In this episode, Chef Ken speaks with Emma and Phil Jones, owners of Lobsta Bakes of Maine, about how they preserved seaside food traditions and built a community‑centered seafood business in Newtown, Ohio. They share their path from the UK to Cincinnati and how they learned the seafood trade and took over Lobsta Bakes. They discuss their focus on fresh seafood, fish and chips, lobster rolls, and how food makes memories and unites people. Emma and Phil describe the hard work that goes into Lobsta Bakes, running the shop and opening "The Lodge," and the tennis festival where they sold over a thousand lobster rolls in a single day. We learn what it's like working together as a married team and running a family business, their values of care and service, and their aim to give guests time and connection at the table.

Foreign.

To the seat at the table with chef Ken.

Today I'm joined by Emma and Phil, the husband and wife team behind Lobster Bakes in Newtown, Ohio.

Originally from the uk, their story has taken them from growing up around sea and fresh seafood to building a life in Cincinnati and carrying on a legacy of one of the area's most unique seafood businesses.

Today, we're talking food, marriage, entrepreneurship, memories, and what happens when all of those things end up on the same table.

And before we get started, please take a second to like and subscribe to the podcast and leave us a comment.

It really helps us grow the show and bring more conversations to the table.

Emma and Phil, thank you so much for joining me at the table today.

Thank you for coming across the city, for having us.

Well, I'm sitting here and before we got.

We have good, proper beer and we have some.

What did you call it, Phil?

It's old, peculiar.

And yeah, it's from Thakson's.

It's a Yorkshire brewery.

And it's a particular interest to me because Obviously in the UK we drink at 18 years of age, and it's 21 over here.

So if you take 18 and you move it back to 16.

I remember driving to a pub at 16 years of age.

I wasn't driving by boy.

I was driven there by someone older.

And it was a traditional old pub.

And to decide whether you had a head on the beer was determined by how high they held the jug of beer.

And I hasten to say I got very, very drunk.

All peculiar.

So it's still with me ever since.

But you could still drink it today and it doesn't conjure up any bad memor.

Ask me about Scotch whiskey.

A different store.

I gotcha.

Maybe I will.

I can't go miss Scotch whiskey.

So what we have here on the table, you guys were whipping this up downstairs, of course, we're in the Lodge, their new restaurant here in Newtown, Ohio, and you were starting to put all these things together.

And you used a very interesting term when you put this stuff together.

You called it a digestive.

Biscuit is a digestive.

I said.

So the biscuit is.

Yeah.

I mean, you guys call them cookies.

Yeah.

Biscuits.

It's a biscuit.

Okay, let's get back straight from start, right?

So it's definitely a biscuit.

Yeah.

Okay, so do you want to tell them?

I know some of the things because some of these things, you know, we eat regularly in the uk.

Yeah, we do.

Yes.

So we've got one of my favorites, one of my childhood memory favorites.

Growing up, and our kids as well, they loved it was the British pork pie, which is sort of like pork meat inside of a really great sort of, like, crusty pastry.

And we would often go down to the pub on a Sunday and have what we would call a farmer's lunch.

And you would have a mixture of cheeses and pork pies and pickles and onions and all sorts of great things on there.

So kind of this is what we've pulled together here for you to kind of, you know, take a look at and share.

It's interesting, though, isn't it, because we call them digestives and we've grown up with them as kids.

And, yeah, I've had people over here say digestive.

Is that something you take before a colonoscopy?

No, it's a bit.

And you can get chocolate digestives as well.

It's an awful name.

I've got no idea why it's eaten.

Does that have to do with, like, when you eat them?

No, no.

I don't know.

I mean, we'll have to Google it as a tradition.

The other thing you do with digestive, you've got it here with cheese.

But we.

So when you have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee, we dunk our biscuits in our hot drink.

So you would take a digestive, you would dunk it in the edge would get soggy.

You have to be very careful on your timing because otherwise it will drop into your coffee or.

So you just do it just enough, just quick enough, and then you eat soggy biscuits.

Isn't that funny?

So we do that with digestives and chocolate biscuits or ginger nuts.

Yeah.

So this would be something that you would just have out anytime during the day or.

Yeah.

Be a special occasion or skip tin.

No, it's less than a special occasion, actually.

It stems from when the farmers went out plowing during the season.

And they take what we would normally call a packed lunch.

They called it plowman's lunch.

It consists of.

We've got pickles here, we've got the pork pie.

Now, that's very spicy.

Onion pickles, because you gave me one earlier.

You didn't quite tell me, Phil, how spicy it was.

We're limited to what we can get.

I should say that I would not normally have bought that.

Normally it's just vinegar.

Got it.

And then we've got cheddar cheese, which is a must for a ploughman's.

And then I went and bought some Wensleydale as well, which is from Yorkshire.

And then at the Front these things here.

I mean, if I was serving these, my mates would kill me if they saw these.

Now, because they're mince pies, but you normally get a large mince pies.

These are a little bit fancy, they're in tarts.

But it's interesting because you tasted one before.

Yes.

And it meant nothing to you.

You enjoyed it.

It was nice.

But when we eat them, we transport us straight to Christmas tree.

You know, it's got star anise, it's got cinnamon, it's got currants, sultanas.

And you normally eat them at Christmas, so it's interesting.

I mean, we were talking about it, weren't we, what food does.

Yeah.

How it transports you back.

It does.

And my tradition to that, I've always done, even with the kids growing up, we sat in front of the fire wrapping all their Christmas presents and he would make these fresh, beautiful freshman's pies.

And I would always have it, do you remember, with a Bailey's cream.

So it was whipped to have fresh, like, you know, the Bailey's liqueur in it on the side with this and with also clearly a glass of Bailey's that you have to drink with it at the same time.

So I would be sat there in front of the fire, puffing down all of these things.

I don't need any dinner.

I'm quite happy with this.

And that's what we all always left Santa.

Yeah.

You know, it was a mince pie and a carrot.

So Santa was well fed.

He was.

Santa was well fed.

Not to give it away or.

That is interesting to me because I just learned that you guys have been here for only eight years in the United States.

Is that correct?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So there must be things that are back in the UK that you're like, ah, man, remember when we had that at this place?

And, you know, I feel like that's kind of what the lodge is.

It's like you're kind of trying to bring things in, introduce things to people and say, well, this is very.

I know that when I came here, you had said, well, this is a traditional.

You know, you're out all day, you come to the lodge together in town, and this is what you would eat.

And for me, I was like, I was excited, I was super happy because unfortunately I've been in a lot of places, but I have not been to the UK yet.

It's definitely on my list.

And I'm really excited because this kind of food where like this laid out or how you guys served it that day is something I love kind of eating that way.

I want to eat like the stuff from the area, what means a lot to those people that they serve it.

And I enjoyed it a lot.

I thought the food was amazing.

If you haven't been to the lodge in Newtown here, you have to make a reservation and come.

They have a lot of big dinners coming up.

You have to get here.

But I am very interested in what is the one thing that is still back in the UK that you.

You just can't replicate here.

Go on, I'll let you answer that one first.

Stuff.

I. I know my, you know, my book.

Well, for.

I think probably for us, what we love them the most.

The two things that we do really with.

For me, it's two things which.

What we bought with lobster baits is the one is fish and chips and what that means and how it's.

How it's served.

And the other for us is the roast dinner.

It's the coming together every single weekend, whether it was with our family or friends in the neighborhood, you would get together and you would sit and you would share food and talk about stories from school, from week, from work, from whatever it might be.

But you would always have a roast dinner, whether it be roast fish or meat and all the lovely vegetables that come with it from local places.

So they're the things that mean a lot to us.

But it's great in terms of we're bringing it now here to the lodge for all of our, you know, local people to come and try and enjoy.

I think the equivalent of that for you guys is Thanksgiving dinner.

Yeah.

Because associated with.

With the Sunday lunch, which we have every Sunday and particularly in Yorkshire, because we'll get onto the north south divide later.

But, you know, the family do come together and immediately conjures up conversations with people who have passed, you know, grandpa's grandmas and so on.

And it's that association with that one meal, which is the Sunday lunch.

Well, it may be Sunday lunch for you, but for me, I'm more basic.

Baked beans on toast.

Baked beans on toast.

I me miss baked beans on toast.

We can still buy Heinz Baked beans here.

And whether you have it in the morning or for lunch, you're gonna have beans.

I'm sorry, you're having beans in the morning.

I knew you would say this.

What is.

What is happening?

So to me, I think, like, beans in the morning.

That's not setting yourself up for success for the rest of the day.

No, maybe not.

Tell me about these beans.

I need to know.

I don't know, you just, you grow up on them.

I mean, it's.

It's what your mom always has.

Well, for me, always has to be Heinz Baked Beans, because there's other brands.

As brands, even in the uk, it would have to be high.

Yeah.

And we were able to buy them here from a couple of places.

They're three, four times the cost of what they should be.

But I have a specific tomato flavor in there which is totally different to any of the other American beans, which have more of a barbecue flavor.

It's got a slightly sweet.

Sweet flavor, allows, not sweet.

So these are like non sweet.

They're like tomato.

Tiny bit with tomato.

Yeah.

Or tomato.

I'm converting.

So it would be on toast.

So, yeah, like that's white tubs, just white turtles.

Yeah.

So beans, Heinz beans on white toast.

Toast the bread.

Yes.

Lather it with butter.

Oh, butter, as you call it.

But we say butter because it's got.

Well, because you're more refined.

Yeah.

It's got big cheese in it.

And then you put the beans on top.

I love that.

Yeah.

So that's something I've never tried and it's going to be on my list.

I need to know what these beans like, which ones they are.

But I'm.

Baked beans.

Okay.

I'm going to look it up.

Write that down.

Pines, tomato, baked beans.

We're going to try this.

We're going to try this, you and me.

I want to see what happens.

I don't.

I've never had it.

I mean, for me, it was like.

My mom, not like a huge cook, but she did have certain things in her wheelhouse like, that were just super good.

In my one memory was like the coffee cake in the morning.

So I would be laying in bed.

And for special days, let's say it was your birthday or last day of school, first day of school or something, you know, or you're getting ready for a holiday and she just wanted.

She'd whip that up in the morning and you would be laying in bed and you could like, coffee cake, Boom, out of bed, ready to get, like, you know, I was ready to go because I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to eat that.

And I think it's like, it's not what it is, it's the memory that surrounds it that makes it so special.

It's not.

And I think that when you talk about family food, that's what it's all about.

So in the uk, those are the two things.

So the lunch, the Sunday lunch and the beans.

Yeah.

So you guys were over here for a few years and then all of a sudden you had your own business.

Right.

You were doing the Mary Mare.

I did, yes.

We.

That was another invention that came over from the uk, had a couple of wonderful friends in the neighborhood, and we were kids gone to school and decided, you know, what can we do which would be a fun activity and develop a unique business.

And we brainstormed lots of ideas and the mobile bar came about because there is nothing like it here.

But the story behind that originally was.

So they got together and you came up with three ideas, didn't we did, yes.

And then we wanted to present them to the husbands, so they did.

So we got together and we'd had a few beers.

We also had dinner together, didn't we?

It was a full flown.

We did a PowerPoint presentation.

Yeah.

Okay.

I'm sorry.

Let me ask you this, Ken.

Sure.

As a grown man.

Sure.

You've got three options.

I think one was renovating houses and reselling them.

Interior design, which, as you can see, is a porter.

Yeah.

So she had that one.

So there's another idea I can't think of.

And then the last one was mobile bath.

Which one do you think the three guys voted for?

You putting me on the spot here.

But I would say alcohol.

Alcohol.

Mobile bar.

But I don't want to get into renovations because I don't know, personally, I'm a cook.

Like, I'm a chef.

I don't know anything about, like, if you asked me to paint a room, I'm like, no, I'd rather cook for like 500 people today than do that.

But the mobile bar.

Yes, that's what we went for.

So that's what you went for.

Yeah.

And that is what you were starting to do before you guys got into lobster base, which was already here.

Yes.

So tell me about how that happened.

How did you find out it was available and how you, like came to the idea of saying yes.

That was down to you.

That's an interesting story, isn't it?

In itself?

Again, so we'd moved here and we just got our green cards.

And Phil's passion has always been food and has always wanted to do something with food.

And he said, right, well, now we're bona fide permanent residents rather than aliens, as we were classified prior to getting the green card.

Let's have a look, let's explore, see what the opportunities are.

So we put the feelers out.

And as is usually the way for women, we.

It was literally Christmas Eve, 23rd, 24th, of December four years ago, and I was having my hair done for Christmas and my hairdresser said, have you heard that lobster bakes is up for sale and Kevin is selling?

And I'm going, oh, my goodness, no.

I have.

Anybody tell me more, because I've not heard of lobster bakes before and tell me more about it.

And very much, as we've said before, when we've discussed, a lot of people pass by and think they just sell lobster.

You don't really know what goes on inside lobster bakes, its own little sort of ecosystem and, you know, the sea world.

So we found out more and she said, let me connect with you because she just had Anne, his wife, in.

She just had her hair done.

And she said, he's closing the doors on the 31st of December now and that's it done.

And we were like, oh, my goodness, we need to speak to him.

We need to speak to him.

So we did, we had a, we had a chat, didn't we?

And, and it, and it all went from there.

It was just fate.

Yeah, but you had the conversation with.

Then what about the conversation after you met with him?

Like, how, how do you get the.

Yes.

Who.

How's that happen?

Like, you guys.

So you're, you're, you're bonafide, like you said.

But then, like, you had the conversation and then on the way home and when you get home, what's that conversation like?

It was one of the scariest things we've done, and we've done quite a few things because we had a passion for food.

We know a little bit about business, but we didn't know about fish.

And that was the scary bit.

And, you know, and we love seafood in the uk and that was our, really, that was our only connection at the time.

But Kevin reassured us.

He was from Maine.

He was a Mainer.

You guys know what that means?

Yes.

And he spent time with us and we're pretty quick learners.

So.

Well, that was the biggest hurdle and not knowing about.

So you're like, I want to do this, but I don't know anything about fish and he's selling for this and here's what we're going to do.

And we got this big vision from.

The time that you guys talked to him to the time you made the decision.

How long was that?

I don't know.

How long?

A few days.

Huh?

It wasn't long.

It wasn't long because, you know, I came over here on a business and they sent me over here to set up a design company which is what I did in Cincinnati.

And at the time I was managing, There was about 45 people in the Cincinnati office.

And then I was given other responsibilities in Minneapolis and a few in Chicago.

So I'm traveling around and I don't know whether you've ever reached this point in your career, but you know when you wake up on a Monday morning or Sunday evening actually, and you don't want to go to work.

Yeah, no, I have.

Yeah.

So then, you know, you've got to do something.

It's the difference of what I call if I have to do it or I get to do it.

Yeah.

So with my business and what you guys do, even though it's an enormous amount a day, and we could talk about some of the crazy days you guys have had, you shared one earlier, before we started.

And I really want the listeners to hear that.

But I think for me it was if I can wake up and say I get to do this versus I have to do this, and if I always tell myself I get to do this and it's a privilege and I'm lucky to have created a business that I get to cooking people for their cooking, homes for people and meet all these great clients that I have and there's just amazing food I get to work with.

And the list can go on and on of things that I'm grateful for.

So I think like that is the difference.

If you're dread, even though you got this big job and people from the outside would be, wow, you're moving right up, you're going to be this and this and this.

But if you don't like it, like if it's not fueling you, especially as you get older, I think absolutely.

And I think that was the other difficulty because the people I was working with, the people we hired, because I set the office up from scratch.

So the people I hired were very much friends and I love those guys and still do.

But it was all the nonsense beyond that which was making me think, you know, you go on.

I was nearly set a vacation, then you go on holiday.

Holiday, I would have corrected you, but.

You go on holiday and you take a week or a two week off and you think, yeah, I'm going to be fine because when we get back to work, I'm going to be looking forward to it.

But when you've had two weeks and you don't look forward to it and then the weekend comes and you don't look forward to that.

So this.

So I knew I have to do something and there was always you know, Emma kept nagging at me, saying, phil, you've got to do something.

You got to do something.

And it was that saying that, you know, I'd rather go to my grave having done something rather than regretting doing something.

So we'd reached the point, you know, put all that together, and we reached a point where we knew we had to do something.

And I think for us.

And also, though, part of the reason why it felt so comfortable, surprisingly, was that, I mean, I was like thinking, oh, my goodness, not fish shop.

I've not come to America to own a fish shop.

Honestly, I really think I've got a fishwife really good.

But when we met Kevin, we met him two or three times and the kids came, it was just.

It felt like a meeting of minds and it was just so comfortable.

And he.

I mean, obviously, you know, you look at everything around the business from a, you know, business perspective, but in terms of how.

He just explained how it all worked and he said that he would spend time with us and he just.

He was really like.

He just said, I've been waiting for a family like you to come and take this on.

This is on my baby.

It was just so.

He said, this is my baby.

And now I re.

And he trusted us to do it.

I mean, it took six months to go through because no one's giving any finances.

Because it was after Covid.

Yeah, nobody was giving loans out to anything in retail or food or restaurants.

It was a.

Let alone Brits from England that didn't know what to do because we don't know all the loan processes, everything.

It was quite a.

Quite a task.

But anyway, we.

We.

We managed it and it was the best thing we ever did, isn't it, really?

We loved it.

Absolutely.

We treasure it.

We really do.

We treasure.

Sorry.

So you say, yes, you open this place up and then how.

How soon did you realize, like, oh, we're working together now, and there's that whole dynamic of working with your significant other.

I do that tan.

I can tell you that 90% of the time, probably it's good.

And everything works very swimmingly and everything is fine.

90%,.

I would say, for me, because I think my significant other bites her tongue a lot.

So it's surprising that she's able to talk with how many holes she has in her tongue.

But what I'd say is that she is very understanding and, you know, she would be like, well, that's just the chef being the chef.

And, you know, but at some point she's like, hey, stop Being like that, you know, or some.

But.

And that's just.

Sometimes I get, you know, it's.

It gets heated in the kitchen or, you know, we have difficulties happen and it's like working through it.

So I would imagine that would be walking into a business that you just bought.

You're like, fish.

I gonna try to learn about fish here, and I'm gonna get this store open.

And oh, yeah, by the way we're working together, it seemed.

That seems scary to me.

Yeah.

I mean, we'd been fortunate that we'd worked together in a previous career in design.

So when I went over Sam from Manchester originally, I was working in London and that's where we met.

Yeah, we met at work.

So we'd already worked together.

And you know, the great thing about this, and I don't say often enough to Emma, is that it was a little bit like your story.

I get heated.

I get upset sometimes about the smallest things.

Yeah.

But she puts everything into perspective.

Yeah.

And our roles.

How nice is that?

You don't appreciate at the time.

No, you don't.

But you end up in a situation like this where we're having a conversation which allows you to reflect on it and you don't say it often enough to your partner.

But also our roles are very different.

I'm more so, of course, operations and resolve, the marketing and the design and that side.

So we fit really well together.

Don't.

Yeah.

Mine is kind of more the feel of everything.

Like, even with the food, like, oh, make it look like this will make it like, you know, you know, and Phil comes up with the team and you work so hard, grounds up.

I mean, the blood, sweat and tears from 6am till 1am doing the tennis, everything.

I mean, the ground up grit.

You just said that.

Just.

Just unbelievable.

I want to.

I want to go back to that because you guys.

Did you guys do the tennis tournament?

Yeah, here in Cincinnati.

And I was there last year and I remember it was 100 year, 100 degrees.

Oh, it's.

You guys are in this little hut.

It's a hut, right.

And I'm like, just sit.

I'm just trying to get.

I'm just trying to get.

Yeah, I'm just trying to get my sandwich and get out there.

And then like, we're just trying to find a place that's not hot.

And I'm thinking, I just.

They.

They're over there, like rocking out a few hundred lobster rolls a day.

And here I am complaining because it's too hot.

I mean, how many.

How many how many rolls do you do?

We did the pink.

We did just.

1200 Rolls a day.

Rolls a day.

A day.

A day, yeah.

And then we have to.

And then the rest.

And then obviously you have to think about the hours because people are not eating lobster rolls at 10am in the morning.

Six hours of.

Yeah, six hours.

So we're.

We're moving.

You're rocking and rolling.

Yeah, really.

And then meanwhile, the store's open.

Yeah, it's kind of.

It's.

It's an interesting cycle with it all.

So kind of how.

Because we pride ourselves in the freshness of everything.

So kind of we're back here at the shop making everything.

I mean, we're a small family business.

I mean, we've got sort of 12, 15 people and we work and we're making more stuff.

And then Phil's going, we need more lobster.

We made no lobster.

I'm going, we're working as fast as we can.

We're working as fast as we can.

And phone's going.

And Janet's going, it's Phil again.

I'm going, don't answer it.

And then literally.

And then by taking it down in the refrigerated car, all the way down back to the.

The tennis and literally.

Because you can go through some days, you.

Peaks and troughs, but you.

You just don't know where your troughs be.

And we make fresh daily, so the lobster meats.

Fresh daily.

We had fresh.

We had crab cakes.

Again, the same thing, you know, five, six hundred a day crab cakes.

I can't tell you that.

It was just unbelievable.

But we have such an amazing team.

Oh, yeah, amazing.

We shouldn't do any of it without them.

They're just fabulous, everybody.

Yeah.

And, you know, you mentioned the rain.

We.

I nearly broke my heart.

We had to throw $4,000 worth of lobster meat away.

Yeah.

Because we had.

If you remember, if anyone remembers it, the first three days.

Yeah.

First day was rain, and we.

We have to repair it all the day before.

You have to ready.

So it's got to be ready.

Yeah.

So the first day we had rain, so we sold very little.

Second day, I think they closed it because it was thunderstorms.

And the third day we had rain, so we were left with all this meat.

And with seafood, as you know, you just cannot go any.

You just cannot gamble.

So we just threw it away,.

Chanced it, but we didn't.

And that's what.

And I think that Speaks volumes.

Because I. I would imagine there would be some people that would try to utilize it in some way or whatever, but like you said, quality is such a high priority.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

So you're not.

I'd rather take the hit than one person getting sick or.

That is our view.

Because, you know, if you go with the philosophy at the tennis, which is what we had, is if we break even here, it'll be a marketing exercise, and that in itself will be good enough for us.

So if you go with that, it lessens the pressure to make more and more and more and more money.

We don't need to.

And that's what we took in.

That's what we take into the tennis.

And if we come out and we make a little bit of money out of it, that's great.

But that's.

We don't go in to make money.

Yeah.

And that's interesting that you say that, because there's a lot of work that goes into it to get it to go through there.

And I would think some people would be like, I'm not even going to do that.

You know, I'm not even going to try to do that.

And you guys are just like, let's go.

Yeah, it's.

I don't know.

I mean, some.

I don't know what drives us sometimes.

I think with the tennis, what drove us to do the tennis was the fact that we were this family.

Mom and pop shop or whatever they call it.

What do they call it over here?

What do you call it?

We say Mum and Dad.

Oh, we say mom and dad.

Before you're saying mom and pop, you're changing that.

I know mom and pop would be like a country way of saying that,.

Like, yeah, there you go.

Yeah, I'm getting there.

My folks down in Kentucky would say, that's a nice mom and Pop show.

There you go.

That's it.

So that's.

It's mom and dad.

All right.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

So we went into the tennis with that scene, and we're playing against Jeff Ruby, who was there.

Yes.

Skyline, La Rosas, Alfios, you know, all these big players.

And.

And I said I had to remind Phil sometimes, like, because he was just.

Literally, he was there 24 7.

He sometimes be exhausted, have his heads in his hand.

And I would have to just go out and just say, oh, my goodness.

Just look, we've come all the way from England.

We're just a family business here.

There's 15 of us, and literally we're here.

Look at this beautiful place.

Look at all the people.

Look at all these happy faces.

Look at the most wonderful, most prestigious, one of the most prestigious Cincinnati events there are.

And we've done it.

We've done it all ourselves.

Our team.

You know, we're not part of a big corporate chain.

We don't have restaurants everywhere.

We don't have multiple kitchens.

We don't have multiple chefs.

We don't have the system, all the, you know, the vans, people driving everything everywhere, delivering stuff.

We don't have that.

It's just us and our little team here.

And look.

Look at it.

And you just need to be proud.

This is what you've done.

Yeah.

And what made us proud, I think, was the first year we did it, when we learned so much.

Yeah, we were the biggest selling outfit there.

And this year, we were second biggest.

People love lobster rolls, guys.

Like, that wasn't even any consideration.

We knew you guys were there.

But, you know, I mean, I was like, well, I mean, I'm not.

I'm.

I'm not gonna go to Skyline then.

Yeah, I get Skyline anywhere.

So I'm like, do I really want to eat a cheese Coney?

You know, I've spent time in New England.

I want, like, on a nice summer day, I want a lobster roll and a beer, you know, or.

Or whatever.

So for me, it's like, lobster roll is just.

I don't even think about it.

I'm, like, straight there.

And I remember when we were there, you guys were just rocking and rolling.

Yeah.

And it was efficient.

We got through the line quick.

Everything.

And it goes back to the team again.

The team are unbelievable.

We set them one task at the tennis, and that was to have the lobster all made.

So you go to toast the bread, you have to make it, and you have to put it in the box with the chips.

And the one rule was we had to have it on the counter in front of the customer before the transaction went through.

Wow.

So then they did it, and that's how quick we were moving.

It's amazing.

And everyone loves it.

You know, not that I've ever given birth, but, you know, at the time, you have got your hands in your head, but as soon as it's finished, it's like the drug.

You want to do it next year?

And all the team already are saying, we want to do it next year.

Literally, the people that come along, obviously our core team that we have here, but friends, neighbors, I can't tell you the number of people that pull together.

Let me help you.

Let us do this with you.

Let us make this happen.

It is quite incredible.

And that's one of the things we love about being here in the US like, literally the community.

It's just amazing the support that you get.

I was going to ask you about Cincinnati and these people that, man, I see the people come in and whether you guys are there or not, I came in on Saturday, you guys were out doing 10,000 things on that day out to about.

And the people that were in there, they weren't first time customers.

You know, they knew, they came in, they knew where to go, they need to talk to her or him, and hey, tell me what's good, tell me what's great.

You know what?

I need this and that.

And it just felt like you're walking into, like someone's home and they're, you know, hey, I want this, I want that.

Or we have this.

Have you tried this?

This is from this place.

And I think you guys should be happy that when you're not there, things run like that too.

Because when I walk in there and you're there, or Emma's there or whatever, and I say, I need.

You know, I have weird requests, I know, for different things.

You know, I like the salmon cut different ways than normal.

And you know, you're like, whatever.

But that same day, you were cutting crab legs and the lady was picking them up and you were cutting them in half and laying them out on the tray.

And I'm like, there's no one.

I'm telling you, there's no one else that would have done.

No, no, take the time to do that and have it ready to go.

Because when that lady takes that home, it's just ready to go.

Yeah, we try and do everything that the customers want.

You know, there's times when she tells me off because a customer will say, can I pick up some fresh lobsters?

And it'll be Labor Day and we're closed.

And I'll say, well, what time can you get me?

And I'll come in and do it for you.

Because we just put ourselves in their position and if someone can do that for you, it just means so much.

And what is it?

It's a 15 minute drive from home just to give it a customer.

So we try and do what we can, but we're really fortunate that we've got amazing customers and amazing customers.

The customers are good.

Just become friends.

Exactly.

So same way with me, my clients, you meet somebody and they just like, over time that they hire me again.

You know, I don't, I can't Remember example recently where like we left and they weren't like, we weren't like really good friends.

And when I look through like the list of friends or people watching my stories on Instagram or on social media, no I'll be listed.

I'm like, oh, I remember the Fergusons.

And I remember them and I remember them and I remember that guy and all these people over the 13 years that I've been doing it.

And I think that's the key that you guys have figured it out, that you're creating that for people instead of being like, no, we're not open today, we'll open on Tuesday and get the lobsters then.

Well, I mean, there's places that you're.

Going to call and stuff like that.

Absolutely.

For us, it's just so.

I don't know why, I mean, like you say sometimes you feel like, oh my gosh, I must be mad.

But it is, it's not transactional, as you say.

It's like, it sounds corny and you don't want to sound kind of.

It is so real how food does connect people and it makes all of those relationships and it makes memories.

And, you know, like you were just saying all of these meals you cook for and all of your, you know, people that you, you become good friends with and you remember each way and you remember every single thing.

And it's just that connection point.

I think that level of care and love that you can do, I love.

That's what, for me, that's our number one thing.

Yeah.

You know, now sometimes, you know, things don't always go the way you want them to go and you do it the best you can.

But I think what I've been told, you know, especially at a couple very high end dinners with, you know, high end people, we get complimented on our service before they compliment really on the food as how we treated them, how we made them feel, how attentive we were, how chill we were.

You know, they're wearing someone's kitchen and they just said this past week we're doing all kinds of things.

And they're like, you're so quiet.

You know, the one thing.

Exactly.

I would agree.

The one thing.

And it is so different here in many ways.

When you, when you eat out in a lot of places, is it is that time, whatever you do in life, whether it's eating food or whatever, giving somebody your time, and that's just immeasurable.

There is no, you can't put a value on it.

And I think that's it for you can take a step back and take time.

And that's what we try and achieve with what we're doing in the shop.

Get lost in the shop, spend half an hour in the shop, talk about everything, whatever you want to do, go on and come to the lodge.

And that's why we just do one sitting, because it's about time and having time to yourself and your friend and not watching TV screens what's on the latest sports channel.

It's about connecting and getting to know people.

And that is hard at the start, wasn't it?

Because, as Emma said, it is one sitting, or as you have said, one turning.

And so this table, which was sat out here, is yours all evening.

So trying to encourage people to spend time and talk at the start was difficult because we all know what it's like.

You'll go into many a restaurant, you just.

You've not even finished your meal, and the server comes up and says, everything okay?

And go, yes, here's the check.

Don't worry about it.

Hey, when you're ready.

Not.

No rush.

Yeah, no rush.

But I'm gonna leave it right here.

Yeah, well, why not?

No rush there.

And you maybe had two spoonfuls of your entree, and you go, well, how do you know I don't want more wine or a dessert or things?

No rush.

Funny, you know, you notice as.

As when you're in a restaurant, as Americans, as we sit there and it's, can I have a check, please?

And they're quite vocal.

Whereas in England, it's a stare of the eye, and you've got to hope that there's a psychic thing between you.

They say, can you give me the check?

Right.

Because we're so quiet and reserved, and we'll sit there all night.

And, you know, we've heard stories, aren't we, of friends who have been over to Europe, and they said, oh, my God, no one brought the check to us.

Yes, particularly in France, weren't they?

And they're like, oh, we didn't realize you had to ask for the check.

We're just waiting for them to bring it.

And then you answer it.

They're like, well, yes, of course.

But, you know, they would just assume that you would get the check put on the table and what have you.

But it's a separate culture.

Yes.

And they would just leave you be.

Yeah, they're just like the night yours, kind of what you said you guys do here.

I know when I was here, I met the mayor.

She was sitting across from me.

I met some Other people that were here, I had a wonderful time because we didn't feel rushed.

And that's one of the main things.

When I tell clients, I go, we're on your clock, so we can go as fast or as slow as you possibly want.

And we want you to enjoy the experience, but we want you to put the phones down.

Put them away.

And when I see a table of everyone talking, laughing, and having a good time, I'm like, that's what we create.

Right.

And I think that's what you guys want, and you want to see that too and create that.

Here in the lodge, we're trying to.

Emulate what you do in someone's house, because it's a little bit easier.

You're in somebody's house.

Yeah.

And there's you.

That is it.

Yeah.

And it's how we try and emulate that.

Yeah.

You do a great job.

It was.

We had a wonderful time.

Definitely coming back for sure.

And we'll just bring some unsuspected guests with us.

I don't know what's going on.

And we're gonna.

And we're introduce them to all this crazy good food that you guys have here.

So if anyone doesn't know, kind of what you have, your hours and different things.

You have lobster bakes, which is your store, and then you have the restaurant and the shack.

Yes.

So it's kind of.

We're saying three experiences, one destination, so to speak.

So this is the marketing.

This is.

Well, it's just trying to encapsulate it because it's so hard for people to see, like, people that just don't know.

So it's properly from sea to table.

So it's just so interesting how we've evolved.

So we bought the seafood shop.

We learned our way.

We bought.

We learned everything from Kevin for a whole year.

And we use all of the same suppliers, and we've learned everything from him, and we've got new suppliers all over.

And then we thought, let's try and introduce the fish and chips, because this was Phil's sort of, you know, foodie restaurant side coming and see, like, it.

The idea.

It's always your fault.

After it gets alive, he comes up with the answers, what I want to do next.

Okay, well, then let's see how we do it.

So we introduced that for 12 months.

Everyone loved it.

Then they said, we want somewhere to sit down.

You know, outside, it's winter.

What do we do?

Where do we go?

Look for somewhere.

We couldn't find anything.

So they said, well, this Is our customers.

Well, you know, how about converting the garage?

And I'm like, we can't convert the garage.

Really?

You know, you mad?

So many Americans sit garage, drinking on the drive.

Whatever they do, you come and you're going, you wouldn't sit in the garage.

They said, we don't care.

We just want somewhere to sit with our fish and chips.

Why don't you do that?

So we did.

Myself, the team, all of our.

We were all in there painting, decorating.

We cleaned it out, we made it, we've converted it, what have you.

So then that became the chef.

So now that's casual dining.

Fish, chips, lobster rolls, crab cakes.

Just thrill.

Family food.

Come with your pet outside.

Sit there with your dog.

Be on the bike trail, whatever you're doing.

Come, relax, chill out, easy going.

So that was the third year.

So the first year was the fish and chips.

The second year was the satin.

Then now this year, because of our events, when we've all done these experiences, because the other part of it is this journey around not only bringing our British favorites, but all the European flavors.

So Phil loves all that side of it, too.

So working with our catering team to create all these great recipes and menus.

So we've previously, we've done a taste of Italy, a taste of France.

We've done all sorts.

And everyone said, when's the next one?

When's the next one?

We go, We've got no space to do another one, you know, and they're like, well, can you find somewhere else?

So when this particular property became available, it seemed like the most natural thing to then say, right, well, it's just across the.

Yeah, yeah.

So everything has been customer driven.

We've not thought to ourselves, hey, you know, we want a whole chain of restaurants.

We want to do this, we want to do that.

We've kind of gradually built everything piecemeal because the customers have asked us for it, and it's kind of been the natural next step.

So this was a comfortable next step, wasn't it, really?

It was scary.

It was scary fun.

I wouldn't describe it as comfortable, but, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, yeah, I remember.

I mean, if you're watching on YouTube, if you're not, you should check it out, because we have some awesome decor here.

On the wall, it's a deer with some glasses on, with a pipe, which I love that more than you know.

But this whole place is unbelievable.

I walked in here when you guys said, this is the lodge, and then we came over here, I'm like, okay, and then we.

At first.

And then the second time it was, they won't let us do this.

We can't do this.

We're going to have to change this.

And I was like, okay.

And then the next time I came in, it was like this.

And I'm like, oh, my gosh, this is beautiful.

And the reason is that I can't think of another restaurant in this area that's like this.

To me, they're not like that.

You come in, you leave.

You come in, you leave.

Like, if we.

If us four came in, we ate, then there'd be four other people coming in underneath and behind us, and it would just be like a turn and burn restaurant where you guys are like, no, you're here.

You're our guest for the evening.

It was interesting, wasn't it?

Because we had a vision.

I had it in my head.

Emma had hers in her.

But what she's great at is putting it down on the it's paper.

So she wrote all this stuff down.

It was going to be one turn.

It was just going to be two nights a week.

You know, we weren't going to be slaves to it.

We were going to do this, what we call the Bits and Bobs board.

And it was all written down.

And we presented it and we showed it a team.

And I remember someone in the team said to me, have you ever seen the Lost Kitchen?

And we said, no, what is the Lost Kitchen?

And they said, watch it.

And we paid our 7.99, whatever it was, to prime and we watched a few episodes and it's different, but it was, oh, my God.

That's the same idea as we got.

And we never knew it.

I love.

We lost each other.

They stopped doing it.

I was like, heartbroken.

So I used to look forward to it because these dinners that they were doing were similar to like, the feeling of what I do is just bringing people together and then me being out there, being able to talk to them, explain to them where I'm getting the items.

And, you know, here's the farmer that I just went and saw on Tuesday.

And he, you know, and I'm like, there's an actual place in the middle of nowhere, Maine that is doing this.

Yeah.

And yeah, six months of the year.

Six months, the rest of the time.

I know, it's crazy too.

You had to send it.

There was this whole song and dance.

You had to send in the postcard.

You know, they had to pick your postcard.

And I'm like, we tried, but they never, never picked me.

But it was one of the only places since I left the restaurant business that I looked at and been like, I'd love to go work there.

Yeah, that's my jam.

Yeah.

And that's.

You're right.

It definitely has that feel to it because you are offering very unique things.

And.

And it's just like a cozy kind of feel.

It's just two nights a week.

Two nights a week.

That's it.

It's interesting.

For me, that's where we really connected with it too, is it's just this.

It's funny, isn't it, where your entry point comes from, the reason behind what you do and where you go.

And I don't know whether that's because as we all get older, we.

Our feelings change about everything.

But the entry point is just for us around the people and the good.

The good food and locally sourced stuff where it can be.

Obviously, seafood's not locally sourced, but everything else is.

And our entry point is, what can we do to make this the nicest time for the people?

That's the heart of it.

More than we're a commercial business.

How can we make more money doing this, this and this?

Or how can we make our fifth restaurant?

Or how can we.

That doesn't even come into our heads.

To us, it's like we're having our friends over for dinner.

What can we do tonight?

And also making it.

And that's the difference.

Yeah, I love that so much.

To me, that's just like that mentality you have.

Not a lot of people have.

And especially in a restaurant business, in the world.

Because they can't afford to.

They can't afford to.

Or that their entry point is different.

Like you said, their entry point is I want to do xyz.

I want to be recognized.

I want this, I want that, I want this award.

I want to hang that on the wall.

That doesn't interest us.

No, exactly.

And you can tell you guys don't approach everything that way.

No.

And it's taking that through to the employees as well.

So, you know, for example, today we have a new chef joint and we went out to Ribso's who make all our ravioli.

They're awesome.

The, like second generation Italian.

It's mom and son.

And we went there and they didn't have to do what they did.

They made pasta for us.

We were cutting different pasta.

Michelle, who has just started with us, had seen nothing like him.

And they're showing him how they made it and he came away.

So he's now cooking that Ready for the Italian experience in three or four,.

They're making the fresh pasta for us.

Well, we've got our toast of Italy making with fresh pasta.

Yeah.

They couldn't today.

They couldn't do enough for us.

And then we worked with a supplier over in Kentucky and they raise cattle, sheep and pigs.

And we're going there in two weeks to meet those guys.

They've already supplied us with some of the meat because we offer a fish in the meat dish.

Yeah.

No connection to us, but we're going to take them.

And the team love it because they're not just in a kitchen cooking.

We've said to them when we employed, the guys, so many hours a week are going to be practicing stuff, and so many hours a week, you're going to be off looking at different suppliers.

So it just brings fun to it.

And, you know, we had a good old laugh today.

The pasta is interesting.

You know, to watch someone make fresh pasta in front of you is just absolutely magic if they're doing it the right way.

If you're in Italy and you see that, you're like.

You're in awe.

Yeah.

Because they're just doing with their hands and you're like, you know, every little thing, this, you know, they're.

It's just making it and just tossing it, making it.

And there'll be 2,000 of them sitting there and not just be like, you know, just make it.

And it's things you don't think about.

It's like, they make our ravioli for us.

Yes.

But for the dinner, we want to make a bigger ravioli, so we need the sheets.

And we're going to make that.

And instead.

But the sheets are going to dry out.

So we said, how long have we got?

And they said, two hours.

So we said, right, okay, so we're gonna bring it from you.

It's gotta be refrigerated.

We've gotta make it and we've gotta serve it before it dries out.

So they gave us two sheets.

We set the stopwatch.

Oh, boy.

For two hours.

Had a bit nervous wreck.

We wrapped it, put it in, drove it, and I'll find out tomorrow what it was like tonight after two hours.

And it's that precision.

Yeah.

Which we didn't know about.

Oh, yeah.

But it was those guys who said, you've got to be careful.

Gotta be careful.

So.

Yeah.

Now do you deliver the freshest?

Well, that's what's important.

Right?

I mean, for me, when I.

When people I.

When someone's eating a dish, I Can tell em every.

This kind of the vegetables come from here.

The lettuce comes from my friend Mike.

You know, the beef came from this fourth generation butcher.

Seafood would come from you guys who you're all.

And all these people are in my phone and you're my friends.

And that to me, I think there's two things you can taste in food at a restaurant.

Sometimes you can taste arrogance.

You walk in, then the ego of the chef.

You'll see it on the menu and you taste it on the plate.

And then I can think you can.

You can taste how someone cares about the food.

You taste the love, the love they.

Have for the food.

And when you taste it and people are like, oh, these mashed potatoes are so good.

This just mashed.

Yeah.

It's no big deal, but that recipe is my grandmother's.

And when I say, well, the reason is it's my grandmother's recipe.

And they're like, she does amazing.

And yeah, to some Michelin star chef, to someone who's like, makes all this crazy stuff, that may not be that big of a deal to them, they're like, I make all this big time cuisine.

But for me, that's how I carry on the legacy of just a few things my family had when we made it.

None of us, my grandmother was the only cook.

So, you know, in my house was TV dinners and frozen pizzas and that's all we ate.

But as you say, like, it's that whole that we use.

It's that whole real connection.

Yeah.

And it's just, you know, everything that we.

We do is all we try to do here is.

Is.

It's not about perfection.

There'll probably be a lot of imperfections actually in the four or five courses that we'll present.

But it's about everything will have care and attention.

They might.

No plate will look exactly the same.

But it's about the freshness of the food and how it's brought together.

And that's why we say it's like, come to supper.

Because it's not about perfection.

It's not about fine dining.

It's not about white tablecloths.

It's about the freshness and the quality of the food and the taste and just about all those cultures and experiences.

Oh, I'm starving.

Because it's probably just a pickled stuff.

No, no pickles.

You got me before.

Oh, my gosh.

And there's a lot of challeng challenges with owning a restaurant.

Yeah.

And there's a lot of challenges with the people that you have to bring and you learn lessons there.

What it sounds like is you're trying to build a culture here of like, everyone's included in the stream that you guys got.

And we got to enjoy it.

I think that's the main thing.

Right.

And people are like, oh, it's hard work.

But for me, it's like, I think that that's where I've had.

I know that now.

There's sometimes in the kitchen where everything just blows up and it's carnage, right.

And you just go home and go, that can't ever happen again, so it'll be fine tomorrow.

But then there's sometimes where you just know you gotta have a hard day and you're like, let's just attack that and like, have fun and joke around about it.

And, you know, error, as Julie would say, one thing at a time.

One minute.

If you gotta do minute by minute, do minute by minute.

Yeah.

You know, take one step, just do the next one.

Don't get so caught up in the grand scheme of it.

And when we have huge dinners, obviously I get some people to help me out, but it always works out.

But when you wake up in the morning the day of, and I'm like, I have to do all this stuff and it's insane.

It's just me in this kitchen by myself.

How am I possibly going to get all this stuff handmade from scratch today?

It always happens, you know?

Yeah.

I think, you know, what I quite often have to remind myself of is.

And you sort of see it.

So when you're cooking for a family, you're probably in front of them.

So you see it.

Oh, yeah.

But, you know, you go back to your career when you're in the kitchen and there is carnage going on.

And it does look and feel like some of these shows, you see these Gordon Ramsay shows, what you don't see is what's going on in the restaurant and the people laughing, smiling, and everything is fine, it's fine.

But you have to step out when.

You're a cold face.

And that's the thing I learned, you know, because I've got Emma telling me to calm down.

I've got.

That sounds familiar.

I've got a 15 year old son telling him to calm down, telling me to calm down.

And sounds like, Phil, you and I can't cook together.

Because I think that it would be.

I think it would be carnage in literally.

I would love to do that.

But I think, yeah, because I'm looking at this and I'm like, I haven't had Any of these yet.

And I.

And I don't know how long we've been recording for, but those look amazing.

This has been amazing.

I dilate, consider you guys business owners and vendors, but you guys have become good friends of mine.

I'm lucky to have met you guys.

And I'm lucky that when I need something, you guys are always here.

So I want to say thank you for that.

Like you said, Phil, you don't say thank you and gratitude enough.

But in my business, where I deal with a lot of people, some good, some not good, and it's hard.

They're not always dependable.

And I've never, since the first day that we come up here, ever had to worry about that.

So I want to thank you for that.

The place you've built is amazing, and the people you have that work for you are amazing.

So at the end of the podcast, and you guys, you said you've listened.

You were listening last year when you were driving up to Cape Cod.

You know that?

So I always ask this, and this has kind of become a thing.

I know what my answer is, but if you could have anyone at the table to eat dinner with or invite here into the lodge, who would that be?

I'm going to throw up to you first, dear.

Me?

Yeah.

Mine would be Princess diana, right?

Yeah.

100%.

Yeah.

How awesome would that be?

Oh, yeah.

I would love to sit there and chat to her all night, but there.

Is never so tenuous.

Explain why.

Well, in my previous existence in the uk, I worked for Al Fayed for a number of years and I met Princess Diana.

You did?

Yes, yes, she was.

When she was seeing Dodi.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I think I would just.

I was a very.

I am still a very stalk royalist, but.

And I love William and Kate.

I'd love to have them for dinner, too, but I would very much love to have Diana for dinner.

For sure.

Yeah, I would love to cook for her.

Game changer.

I'd like to get her off the record.

Yes.

Answering some questions for me.

Yeah.

Not as a royal.

Yes.

Off the record.

Not a royal anymore.

When she was outside of that.

And to get some honest answers, because I think it would be very enlightening.

She changed so much being as an American.

You know, the Americans just gravitated to her.

I remember my mom being like, stop.

The freaking wedding's on today.

And like, it was on every channel for hours.

She was just a people person.

She changed the whole world.

She changed the whole of the uk, the government, everything, just in terms of everything.

Like when AIDS first came out and she touched people with aids and it was like, oh, my goodness, what are you doing?

But she was just so much more as an individual.

It was similar when she died as well.

Because in the uk, everyone is reserved so much more than over here.

And that was the first time, and everyone remembers it, where there was this outpouring of grief.

You know, people on the road throwing flowers.

You would.

You'd never ever seen that in the UK before.

Never.

Wow.

Yeah.

I think here, it was just.

I think we.

There's some people who are just kind of royalists over here, too.

They think it's cool because we don't have a royal family here.

Maybe some families who think they're royals here, but they're not real royals.

But I think for us, it was always like.

For me, it was the Princess Diana seemed to be like when you said she was the most approachable and the most connective to the people, whereas the other ones may have been like, you know, I'm this.

And that's the connection.

I'm York, Duchess of blank, blank, blank.

Right.

I mean, there's people like that and they live in their little houses and they don't talk to anybody and they don't want to associate.

But she seemed like.

I saw her countless times where she would go greet the crowd and do different things.

And Kate does that now, too.

Kate will do that.

She paved the way, her and William.

I mean, that's just mold breaking.

She paved the way for the future of the monarchy.

And if they hadn't have changed, I don't think it would have survived the way it has.

But after she passed, they realized they had to change.

They saw what happened.

They saw the public outburst.

They saw.

They just.

They did.

They've evolved.

And she's got beautiful children and I think, you know, they're going to do great things for the.

For the whole.

The country.

But the rest of the world, really fantastic.

I love that answer that.

You got a hard one to follow there, Phil.

That's pretty.

She's been thinking about it, I think.

So she's really put some thought into it now.

No pressure.

Clearly, I haven't.

Mine.

Mine.

I have very few family in the uk.

I've got a sister and that's it.

And I grew up in a family where alcohol played a part, and not always in a good way.

So I've got memories of food, which are the good memories.

But the person I would say would be my father's mother, who I didn't really know But I remember doing a project at school about, you know, a family tree, and she had a boarding house in Manchester in.

Where all the theaters were.

Charlie Chaplin stayed at her house.

They were one of the first families to have a roll thrice.

None of this came through to me, and there was just this history and, you know, I'm not that old.

But if you go back, it appears that my father, as a child growing up, was brought up very much in a sort of Victorian, even though that was years and years ago, you know, he was in his bedroom upstairs in this boarding house, and he stayed there.

And I just.

As you get older, you begin to understand different things.

And although it wasn't a great relationship for me, it'd be great to understand what made him who he was.

And that could only come from my grandmother and try and understand a little bit more about that.

Yeah, the family.

Yeah, yeah.

And what made him who he was.

Right.

React.

Why the way that he reacted.

Yeah, I think it was.

For me, it's always my dad, you know, and I've said that before on the podcast, and forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but, you know, he didn't get to see any of.

Any of the stuff that I'm doing with my business and cooking and all that.

And it would be a joy for that, you know, to.

To be able to do that.

But then there's people living too, that I would probably, you know, just be fascinated with if.

If I could have a good, candid relation, you know, discussion with them.

You know, it'd be great to find podcast for you.

It'd be great to have that sort of podcast where you get some song, because as a kids grow up.

So we've got two children.

Do they really know who we were as kids growing up?

Because I remember the story because when Emma and I met, I met your father, your dad as he was dying of cancer.

And I remember a story you told me that, you know, when.

After the service, when he passed and you went.

Because he worked for Pan Am.

And she came away going, oh, my God.

They were all saying what a great laugh he was.

He was a joker in the office.

And this personality, which she never saw at home.

She just saw her dad.

And to have a podcast where.

God, this has gone down real quick, hasn't it?

That's true, though.

He asked for the kids to turn around today.

God, my mum was like this, and my dad was like this.

And I never knew.

I'll give you example that.

And my dad again.

But my dad had passed Away.

And we had this bereavement or visitation.

Yes.

And I was like, oh, I know he had a few friends here and there.

There's a freaking line.

And I'd never met any of these people.

Like, I'm looking at these people.

There's a guy who walks by, he puts a deck of cards in the coffin.

And I said, hi, I'm Ken.

He goes, well, he goes, oh, your dad was the best card player I've ever met in my life when he worked with me.

My dad worked a third shift at a hospital at one point before he ended his business.

And they're like, we had to stop playing because he was just going to win euchre every time.

So good.

And that really was just taking our money every night.

And we really could not play cards with him anymore, so I figured he would want to continue to keep winning.

And he put.

And I never met that guy.

So to.

To your point, right?

You.

You don't know.

You're like, what do you mean he's that way?

Or, you know, or.

Or, you know, that thing.

It's just amazing.

But I love the.

The memories I have of the.

The limited memories.

You know, I lost him when I was younger, but those are people.

But like I said, maybe somebody living, too.

Because I see a lot of the celebrities and actors and stuff, and I'm like, I'd like to get them to sit down where they're not guarded, and they could.

Maybe they're all more candid and talk about things, and I could ask them really difficult questions and put them on the spot.

One day.

One day we're going to do that, right, Pete?

Yes.

Well, thank you so much.

I'm going to tell you right now, if you're watching this on YouTube, see everything that's out here.

This is all going to be gone about 10 minutes after we get off the air here, because I am, like, I did not eat dinner.

I had.

We ate early earlier today, and I'm like, starving.

But thank you so much for you guys taking your deck.

It's their day off, and they decided to come in.

And this is.

I'm going to finish my beer and we're going to have a great time.

See you later, everybody.

Bye.

Thank you to everyone watching or listening.

Thank you for joining us.

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