Sunday Special 05

Welcome to Sunday Specials, back from our brief hiatus. Today, we’re sharing our chat with Paul Owusu, founder of Phreshly THE premium handcrafted cocktail. Paul is one of our favorite builders in the food + bev space (with an incredible eye for NFTs). We sat down with Paul to ask him about his favorite dish.

What's your name and where are you from in the world?

Paul Owusu. I was born in Ghana originally and grew up in south London, which explains this weird accent that I have. I typically take people by surprise when they hear me talk for the first time.

And now you’re settled in Atlanta?

Pretty good. We moved here in December. I love it. I lived in the Bay Area for 20 years, so it is great to be in a different city, with different food experiences. Just everything feels very very different.

What is your absolute favorite dish ever?

I would say it is jollof rice. It’s a dish that originated from the Wolof people of Senegal in West Africa but then has traveled around the continent and the world in general. It’s been adopted by mostly my home country of Ghana and also in Nigeria. And there’s this friendly battle between Ghanaians and Nigerians, who makes the best Jollof? It’s the most hilarious thing ever because it’s not even our food.

It’s closely tied to what jambalaya feels and tastes like – so just to see the different iterations of that food through the history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade to the south is very interesting.

What’s your favorite version of jollof rice?

It’s one that I will typically have my sisters make for me. People ask me why haven’t you made food from your home country? And I tell them it’s sacred to me. I don’t want to mess it up, I feel that like if I do, my ancestors will wake and be like “oh bro, what are you doing?” So I do not touch it at all.

But if I do get it from a restaurant, there’s a restaurant here in Atlanta called Ike’s and they make two versions, the Ghanaian version and the Nigerian version, which is really interesting to see. I’ve ordered it there a few times and it’s really, really awesome.

What are the ingredients?

It’s basically tomatoes. Sometimes people add ginger or scotch bonnet and rice. You make a tomato base, stew, or sauce, and then cook the rice on the stove slightly and then in the oven so it cooks top to bottom.

As simple as it sounds, it is one incredible dish.

What does it taste like?

I think it’s like Spanish or Mexican rice, but almost a more powerful flavor than that. It has a vibrant, orange color. You should try it!

If you had to describe this dish in three words, what would they be?

I’ll say, vibrant, specifically the color, filling, because it’s a comfort dish, very heavy, and happiness, because for me happiness entails being transported to a place. And for me it transports me back home, the smell, the people, cooking and singing, and all that fun stuff.

Are there any rules or recommendations for this dish?

There are some unspoken rules. Don’t pair it with anything unnecessary – like a salad or anything. Typically people have it with beef or chicken or fish or some protein. It’s a simple, straight-up dish, no need to complicate it.

Do you have a particularly hot take on this dish?

My hottest take is that obviously, Ghana makes the best Jollof because I’m very biased.

We’re out searching for some Jollof today. Have a favorite spot to share or an opinion on the Ghana vs. Nigeria debate? Hop into our Discord today to join the conversation and stay up to date on all things Foodbaby.

Sunday Special 04

Our fourth Sunday Special is with a team favorite. Today we’re excited to welcome H Woo Lee to our community. Before we jump in to H Woo’s favorite dish, let’s get to know this incredible culinary creative.

H Woo is a self taught chef commanding an audience of over 1 million followers who, like us, LOVE to watch him cook for himself. Prepare to salivate.

Since shutting down his startup supper club during the pandemic, H Woo has developed into one of our favorite entertainer/educators teaching us how to cook “fancy food” at home.

We asked H Woo what his favorite dish was and he responded quickly, briefly, and confidently.

What’s your name? Where are you from in the world and what’s your absolute favorite dish ever?

H Woo. Los Angeles. And It's so hard to answer this question...... Uni (Sea Urchin) is maybe my favorite ingredient?

Okay fine…ingredients count too. Tell us about when you had Uni last.

I had an Uni Pasta recently, to be honest it did not taste enough like Uni, and it just disappointed me hahah.

What are the ingredients?

Pasta, burrata, uni, saffron, pasta water, some cheese, too much salt.

What did it taste like?

Ideally it tastes like the ocean.

If you had to describe this dish in three words, what would they be?

Briny, umami, and creamy.

Any rules with this dish? Anything we should definitely do or anything we should never do?

None. I  don't really believe in rules. Actually…fuck microwaves haha.

Last but not least, give us a hot take, straight from H Woo.

Uni is better than toro or even…toro is overrated.

Mic 👏  drop 👏. Toro lovers where you at? It’s team uni over here 24/7, 365. 

Thanks for sharing H Woo, and welcome to the Foodbaby fam.

Don’t forget to join the conversation, and stay up to date as we continue to build a platform for collecting your favorite dishes.

Sunday Special 03

Our third Sunday Special is with Griffin Owens. Currently, Griffin is helping build 4k Protocol, Web3's most reliable Physical-Digital Bridge™. He’s also the co-founder of Yuzu Online, a yuzu goods supplier. Griffin is a friend of Foodbaby, a foodie and food expert, and we were so excited to learn about his favorite dish.

What’s your most memorable food experience?

Salmon sashimi from Robataya in Roppongi, Tokyo.

Tell us about it!

The last time I had this dish was actually the only time. I was 17 years old and went on a mother-son trip to Japan, a celebration after getting into college. We had dinner at Robataya, an equally innovative and engaging dining experience. It was a traditional meal with lots of courses, omakase style. We were sitting at this “U” shaped bar with two people behind the bar serving you. It was a very intimate experience. We learned about their culture and shared a little about ours. The sashimi was served first.

What are the ingredients?

Freshly sliced salmon, with soy sauce, ginger, and fresh wasabi on the side.

What did it taste like?

I thought I knew what good salmon sashimi tasted like. Yet the melt-in-your-mouth experience of this silky, perfectly textured cut challenged everything I had known about the simplicity of the dish and how it could be so beautifully elevated.

If you had to describe this dish in three words, what would they be?

Silky, fresh, and ethereal.

Any rules with this dish? Anything we should definitely do or anything we should never do?

Use chopsticks, engage with the chefs, drink a dry sake.

Last but not least, what’s one hot take on this dish?

Food experience can be so subjective. The experience I had with a chef is not necessarily the same experience you'd have the next night. Fish in January tastes different than fish in July. We often forget the seasonality of food ingredients we take for granted because they are a staple in our lives. The externalities in the environment, such as the temperature of the water, are overlooked aspects that affect both the taste and scarcity of food.

If anything, what I’ve learned from being close to the food industry - from marketing at Pepsi to building Yuzu - is that your ability to impart a vision is great but what really matters is how people actually taste and experience it for themselves. Delivering that at scale can be really difficult.

Thanks for sharing with us, Griffin! Tokyo is officially on the shortlist for our first Foodbaby off-site.

If you haven’t already, join our community today on Discord to stay up to date with all things Foodbaby. Anyone that joins and participates before our first collection drop will receive a founding member role with exclusive benefits for all future drops and activations. Join us.

Sunday Special 02

We’re excited to share our second Sunday Special this time with Matthew Maitland, @superfoodmilk, founder of WholyM!lk, and @wholyworld, a new collection of NFTs that serve as an access pass to a regenerative food-focused web3 community. Let’s dive in.

What’s your absolute favorite dish ever?

Fried Chicken w/ Caviar from Ad Hoc + Addendum.

Tell us about when you had this dish last?

Late summer 2021, went to Napa for my girlfriend's birthday, her mom sent us a beautiful bottle of wine to drink with our dinner. Fried chicken and caviar is a wild combo, 'nuff said.

What makes up this (relatively self-explanatory) dish?

Fried chicken and caviar! with a full set of chives, creme fraiche, and the finest brunoise-d red onions I’ve ever seen.

What does fried chicken and caviar taste like?

The chicken is so juicy, and oozing with flavor. I think they brine in buttermilk and spices for a day or two. Herbs and spices in the flour, then fried golden to crispy perfection. Tossed with maldon and fresh rosemary right when it comes out of the oil. And then the caviar is just an explosion of flavor.

It's funny, I wouldn't die for either of the two dishes on their own (they both rock, don't get me wrong, but would never go out of my way to order on any menu) but when combined the flavor is unreal. The briny, umami, saltiness of the caviar with the fat of the buttermilk and chicken skin is just... chef's kiss.

If you had to describe this Ad Hoc + Addendum dish in just three words, what would they be?

Unexpected, Decadent, FUN

Any rules or recommendations with this dish?

Ration your caviar! That shit is expensive and you're probably only eating it once or twice a year at best. Don't slather your first bite with too much, because you'll be sad if you have a lot of chicken left without the commensurate amount of caviar.

Any hot takes on fried chicken and caviar?

Ad Hoc will try to serve you the caviar as its own course before the chicken even hits the table. The best dishes are often what's been described to me as "dirtbag dishes" which is when you do something like take $150 worth of caviar and put it on a piece of fried chicken.

Here's the hot take: not many who enter a TK restaurant have the balls to eat like a dirtbag. I say if you pay $500 for any dinner you can eat however you please.

Dirtbags unite! Thanks for sharing Matt. We’re so excited to see what you’re building at Wholy World and are honored to welcome you to our community.

Don’t forget! Anyone that joins our Discord before our first collection drop will receive a founding member role with some epic exclusive benefits that we will explain soon enough. Join us.

Sunday Special 01

Our first Sunday Special is with Rachel Cantor, brand and content marketing lead at Tydo and former writer of Sidekick, a Morning Brew newsletter. Let’s dive into Rachel’s food memory.

What’s your absolute favorite dish ever?

Grandma Hedy's noodle kugel. Her full name is Harriet but as a little kid, I couldn't pronounce 'Harriet,' so I called her Hedy.

When did you have this dish last?

The High Holy Days in 2020. although my grandma wasn't present at the dinner table that day—she's a Florida snowbird—my immediate family and I made the dish to show our love and appreciation for her.  It’s a Cantor family staple.

What’s in Grandma Hedy’s kugel?

Wide egg noodles, eggs, sugar, margarine, salt, and cinnamon.

How does this kugel taste? Walk us through it.

Sweet (not uber sweet but perfectly sweet, just right). It's cinnamon-dusted. It's crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. It's almost like eating dessert. I like to eat both warm and cold. I'll spoon it straight from the casserole dish.

If you had to describe this dish in just three words, what would they be?

Chutzpah, Classic, Warm (like a hug)

Are there any kugel “rules” we should be aware of? Dos and don’ts?

Always save leftovers. You'll want to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.. Always make more than you think. Double the noodles, double the fun.

Last but not least - what’s one hot take on kugel? Spark some debate for us.

Kugel with raisins is a no-no. That's not acceptable.

Thanks for joining us, Rachel! We’re going to go make some kugel and prep for our next Sunday Special.

And last but not least, join our community today on Discord to stay up to date with all things Foodbaby. Anyone that joins and participates before our first collection drop will receive a founding member role with exclusive benefits for all future drops and activations. Join us.

Eating an incredible dish is a visceral and memorable experience, but there aren’t many meaningful ways to savor our favorite foods past the plate. Let’s face it, shipping a pastrami from NYC to LA will just never be as good as the real thing.

Meanwhile, our favorite cuisines, dishes, restaurants, and chefs contribute so much to who we are. In a new era of identity creation through ownership, we’re committed to maintaining food's significance.

We believe food should be collectable.

Foodbaby partners with restaurants, chefs, and food creators to turn their iconic dishes into limited-edition NFTs with real-life utility.

We’re excited to build a community surrounding a collective passion for great food and memorializing our favorite dishes. 

Stay tuned for more and remember: you are what you eat 🍲👶