, roll-feed printers and how NOT to quit a job.  Roller.  Coaster.

It's our 200th Episode!  Tonight we're talking about menu writing, specifically descriptive word choice.  Also, we dissect a particularly awful article from 2016, and the restaurant news is still all bad.

There are two things that I am extremely happy to NOT be doing in 2020: dating and getting married.  How do you even do that?  Also, we get an in-school foodservice update, and a drop-in from Ben's younger brother Luke!  (Spoilers, he WENT to a wedding recently!)

It's a long one today, kids!  We're talking long-term restaurant design planning in the time of COVID, grocery delivery ideas, Kool-Aid Pickles and Ben's first full week back to work.  Let's be honest; this episode is therapy in action.

Oh, man you guys, Ben's back to work!  Also we talk menu writing, 3rd-party delivery systems, food lathing and product shortages, outages & delays.

...and you thought back-to-school shopping sucked?  How about going back to school in 2020?  IT'S WAY WORSE.

Ok kids, today Steve & Ben are talking Back To School, fancy KitKats, desserts that are also probably sex moves and Star Wars restaurant food. ft: The Matcha Train, Pumpkin Squeezins and Don't Lie To The Clown

It's Equipment Care 101 tonight, folks!  Also we cover a bit of obligatory COVID housekeeping, pitch a haunted house movie and try to find parts for Steve's old-ass stove.

Let's fix cultural appropriation in restaurants!  No, there is too much. Let's start with moldy jam and paletas.  Also, how much is a pizza worth, what's YOUR favorite energy drink, and who actually eats pandas?

"I wear the mask to protect my loved ones."  -Batman Wear a mask when you go out.  Be like Batman.   Also, today we talk upcoming guests, kitchen redesigns and Sbarro, somehow.

Heya kids!  Today we're talking about Disney reopening in the COVID world, Goya hitching their wagon to a turd, Alinea's intensely high-falutin' "art" mocking the global pandemic, and of course, we tie it to Corner Gas.

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.ARBAxVsnxHsGG34SVyFNxEF28m0ToIcfEPiWNEVp3Q8WqCy6HDsGav6IiNSuN1xVs2sVG3XjPy4-MQQNtN2S_gfficcjDeRTcJv_pmh1oPjP6q8Q_lDn4nlzgTPb1F7Ly3cM7h2DzE7cf_6_chXRaRZCZKExErwk_sXdwFoSq8ryOldwzlmL7xyELgsDF1kB6_p3Us_oBQiNV3bSZgsYIblSIgpguZVrX4qd5toKNbw6OxvoPnI2W1Evf7bX1xc4nIzBMFSOPFk9INnyTq20bdwK7T6iLwLJguFW2PMEKpzWf9a5qKstZ3WQq2BXuo20f-S-4F9GMkJrq5lI_3cRfTBFWg @soberchefben on twitter @chefbenrandall on instagram

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 hamburger.

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.