The Rise of Mikey Pomodoro

We're back!

Since we last released an episode, Mike Miranti has become MIKEY POMODORO. So, Tom decided to interview him about his transformation from "Front of house guy" to a budding restaurateur.

Plus we talk about the "10 New Rules of Dining Right Now".

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Transcript below:

From the NotAFoodie studio which is not actually a studio it is a zoom meeting from I don't know where are you Mikey?

In Hell's Kitchen, at our pop up kitchen space.

So anyway, it is the NotAFoodie show. I am Tom and I am your co host along with Mike Miranti aka Mikey Pomodoro.

Mikey Pomodoro.

So I think, Mike, one of the things that I want to talk about about this episode I bet the focus of this episode I think, is the evolution of Mike Miranti. Front of House guy, podcast host extraordinaire, to Mikey Pomodoro restauranteur. Pop Up manager pop up restaurant or chef Chef Smorgasburg like we've got a lot to unpack there. But I think I think we should just get started with some food news first What do you think?

Yeah, I meet you that that's the plan that's what we do.

You're out of practice because you didn't do the Food News jingle. So what do you what do we have to talk about today? What do we got?

Yeah, so pretty much if you've been if you're just coming out of the coma The first thing you needed to do is listen to the new nada foodie show there's been a worldwide pandemic since the end of 2019 what restaurants closed for a year then there was a vaccine where there is a vaccine and a lot of people have taken it but not everybody yet for some reason

I thought to get a microchip I didn't know that there was a vaccine alright

Because there's a vaccine restaurants are kind of back there's no more 50% seating there's no more outdoor only seating restaurants are back so restaurants are back but it's not the same as what it was pre COVID and food and wine put out a really like perfect Instagram post like a 10 slide post about the new rules of dining out

Yeah this is awesome I came across this the other day and just to be clear you and I started talking about food news we started talking about just the shit that servers have to deal with like that they've had to deal with historically right like you go to a restaurant people see it people are entitled and you know that's not even talking about the people that don't tip but the people who you know as my my daughter would call them Karen's but like just people who are complaining who who have the sense of entitlement and it's gotten worse across the board for for everything right like people are understandably angry people are you know, frustrated with the world and things start to open up a little bit and they there's this trend I guess or this this immediate like you know urge to get back to Oh, everything should be perfect again, you know, when on the back end there's there's a lot of shit that's not perfect. We lost how many fallow hundreds of 1000s of people

you know, died, that there's no so that means there's a labor shortage to there's a labor shortage are more people to go back to work? Yes. Which is a really like, cynical way of looking at it. But it's true.

But also people are choosing not to people who might not feel comfortable going back to work in a restaurant where you're dealing with people with dealing with the public. You know, I know me personally like I've got kids at home who are not vaccinated yet I would probably feel uncomfortable if I had a job working in a restaurant like that. I had to go to a conference in Nashville, back in August, which is like the breakthrough COVID capital of the fucking world because it's just crazy, unmasked unvaccinated mass of people and I, I quarantined at home, before seeing my kids, like I can't imagine having to do that every single day and having to go to work and being treated like shit and, you know, by customers and everything like that. I think it's just, we're at a we're at a breaking point. So that led us you and I to talk about this post that came out from food and wine. It was an Instagram post and once you take us through it,

yeah, so it's 10 words. Yeah, it's 10 rules. Number one, the customers not always right. Which is the truth. The customer Usually wrong. And also people hate asking servers questions when they go out, and then they don't have as good of the time. You and I are generally friends because you asked me things that Christos

though. So like this is it's interesting because I, I've always struggled with, like, I'm not gonna complain about certain things, but I will talk to my servers and I'll talk to chefs and I'll ask for recommendations. And I'll, you know, at the other day, I had some really bad service at a place that I'm not going to blow up their spot and but I'll but I sent the manager a note,...