BJ Novak on Vegas, Catalina, Membership Clubs, Cereal, and Chain's New Mall Food Court

Mad Food

The hosts reflect on a recent trip to Las Vegas, recounting memorable dining experiences and the 'punim effect' used to enter exclusive loun

Key takeaways

• BJ Novak is bringing his 'Chain' restaurant concept to a pop-up location at Westfield Topanga.
• The hosts discuss the allure of private membership clubs like Bird Streets and Petit Hermitage.

Main topics

• Las Vegas dining and yurts
• Chain restaurant pop-up at Westfield Topanga

Notable quotes

It invites you into a world.

Conclusion

The episode provides an entertaining deep dive into the intersection o

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) I don't know that we have intro music. Is it like non-copyright music? That's right. There's a lot of free music Speaker 3 (0:06) on. You Speaker 1 (0:06) never listen to it. It's been in my head the whole drive over. Only Speaker 3 (0:09) two shows a week since January. Speaker 1 (0:12) I Speaker 2 (0:13) don't like listening to myself. Speaker 3 (0:14) That's good. Speaker 1 (0:15) It's just such a jazzy way into your world. Speaker 3 (0:18) I feel like... How did you pick it? So you like it? Speaker 1 (0:20) I love it. And music was such a big component of the first show. So there was a lot of pressure on you. To choose good music because you don't do songs anymore. Should we be Speaker 2 (0:31) saving this? Speaker 3 (0:32) Honestly, it was such a lazy choice. So Speaker 1 (0:36) was the office theme. Speaker 3 (0:37) In reality. Last Speaker 1 (0:39) second. Speaker 3 (0:39) Is that right? How about this Speaker 1 (0:40) one? Yeah. As far as I know. As far as I remember. I didn't pick it personally. You Speaker 3 (0:45) know, that does. And perfect choice. That is a lazy jingle. Speaker 1 (0:49) Well, I don't know that was lazy composition, but it was. It should be Speaker 2 (0:52) recorded, no? We're Speaker 1 (0:53) recording, no? Yeah, it's Speaker 3 (0:55) a Speaker 1 (0:55) we're going. Yeah. Okay. Speaker 2 (0:56) All right. Speaker 1 (0:57) Yeah, you think I'm this off the cuff? I got an eye on your show. I'm producing us. Okay. Speaker 3 (1:02) There was a moment you may remember where we talked about having to get rid of me just using all sorts of unlicensed music that I love. And we played around with, you know, we're early AI adopters in the creator field. Speaker 1 (1:20) I have opinions. We Speaker 3 (1:21) had a great AI rap song. We were playing around with some AI theme songs, but didn't go with any of them. Honestly, not having the pressure of picking different songs every episode is lovely. I'm glad you like that. There's a lot of really bad. Speaker 3 (1:44) uncopyrighted music out there for the taking but I felt like that was one of the better ones. Speaker 1 (1:48) It Speaker 3 (1:48) was a surprising Speaker 1 (1:48) choice because it was not in line with the Air Jordan Greatest Hits that I have the Spotify playlist of. Right. I had no idea. It is very it zags where you think it would zig. Okay. It's cool. You Speaker 2 (2:02) know what? And it invites you Speaker 1 (2:04) into a world. Yes. You know? That's it. End of sentence. It invites you into a world. Speaker 2 (2:10) Here I am thinking that we went straight into the intro. No music. Speaker 3 (2:14) You know, I think it was the last episode or maybe the last Q &A, we talked about wanting to please BJ and being very into pleasing him when you asked a question that we really didn't have the answer for. But, and usually I would not include a question in the Q and a, that we don't have an answer for, but because it was you, we wanted to use it and please you. And we talked about wanting to please you, but being able, unable to please you there, but I'm so glad. What was Speaker 1 (2:42) the question? It Speaker 3 (2:43) was, uh, thoughts on menus at membership. Yes. Right. Um, right. And we, we, we, we just, we just don't have that knowledge. I have limited knowledge. Past Speaker 2 (2:55) a Speaker 3 (2:55) couple of visits to, you know, Sama Speaker 2 (2:58) Sani. I bet Speaker 3 (2:58) Max has some knowledge. No, Speaker 2 (2:59) I have a little, like barely any soul house. I mean, who took me to the poodle Speaker 1 (3:03) room in Las Vegas? I've been to Bird Streets. I'm a Speaker 2 (3:06) member of Petit Hermitage. There we Speaker 1 (3:08) go. Right. But. Bird Streets. I'm not a member there. Poodle room. You guys, I'm trying to synthesize. I'm not saying you're supposed to be a member of all these places. Synthesize what's Speaker 2 (3:19) the Speaker 1 (3:19) word on the street. There's all this craze for the private clubs. How's the food? Speaker 3 (3:24) Speaking of our intro music, let's get to it and then the episode. Okay. Okay. Speaker 3 (3:40) Hi, MAPFood. I'm Jordan Maxis here, and so is BJ Novak, who, when he is not hanging out in yurts all across Las Vegas, is in Los Angeles doing all sorts of Hollywood things, and also, and maybe more importantly, is continuing to bring his Ode to Chain restaurants concept chain to life. So we had to have him back on as chain has launched at Topanga Westfield. Welcome back, BJ. Speaker 1 (4:05) Thank you for having me back. Love the food building. Of Speaker 3 (4:08) course, of course. It's been a while. Speaker 1 (4:10) Yeah, it's been a while. It's Speaker 3 (4:11) been Speaker 1 (4:11) a Speaker 3 (4:11) while. Are there really no plans for placing a yurt inside the Topanga Westfield chain food court after the wild success of our night out in Las Vegas? Look, I Speaker 1 (4:22) read about it and I... I do want to ask about the AI aspect of the writing occasionally on the Substack, but I know the images have been much disputed. What images? The AI generated images. Sort of almost trolling offenders. Speaker 3 (4:38) He's ignoring Speaker 1 (4:38) the yurt question and going right to AI. I'll Speaker 2 (4:40) go Speaker 1 (4:40) right back to the yurt. I was saying I loved the recap of that amazing night. If we could get Alpine Mike to open a yurt as part of the Chain universe. Nothing would make me happier. But there's something special about who would ever think that such a high level, unique cocktail bar would be in the Arts District of Las Vegas, Nevada. Speaker 2 (5:07) I agree. I have thought about Viking mics a Speaker 1 (5:10) few times. It is sort of like you're suddenly in a movie and the production designer overachieved and it's like Jack Rabbit Slims in... Pulp Fiction. All of a sudden you walk in, you're like, I'm in this. What? Like this is beyond what they even promised with the name Viking Mike's Alpine Yurt. Yes. Las Vegas, Nevada. It's not at a casino. No. The bartending staff was very knowledgeable, very creative. A little flirtatious, one might even say. Who's to say? Who knows? I'm not to say. I mean, I know. Speaker 2 (5:42) I'm not to say. Speaker 1 (5:43) Okay. I felt that there was a mutual appreciation. I'm not saying any energy, but I think. Both of you were experts. It was a great time. Speaker 3 (5:53) There was a mutual respect for alcohol knowledge. We were booze volleying. And the type of Speaker 1 (6:00) person that would have it. It was great. I Speaker 3 (6:04) would not know what flirting looks like. I've never been flirted with. Speaker 2 (6:07) Only BJ and Max get flirted. Speaker 3 (6:09) Well, Speaker 1 (6:09) no, you Speaker 2 (6:09) don't know. That's right. You may have been many, many times. I would love... I would know Speaker 1 (6:15) there's a DM. tab of like spam you could check oh Speaker 3 (6:20) really Speaker 1 (6:20) oh Speaker 3 (6:21) it Speaker 1 (6:21) could be there yeah i will check you know what Speaker 3 (6:23) maybe i'll check right now no i do think a cruncho perfecto inside a yurt yeah works i think it kind Speaker 1 (6:32) of works it's a Speaker 2 (6:33) bit of a clash though you Speaker 1 (6:34) you think the alpine there were a lot of Speaker 3 (6:37) drinks are the nomads uh not uh crunch wrap Speaker 1 (6:42) supreme eaters I think, look, everyone's a Crunchwrap Supreme eater now. I believe so. Speaker 3 (6:49) In Speaker 1 (6:49) this international world we live in. There's a huge Speaker 3 (6:52) void in your dining. I'm just saying, Speaker 2 (6:54) BJ, don't forget, your hash brown came with a curry ketchup. Speaker 2 (6:59) That's true. But they do have like Doner Kebab in that part of the world. So, Speaker 3 (7:04) Max, you're going to open restaurants Speaker 2 (7:07) one day. Speaker 3 (7:08) If you were to open a yurt, what kind of cuisine? I want to hear from you and BJ. What kind of cuisine would best be served Speaker 2 (7:15) inside a yurt? You know, the thing about a yurt is you can do whatever you want. Speaker 3 (7:19) Yeah. Can you? Oh, absolutely. You Speaker 2 (7:21) don't Speaker 3 (7:21) have to hold to the nomadic nature of the history of the yurt. Speaker 2 (7:25) No, you do Speaker 3 (7:25) whatever you Speaker 2 (7:26) want because you're in a yurt. It's already weird. Go crazy. Cook whatever you want. Speaker 1 (7:32) Yeah. I mean, you're in a yurt in the desert. And, you know, I looked Speaker 2 (7:37) into the culinary program there. They have like a legitimate chef and they have an actual menu of various items across many cultures. They're Speaker 3 (7:48) doing whatever Speaker 1 (7:49) they want. Speaker 2 (7:49) The Speaker 1 (7:49) off-strip Las Vegas scene is really interesting to me. And there's a coffee place as well that I think there's two coffee places people love that are off strip. And one of them is related, is part of the Viking Mike team. And then the other one is this beautiful space that they will not let you sit down and there's no seating. It's a to-go bar. You have to drive all the way there, wait in this line in this beautiful space, and they kick you right out. It's only to-go. Like the way you would have at a drive-thru window, but in a... Lovely space. It's there's just some interesting quirks over there. It's really cool. Velveteen rabbit. Do you know that place? Kind of a goth girl bar in the arts district. Oh, we should have done Speaker 3 (8:34) that. Speaker 1 (8:35) Atomic liquors. So much atomic liquor is like saved up for the next trip. The platonic ideal of a dive bar. I mean, there's no better dive year bar than atomic liquors in the arts district in Las Vegas named. As such, because during the atomic testing in the 40s, people would climb on the roof and watch the atom bombs go off. Speaker 3 (8:55) Yes. Speaker 1 (8:57) And it's across the street from the murder mart, which is where too many people got murdered at a 7-Eleven to go unremarked upon. And people run out to the murder mart for cigarettes. You know, it's a town like no other. He Speaker 3 (9:15) is in deep. Speaker 1 (9:16) He's so deep. He's very deep right now. When Speaker 2 (9:19) we're going to be back, it's going Speaker 3 (9:21) to happen again. Speaker 2 (9:22) You Speaker 1 (9:22) took 14 years before your trip. Speaker 3 (9:24) I know, but it won't be 14. You'll Speaker 1 (9:26) be Speaker 3 (9:26) back sooner. Peckerman wrote me. He wants to go. He sent me some burger that he wants to eat. He sent me the burger too. You guys Speaker 2 (9:32) should Speaker 3 (9:32) gold tier Speaker 1 (9:32) for your subscribers. You should do events. Vegas trip? Events in general. A lot of these sub snacks with passionate fan bases. I'm working on something. Speaker 2 (9:41) All right. Yeah. Speaker 1 (9:42) They pay extra to meet up with the other fans. They have a great time. Okay. Imagine go to Las Vegas with, with you guys. No, like I did such Speaker 2 (9:51) a Speaker 1 (9:51) dud. Speaker 2 (9:52) No, Speaker 1 (9:53) I was there. No, you could have charged me. You didn't know it. I would have paid for that tier. That was incredible. Okay. Speaker 2 (10:00) Peckerman sent me that same video. And he's like, ah, this is this below you. And I'm like, I like all those things. Yeah. That burger looked good. That place looked good. Speaker 3 (10:07) I Speaker 2 (10:08) don't know what the place was, but it was a guy eating a lot of like nice looking comfort food. In Vegas? Yeah. Okay. Speaker 3 (10:15) Vegas was so fun. And we've produced so many episodes and told so many stories on Mad Food and Air Jordan before that. And I'm not sure any story was as well received by listeners as the story of me being denied entrance at a Las Vegas lounge when the three of us were together. And BJ simply slipping his sunglasses down, showing off that gorgeous. famous punim to change the host's mind and get us right in. My personal embarrassment and being an absolute nobody and riding the trickle down waves of BJ's fame really resonated with the audience. Speaker 1 (10:50) It was a well told story. It was great to hear from your perspective. My was my Speaker 3 (10:56) perspective different than what your reality was. Same Speaker 1 (10:59) reality. Yeah. Great. Yeah. Different perspective. Precisely what Speaker 3 (11:03) happened. Glad I got it right. Speaker 1 (11:05) Yeah. What I was, what I would have emphasized just from my perspective, that was so funny to me is that of course at restaurants, they have different rules and protocol for the seating. You'll get in trouble. If a celebrity comes in, you don't see them or, uh, an. a friend of the owner comes in and isn't seated or whatever, right? They definitely have different categories. They're just not supposed to admit it that way. So to me, of course, sure. Oh, maybe I'll get in trouble, whatever. But when she recognized me, she didn't even explain it away. She just said, I didn't realize you were here. That's right. Right this way. She didn't say, you know what? Huh? Hmm. Let me, you know what? let me see what I can do. Let me, let me see what I can do. It means they can already do it. Let me call the man. No one ever says, let me see what I can do. And then they're like, couldn't do anything. Right. That's right. Let me see what I can do. It means I'll do it. Just give me a second for the drama. And she didn't say that. She was like, here you go. Speaker 3 (12:04) That's right. That's a big line. It's Speaker 1 (12:05) a Speaker 3 (12:05) car salesman. You know, let me see. Let me see what the boss says. Yeah. Don't even talk to the manager. Come back. You get some off. Speaker 1 (12:13) Right. Speaker 3 (12:15) Humiliating, Max. Speaker 2 (12:16) You didn't even get that. Speaker 3 (12:18) No. Speaker 2 (12:18) She immediately just said. No, Speaker 1 (12:20) I know. Oh. Speaker 2 (12:21) Oh, you were going to be here. Your table's over here. It's the best table. Speaker 2 (12:26) All right, so the next trip. It's Speaker 1 (12:28) the best Speaker 2 (12:28) table if Speaker 1 (12:28) you love Speaker 2 (12:29) music. Speaker 1 (12:30) Horn section. Yeah, Speaker 2 (12:32) and we liked that guy. He was nice. Yeah, he was nice. And Speaker 1 (12:35) Mark Anthony, big fan base. Speaker 2 (12:37) Yeah, and the Sean Penn lookalike. Fantastic. Speaker 1 (12:41) And Speaker 2 (12:42) it Speaker 1 (12:42) did get busy late. Speaker 3 (12:43) It got very busy. But it was not busy when we arrived. It Speaker 2 (12:47) was a lovely Speaker 3 (12:47) time. But I'm just trying to get at the heart of that story. It's a great story. Is my embarrassment and me being humbled what people were interested in? Because we got so much feedback from that story. Is that the takeaway? That people want to hear me be embarrassed and Speaker 2 (13:05) humbled, Max? No, I just think that it was a good story that turned out in our favor. Okay. Yeah. All right. So that's it? It's Speaker 3 (13:15) an indictment Speaker 1 (13:15) on Speaker 3 (13:15) celebrity, not me? Speaker 1 (13:17) I think it's something different to everyone. I loved it. I can't tell you why I liked the story. I think it was just well told. But what did the comments say? You want to read them? You Speaker 3 (13:27) admitted we were late. So many people wrote in after that episode and were just dying at it. I got texts from people, DMs from people. That episode really hit and resonated with a lot of people. I'm Speaker 1 (13:40) telling you, it was such a great trip. I think people could feel that they were there with us. And a great trip has stories like that. Speaker 3 (13:47) Yeah. Well, we... We also had the Vegas kind of night that I've fallen into lately that is quite enjoyable, especially for men of a certain age. A great meal. Some live music. Right? Speaker 1 (14:02) Yep. Speaker 3 (14:03) Okay. Whether it's the sphere or a Puerto Rican band. That was incredible. Right? Drinking. Friendship. Yeah. Right? No gambling. You've been going a lot. Do you ever gamble? Not really. Right. Yeah. And then schluffy at a reasonable time. Yeah. After some dueling piano. Yeah. And then there's no better night at dueling piano. You Speaker 1 (14:25) get a fancy gym. The next day you guys went to the celestial waters. I presume we Speaker 3 (14:30) went to, we went to celestial waters that morning. We went immediately to Peter Speaker 1 (14:34) Luger for lunch. Oh, Speaker 3 (14:36) was that? Yeah. It was the next day. But Speaker 1 (14:37) enjoying the day in that city is so great. Speaker 3 (14:40) Is that so? So is that the dream Vegas night now? Speaker 1 (14:46) Wow. Did we miss? Do you think we missed Speaker 3 (14:48) things that Speaker 1 (14:51) we need to Speaker 3 (14:52) do next time? Maybe with Peckerman Speaker 1 (14:53) for the mad food listener? No, we did it right. Right. For, you know, a tourist who comes to, I mean, there's a whole economy based on a lot of things that we didn't go anywhere. That's right. That's Speaker 3 (15:03) correct. Speaker 1 (15:03) Thank you for mentioning. Are Speaker 3 (15:04) you. Are you ever doing bottle service? If you go with other type of friends, are you going to clubs and getting bottle service? No, Speaker 2 (15:15) and Speaker 3 (15:15) I do Speaker 1 (15:15) think, who knows whether it's our age or perspective, but I do think that bottle service was like a 2010s, 2000s, 2010s thing. And I think it still exists, but I think that we are in a world where... coolness has just gravitated in a different direction. So now you want like a bar like People's in New York, a place where it's like very elite, but they pretend to be too cool for school and casual. It's sort of like a big bottle of vodka and a sort of stripper-dressed waitress fawning over you. It feels like that got very dated. I don't think it's just us. And thank goodness it was never... a fun thing. I enjoyed it when I didn't Speaker 2 (16:06) have to Speaker 1 (16:06) pay. Really though? Yeah, you go to a table, you don't have to pay. Not having to pay. You get to sit there. But imagine if you didn't have to pay. You're at, you know, you're at. Speaker 1 (16:18) Vandal in Los Feliz and you don't have to pay. Even cooler. Well, that's definitely cooler. Yeah, exactly. But I think everyone finds that cooler now. But Speaker 2 (16:26) obviously you're thinking back. Speaker 3 (16:28) We tried to go to like a more private kind of lounge and it wasn't open the night we were there. Right, right. It used to probably be open that night. Speaker 1 (16:35) That would have been Speaker 3 (16:35) it. Speaker 1 (16:36) Yeah. What Speaker 3 (16:37) were you saying, Max? I Speaker 2 (16:39) was just saying a lot of things are a lot more fun when you don't have to pay. Speaker 3 (16:44) Right. But the Speaker 2 (16:45) second you have to whip out the card, you're like, I don't want to do this. Speaker 3 (16:48) Right. I feel like once we have enough money, Max, like you don't feel that. You just spend. Yeah, but Speaker 1 (16:55) there's something to when you spend your own money on purpose, like a concert you