Amanda Turner Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond. I'm the founder and editor of Cherry Bombe Magazine and each week I talk to the most interesting women and culinary creatives in and around the world of food.
Today's guest is Amanda Turner, chef de cuisine of Olamaie Restaurant in Austin, Texas. Amanda is an award-winning chef and such an interesting human. She started at Olive Garden, front of house, went to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Austin, out of spite. She will tell us that story. She worked in Japan, loves gaming, Dungeons & Dragons, and making awesome food. Not only did I have the pleasure of interviewing Amanda, but I got to have dinner at Olamaie.
The other week, we kicked off our Sit With Us series with OpenTable at Olamaie. It was a beautiful convivial evening, and I met so many wonderful people. Thank you to the Olamaie team and to our friends at OpenTable. If you'd like to dine at Olamaie, you can snag a res through OpenTable. After our dinner, we had a few days to run around Austin and we stopped by Thai Fresh, Franklin Barbecue, épicerie, boulangerie, bistro & bar, Birdie's, and The Grey Market at the Thompson. So much great food, so many great people. I can't wait to return to Austin.
Also, last week, we were in San Francisco and hosted the final dinner in our Sit With Us series with OpenTable. It was held at Gayle Pirie's Foreign Cinema. Thank you to everyone who joined us. Gayle will be on a future episode of Radio Cherry Bomb. So, be on the lookout for that. She is a true original. Stay tuned for my chat with Amanda.
The latest issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine is now available. Yes, we have a print magazine. Whether you are a print nerd who loves magazines as much as I do, or you're new to the world of magazines, you should check it out. If you'd like to get the brand new issue, there are two ways you can purchase a Cherry Bombe subscription and have it delivered direct to your door four times a year. Or you can pick up a copy from your favorite magazine shop, bookstore or gourmet shop. Places like Archestratus Books and Food in Brooklyn, Avril 50 in Philadelphia, and Island Books on Mercer Island in Washington state. Cherry Bombe Magazine is thick and gorgeous and printed on lush paper. It's filled with recipes, features, and profiles you don't want to miss. Visit cherrybombe.com to subscribe or find a stockist near you.
Now, let's check in with today's guest. Amanda, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Amanda Turner:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's jump right into it. You were supposed to go to Savannah College of Art and Design.
Amanda Turner:
That's true.
Kerry Diamond:
And you wound up working at Olive Garden instead. You have to explain how that all happened.
Amanda Turner:
How does that happen?
Kerry Diamond:
Mm-hmm.
Amanda Turner:
It was right before the major recession was happening, so I think I just understood that making pottery or trying to get it into 3D design was going to be a long, arduous road that was not going to pay off. I really wanted to serve. I at the time actually was working in logistics and it was incredibly boring. Do not recommend for someone like me sitting at a computer and doing data entry. Very boring. And I had some friends in the service industry and I wanted to do that. So, I started working at a very small cantina called Posados, and I worked there for about a year, but they wouldn't make me a server.
Kerry Diamond:
Was this in Savannah?
Amanda Turner:
No, this is actually in Tyler, Texas, which is basically the middle of nowhere, East Texas, so East of the Dallas area.
Kerry Diamond:
They wouldn't let you be a server. So, what were you doing?
Amanda Turner:
I was a host. I was a host and I did to-gos. They wouldn't let me be a server because they said I looked too young. So, I ended up applying at Olive Garden and told them the whole thing. I was like, "I really want to serve, they won't let me." The man that hired me was like, "We'll give you a shot." That's kind of how it happened.
Kerry Diamond:
Go back to why service was of such appeal to you.
Amanda Turner:
I really loved food and to me places like Olive Garden or Posados were great restaurants. I was from the suburbs. I didn't know any better. I grew up eating like Whataburger, obviously, because Texas, and fast food and things like that. So, restaurants just seemed very appealing. Once I started hosting and being in a restaurant, I found that work to be more suitable to my life. I just tend to get bored easily with mundane things. So, moving around, talking to people was really fun.
Kerry Diamond:
What drew you to the kitchen? That came next.
Amanda Turner:
I think I always wanted to be in the kitchen. I was really obsessed with food TV from a very young age.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us who.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, I grew up watching Jacques Pépin and Julia Child when I was very, very young, with my aunt, and she really turned me on, I think, to cuisine television. But even as I got older and Food Network became a thing, I was very much obsessively watching it, and that just carried on for a long time. For me, I think it was always an interest, and I tooled around in the kitchen as a kid, and I would host fake cooking shows with my little brother, where we just made ramen and stuff. But I think it was just something that I really like the idea of, but for some reason didn't seem like a career option at the time. But entering into the restaurant industry, even in the service side, I think made me be like, "What's happening back there?" Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Were you always peeking through the kitchen door?
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, my first job was at Chuck E. Cheese.
Kerry Diamond:
I remember it well.
Amanda Turner:
Yes. But-
Kerry Diamond:
Your first kitchen job?
Amanda Turner:
No.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, your first job job.
Amanda Turner:
Job job.
Kerry Diamond:
Before Posado even?
Amanda Turner:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay.
Amanda Turner:
I was 14, and I was working at Chuck E. Cheese as a party host, which is a server. Yeah. I was doing that and I used to just hang out with the guy making pizzas and be like, "How does this work? What are you putting on there?" And I just was very intrigued by the whole thing. Yeah, it's funny, but for some reason it just didn't seem like a career option. But the more I got into the service world, the more I was like, "I want to do that."
Kerry Diamond:
Now, was it at Olive Garden you asked to work back of house?
Amanda Turner:
Yes, actually, I was moving into management training and there's two paths. You either go the service side or the kitchen side, and if you do the kitchen side, they send you to Italy, which is crazy. I don't know they still do, but they send you to Italy and you learn all this stuff, and you get to wear a chef coat. I was like, "I want to do that." And they were like, "You can't."
Kerry Diamond:
And why did they tell you specifically that you couldn't?
Amanda Turner:
Because I was a woman and I didn't speak Spanish. Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
So, out of spite, tell us what you do.
Amanda Turner:
Out of spite, I went home and furiously got on the internet looking for culinary schools. I found this list and, at the time, the Le Cordon Bleu here in Austin was ranked number two on this list, which, honestly, I just can't believe is real, in hindsight, it's very funny. But I had just come from Austin. I'm a big video game player, and I was here for a tournament for the first time, and I had just come from here and I was like, "What? I can move to Austin and do this thing?" I ended up saving up my money and I moved about eight months later.
Kerry Diamond:
So, you go to culinary school, you go to Le Cordon Bleu, which that could be a whole separate episode. Things did not turn out so well for the Le Cordon Bleu schools in America.
Amanda Turner:
They did not.
Kerry Diamond:
But I'm guessing you learned enough to get you restaurant jobs.
Amanda Turner:
I learned enough, honestly, it's kind of funny also. I started at school in September, and in December, Uchi, which was the restaurant here at the time, still a big deal, came and did a demo and they were looking for stages. Prior to my moving to Austin, that was my dream restaurant. So, it was funny, because I don't think otherwise I would have been as aggressive about it. But whenever they came and I went to the demo, I was like, "Well, here's your chance." So I started staging at Uchi two months in to being in culinary school, and I think that kind of got the ball rolling a little bit faster for me. I was opening Uchiko when I was still in culinary school.
Kerry Diamond:
I do think you are the first chef in the history of Radio Cherry Bombe to have gone to culinary school out of spite.
Amanda Turner:
I appreciate that.
Kerry Diamond:
But I'm very happy that it's turned out well for you. How was your culinary school experience overall?
Amanda Turner:
To be completely honest, very mediocre. I definitely learned things, got my foot in the door for sure as far as Uchi and the rest of my career, I think based off that cornerstone. But, yeah, I had some moments in culinary school where I was just like, "What am I paying for?" Had better knife skills than a lot of my teachers. One time I showed up at school and was sharpening my knife on a whetstone and my teachers were like, "What is that?" And I ended up giving them a demo on how to sharpen on a whetstone. I'm 22 with a Japanese knife and they were like, "This is amazing."
Kerry Diamond:
When did Amanda Turner cuisine start to evolve in your head? Because you do have a very specific approach.
Amanda Turner:
I think, honestly, again, big send-up to Uchi, because it's a very unique setting, whenever you work there, anyone is able to put food on the menu, even service team members, as long as it passes an approval process, you can create dishes that go on the special menu and-
Kerry Diamond:
I've never heard of that.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah. At the time, it was weekly and it ended up becoming every other week we would put up dishes for tasting and very much encouraged to do so, and I was incredibly prolific during that time period, particularly about three years into cooking, I was putting up at least a dish every tasting, if not more than that. Sometimes, I had more dishes on the menu than sous chefs, but I just had a lot of fun with it and I think that I always had concepts for dishes and creating was really easy for me.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us a little bit more about that restaurant. I'm not familiar with it or the food they serve.
Amanda Turner:
Oh, Uchi. Uchi is a James Beard Award-winning, it's definitely fusion, but Japanese. Tyson Cole, the chef owner, is a very interesting and particular person, but he paved the way with some unique takes on Japanese food that were like, Japanese food is inherently fresh, but a little bit more fusiony, using local ingredients, using a lot of fruit, in particular, he's a big fan of fruit and fish, which I still do.
Kerry Diamond:
So, was it your experience there that led to you heading to Japan?
Amanda Turner:
Not exactly. I'm a huge nerd and I've been very into Japanese culture and cuisine most of my life. I did work for the Uchi Group for about four years in total and it was very impactful for me. But I went on to do a lot of other things. In 2017, I was actually running an Italian restaurant and I applied for the Ment'or BKB Grant, which sends people all over.
Kerry Diamond:
Is that Thomas Keller's program?
Amanda Turner:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Few other people are involved in that.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, Bocuse, Boulud, Keller, I think is BKB.
Kerry Diamond:
There we go.
Amanda Turner:
Mm-hmm. I won. I used the opportunity to go to Japan, because that's a place I always wanted to go, and I ended up being there for almost four months, staging at Den and Ryugin.
Kerry Diamond:
Was there a cash prize, and that allowed you to go there?
Amanda Turner:
Essentially, they just cover the cost of you going there, they cover your housing, your living. It's incredible and I highly recommend for young cooks to apply.
Kerry Diamond:
There's a lot of mentorship that comes with that, right?
Amanda Turner:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
I remember Gavin Kaysen was really involved. Great chef from Minneapolis.
Amanda Turner:
It's honestly incredible. They just started again post-pandemic and I encouraged all of my cooks to apply, and actually my sous chef at Juniper, the Italian restaurant I was running, he won the year after I won. I'm very proud of him.
Kerry Diamond:
Japan is at the top of my bucket list.
Amanda Turner:
You have to go.
Kerry Diamond:
I know, I know.
Amanda Turner:
So fun.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us about your experience there.
Amanda Turner:
I think Ivan Orkin wrote in his book that he never felt nostalgia for a place he hadn't been to until he went to Japan.
Kerry Diamond:
Ivan of Ivan Ramen?
Amanda Turner:
Yes, the very one. I felt the same way, just it's not that it was familiar, but it was very comfortable, and the people are so kind and generous, and I think culturally it was really fun to just be in a place where no one speaks your language. Of course, some people do, but it's not the primary thing and I think that just really being completely ensconced in that was so fun.
Kerry Diamond:
What were some of the things you took away culinarily?
Amanda Turner:
The biggest thing I took away was hospitality, to be honest. Den is an incredible restaurant and was very impactful on me, but their hospitality game is on another level. Chef Zaiyu really just caress so much about his guests and thinks about them like their friends. Their entire business essentially is based on regulars and they had special plateware for them, that no one else would get. They would keep it in a cabinet and whenever they would come to dine, they have their own bowls, their own chopsticks, their own everything. I just thought it was so thoughtful and really unique. They never want to serve them the same thing twice. Really cool.
Kerry Diamond:
You come back. How do you wind up at Olamaie?
Amanda Turner:
I actually did a dinner with Michael Fojtasek in 2018 right after I got back from Japan.
Kerry Diamond:
I should say Michael is the co-owner and chef.
Amanda Turner:
Correct. He invited me to this, actually, it was all women dinner for South by Southwest, and being a local woman chef, it was very fun. As he tells it, that's when I was on his radar. But it was a few years after I ended up working at Jester King, and then I worked for the Tatsu-Ya group here in Austin, working on opening a new concept for them. That was throughout the pandemic, most of the pandemic. I spent 18 months working on this concept that still wasn't open and it didn't really feel like the right fit, and he actually just reached out to me out of the blue and was like-
Kerry Diamond:
Great timing.
Amanda Turner:
Honestly, yeah, thanks, Michael. We went for coffee and he was like, "Hey, would you want to do this?" And I was like, "Maybe." I took it home and sat on it. Southern food for me was something that I just felt like I didn't want to do or shouldn't do, but I feel like, because BLM frankly happened, I got a lot more involved in activism and learning more about my personal history, and it made me more intrigued to do Southern food. So, yeah, I ended up...
Kerry Diamond:
Expand on that a little bit more. What is your personal history with Southern food?
Amanda Turner:
I'm biracial. My mom is white, my dad is Black. My family on my dad's side, a lot of them are from Louisiana, Shreveport and New Orleans, and all Creole, Cajun cooking they would do regularly. My mom's side of the family, they mostly are in Arkansas and Tennessee, but a different kind of Southern. I feel like Texas is interesting in that way, where it gets those weird bylines. But yeah, I grew up eating gumbo, occasionally, and fish fries, and delicious things, and my mom's mother makes a great beef stew with potatoes and really interesting kind of comfort food. But I think that I just thought it was racist to mix Southern food, frankly. I had been encouraged various times throughout my career to just go open a restaurant and make fried chicken, and that's what people wanted to see kind of thing. I just hate that.
Kerry Diamond:
Southern food comes with a very complicated history.
Amanda Turner:
It's true.
Kerry Diamond:
I should point out the shirt that you're wearing, "Black History matters."
Amanda Turner:
Yes. Shout-out to Black History Bike Ride, great friends of mine, and a cause that I'm very much for here in Austin. But yeah, I just felt like I did not want to do that. For me, doing what people expect of you in that way has never been my thing. So, I felt like if I were to step into that sphere, I would just be becoming what everyone wanted me to be. So, I really avoided it for a very long time, and whenever the opportunity came, I just said, "I'm going to do it my way."
Kerry Diamond:
It was during the pandemic. So, was the restaurant open when you and Michael were talking?
Amanda Turner:
No. So, Olamaie was one of the last restaurants to reopen in Austin post-pandemic. Michael did a whole pivot and turned it into Little Ola's Biscuits, which was like a to-go shop that ended up being now as a brick and mortar up in North Austin. But yeah, at the time, Olamaie was not open and we didn't reopen until November of 2021.
Kerry Diamond:
So, you had a little bit of a blank slate. I'm sure you had some regulars who were anxious to come back. But you start with a blank slate. How do you approach the menu?
Amanda Turner:
We made a lot of changes to the way the restaurant operated. I added a grill. Is it a tiny two-foot yakitori grill? Absolutely. But yeah, we added some things. I really wanted to bring that element. I feel like grilling and smoking are inherently Southern, and a big part of the cuisine. It was something that was missing from Olamaie, and also with my Japanese background, I really wanted to introduce that in particular and we added another station on the line. We really expanded what that little kitchen is capable of, and I'm really proud of how it's come along.
Kerry Diamond:
And your title is chef de cuisine, CdC, for those not familiar with the brigade system, what does that mean?
Amanda Turner:
That means I am the head honcho except for when Chef Michael is around. I run the entirety of the kitchen operations and Chef Michael is my direct boss. He's the executive chef. At this point, he pretty much lets me run and do whatever I would like, which is awesome. I have a lot of autonomy in terms of how I run the restaurant, what I put on the menu, and all those things, and he just kind of spot-checks me and gives me good encouragement.
Kerry Diamond:
The word autonomy is very important to you?
Amanda Turner:
Yes. I feel like I give my team a lot of autonomy. When I was coming up and cooking and I think this was a way for a long time, you just don't necessarily see people giving autonomy, generally, and I always was someone that had a lot of questions and it wasn't to be mean or contrarian to my chefs, I just really wanted to understand things and I feel like that was not very much encouraged when I was coming up. So, I really personally need a lot of autonomy to figure things out and I also give a lot of autonomy so that people can learn. I think that learning is such an interesting and unique thing and it's different for everyone, but people tend to take lessons better when they are in the driver's seat.
Kerry Diamond:
When did you start to think about yourself as a leader? How has that role evolved for you?
Amanda Turner:
That's an interesting question. I want to say by the time I began cooking when I was 22, I felt more like a leader. I had more confidence in who I was or who I was trying to be. So, as I continued through my culinary career, I often found myself in leadership positions even if I didn't have a title, I was managing people and managing systems. I really like systems, also I'm a Capricorn, I think all these things go hand in hand. I think it was kind of from a young-ish age that I became a leader. As I've grown older, I really try to lean into figuring out what makes a good leader, what really helps to support the people that you're leading.
Kerry Diamond:
Now, Michael, chef co-owner, comes from a very serious fine dining background.
Amanda Turner:
Yes, he does.
Kerry Diamond:
It seems like he's very intent on running things differently than what he grew up in.
Amanda Turner:
Yes, absolutely. I think that is honestly one of the places where Michael and I see eye to eye. He has the rigor of very fine dining and, for Austin, my pedigree is fine dining as well. I think that we both saw an opportunity to try and subvert the concept of what does that mean? Olamaie is considered a fine dining restaurant and it's Austin, so people still wear sandals and stuff. But yeah, we just really want to be better than our predecessors, than the history of dining, and treating people well is part of that.
Kerry Diamond:
What is a signature dish of yours?
Amanda Turner:
Right now, I'm very much known for our pork chop. I brine it in this whiskey brine, and it's glazed right now with peach tea, which is sweet and sticky, and then it's cooked on a konro grill, which is a Japanese technique, and served with succotash, which is definitely Southern. What I really say about my cuisine is that I definitely have a background in Japanese cuisine, that is well-known, and it's definitely a farm to table. But as far as flavors, they're everything that I know. I just don't like being put in a box. I really want to bring anything that I know to the table and I think that it creates opportunities to dive in and make things that are more specific to who I am, not necessarily something that other people have done.
Kerry Diamond:
You had a duck dish on the menu, I do love duck.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, I'm a big duck fan. That dish is special to me because it has my grandmother's dressing recipe on it, which dressing for northerners is also known as stuffing.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, we call it stuffing in my parts.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah. But it's my grandma's recipe and it's kind of unique and honestly the best thing she makes. So, it was really fun for me to put on the menu and introduce people to dressing that has hard-boiled eggs in it. I guess, we would call it a terrine, where we take the duck breast and layer it essentially with a farce in the middle and then another duck breast on top, and the entire thing is pressed and sous vide, then we portion it, and then we render it and gets cooked multiple times.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, just that.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, it's totally chill.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell folks what a farce is. They might know what a farce is, but the farce you're talking about.
Amanda Turner:
This farce, not the joke, is essentially a sausage of some kind. It's a smooth forcemeat. This one is made with chicken. We currently have one on the menu that's made with pork, that's more boudin-inspired in flavoring, but it is any kind of forcemeat.
Kerry Diamond:
It was so much fun to do the dinner with you and the rest of the Olamaie team. We came up with this concept for these dinners called Sit With Us. We just love the idea of community, Cherry Bombe from day one has been all about our community and the Bombesquad. But I always think, when it comes to restaurants, not everybody loves to eat by themselves.
Amanda Turner:
That's true.
Kerry Diamond:
So, we really wanted to convey this idea of come sit with us, like in high school, if you're new to high school, sit with us.
Amanda Turner:
It's so cute.
Kerry Diamond:
Of course, you can go sit at a bar by yourself and eat there or sit at a table, but you really, in fine dining situations, don't see a lot of solo diners who are not at the bar. So, this was an opportunity for anyone who's new to Austin or who just wanted to try Olamaie, and maybe didn't have friends who were interested, to come, and I was really happy that a lot of people came by themselves.
Amanda Turner:
It was really awesome. Thank y'all so much for having me and us and letting us host you. I feel like the energy of the night was just so amazing and everyone was so happy. I don't think I've seen so many happy people in a long time. I think my spirit was uplifted. But yeah, so many solo diners, so many people that hadn't been there. I actually talked to a guest that was from Dallas that just drove in for the dinner, and I was just blown away that, one, Cherry Bombe has such a great appeal, but also that she just had a great time and she wanted to be around people of like-minded nature. I don't know, just to see that in the community, it was really lovely.
Kerry Diamond:
I have to thank you too, and of course our partners at OpenTable who made all this possible. But it's not easy, we did a buyout of the restaurant, and that's not easy for a restaurant to serve everybody at once and figure out the seating. So, kind of right back at you, thank you for letting us do it at your restaurant.
Amanda Turner:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
The team did a great job. I mean, it really felt seamless to me in terms of how fast everything was served and yeah.
Amanda Turner:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm sure it felt a little different in the kitchen.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, we always worry, but then I looked at the clock and I was like, "Oh, we're doing good."
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. One of my big takeaways from this time in Austin is how much of a community you all really are.
Amanda Turner:
It's a small big town. We're a city and it's big enough, but the culinary community is not massive, but we really support each other and I think that is one of the best things about Austin. Whenever I go to other cities, you just don't necessarily see that kind of community. We're incredibly tight-knit and really respectful of each other and just supportive of what we're up to. We're trying to raise the city, be the best culinary destination that we can be, but supporting each other is part of that, too. Whether it's going and dining or doing events together, just collaborating with each other and discussing cuisine and, I don't know, it honestly is the thing that's kept me here is the community.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's nerd out for a few minutes. You mentioned you are a gamer.
Amanda Turner:
It started when I was quite young. I had a Nintendo, and my mom and my dad used to play Dr. Mario all the time. You remember that one? It's like Tetris, but with pills. Very strange. But yeah, I have played video games my entire life. I play card games. I was particularly involved in rhythm games, Dance Revolution was the kind of thing that sent me into the gaming sphere more.
Kerry Diamond:
What's a rhythm game? I don't know what that is.
Amanda Turner:
They're basically games that are music-focused, Dance Dance Revolution is a game with arrows on the ground and you step on them and rhythm.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I've seen those in arcades. Yeah.
Amanda Turner:
Yes, yes. I used to compete playing that game. These days, I am really into Magic: The Gathering, and I have a whole group of people, a lot of them work at Olamaie actually.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Magic: The Gathering, what is that?
Amanda Turner:
It is a collectible card game and it's very competitive, but it's fantasy-based. How do you explain this? You basically build a deck that does spells and things of certain colors, and it's like chess, but way harder and incredibly personalized.
Kerry Diamond:
Harder than chess? Damn.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, it's incredibly complex.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, but very fun. So, I'm super into that. I also play Dungeons & Dragons.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, talk to us about the chicken popup.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah. I have a popup called the Fiery Talon and it is a cult, the Cult of Chicken, in fact, it is based on my D&D game, which my best friend, also a Capricorn, Daniel, he is our dungeon master and in the world that we play in, there is a cult that actually popped up these chicken shops, and it's in-game, and we thought it would be really funny to bring it into reality. So, during 2020 we had the opportunity to do so, and it's been incredibly successful, but it is weird.
Kerry Diamond:
And it is fried chicken.
Amanda Turner:
It is fried chicken.
Kerry Diamond:
Despite what you said earlier. So, I guess if you were going to do fried chicken, at least it was through the lens of gaming.
Amanda Turner:
Yes, that's true. Yeah. I also laughed like, "Am I going to make fried chicken right now?" It's very much like I did it my way, it's more katsu style. It's not Southern, per se, but it's still brined in a Nashville-hot-chicken way, but it has Sichuan flavors.
Kerry Diamond:
Are we going to see another one of those popups or was that a pandemic thing?
Amanda Turner:
Oh yeah, I have full intention of bringing it back. We actually have one scheduled in August, right down the street from here, at Better Half. So, for anyone that is interested, please come out. We will be doing some fundraising for a friend of mine that recently passed, and his family, should be a good time, but plenty of very hot chicken. It's August 21st at Better Half, and we're part of the summer fun friends gathering there, and I think we're the last one of the summer, so if you're available, I believe it's a Monday, please come check us out and there will be cultists.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk Pokemon for a sec. You do, I was told, start every shift with the Pokemon theme song?
Amanda Turner:
This is accurate and it is really nice, honestly. I used to kind of troll people by playing the Pokemon soundtrack, because it's something I personally love very much, and just have nostalgia for. It just kind of grabbed me whenever we were reopening Olamaie. It's a power hour of sorts, so from 4:00 basically until right around 5:00, before we open, I just play bangers, really loud, everyone sings, everyone dances, and it's like hustle and let's get ready for service, but also let's have some fun. The Pokemon theme song just got slotted in at some point and it was really moving, the lyrics spoke to me, and I was like, "Is this song about me? Is this song about us?" It just has become a tradition and I think I'm going to carry it for a long time, even if I am no longer at Olamaie at some point. I think that this is the way.
Kerry Diamond:
For those of you who are like, "What the heck is a Amanda talking about?" What is the song they should look up on Spotify or Apple Music?
Amanda Turner:
It is called Pokemon Theme, the first lyrics are, "I want to be the very best like no one ever was," and it is sung by actually a Michael Jackson backup singer who very much sounds like him. Yeah, it sounds like a 1995 Michael Jackson song, but for children.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, there we go. You have your assignment, folks. Are there folks who've really successfully blended the world of food in the world of gaming? Candy Crush, which I've never played, comes to mind, but it seems to me like a world yet to be conquered.
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, I think that there's definitely some food games that are very fun and there's one on the Switch called Overcooked that if you've never played, and especially if you're in the restaurant industry, I highly recommend. But it's very fun, it's very silly. I do think though, as far as gaming and real world food, it has been done, but I don't think it's been done well yet.
Kerry Diamond:
Are you going to be the one to do it well for us one day?
Amanda Turner:
I would love to. It's definitely on my agenda to open a gaming shop that possibly serves, I don't know, Fiery Talon fried chicken, it has cultists in it, maybe some coffee, but do it in a way that is a little bit more chic or savvy.
Kerry Diamond:
So, you're looking to elevate it slightly?
Amanda Turner:
Exactly.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay.
Amanda Turner:
More than slightly, significantly.
Kerry Diamond:
There we go. Okay, let's jump to the speed round. Okay. One of your favorite books on food or cookbooks.
Amanda Turner:
“Bar Tartine,” I would say. Great restaurant, but that book is incredibly informative and inspiring. Sometimes, if I'm just like, "I don't know what I should make," I'll just open it up and get inspired again. I've owned it for years and that restaurant doesn't exist anymore, but it's a great book.
Kerry Diamond:
A favorite kitchen tool.
Amanda Turner:
Got to be a spoon. They're so useful.
Kerry Diamond:
One thing that's always in your fridge at home.
Amanda Turner:
Kimchi. I eat a lot of kimchi.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you make your own?
Amanda Turner:
I have made my own in the past. Currently, no, I don't really have time, but I do love to make it and also I always have spam, so much spam.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite childhood food.
Amanda Turner:
Ramen.
Kerry Diamond:
Snack food of choice today.
Amanda Turner:
Popcorn, I would say, I love popcorn. I'll eat a whole bowl.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you make it yourself?
Amanda Turner:
Yeah, I'm a big... I mean, it's so easy to make, just throw in a pot and you can actually put butter on it and not that weird stuff that comes in the bag.
Kerry Diamond:
Any other toppings?
Amanda Turner:
Furikake.
Kerry Diamond:
Footwear of choice in the kitchen.
Amanda Turner:
Danskos.
Kerry Diamond:
Any motto or mantra that gets you through the day?
Amanda Turner:
I want to be the very best like no one ever was.
Kerry Diamond:
If you had to be trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be and why?
Amanda Turner:
I did think about this and, in my heart, I want to say Anthony Bourdain, and I feel like I literally have not been able to watch him in media since he passed, and he was incredibly impactful on me. I think the entire generation of cooks that I came from, he's just special, reading Kitchen Confidential and watching all of his shows, and I started watching him from the beginning. I think that he just inspired me and so sad that he's gone. Also, his birthday was recently. I just think that he is very special and would love to spend some time with him.
Kerry Diamond:
Amanda, thank you so much. It's been so nice getting to know you.
Amanda Turner:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
And what an honor to eat your food. I can't wait to come back to Olamaie and hang out with you.
Amanda Turner:
Oh yeah. We can't wait to have you back. Thank y'all so much. It was very fun.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Want to stay on top of all things Cherry Bombe? Of course you do. Sign up for our free newsletter at cherrybombe.com. Learn about the week's podcast guests, upcoming events, and fun news from the world of restaurants, cookbooks, cake artistry, and more. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Our producer is Catherine Baker. Our associate producer is Jenna Sadhu. And our editorial assistant is Londyn Crenshaw. Thanks for listening, everybody. You are the Bombe.