"Maggiano's Little Italy with Kevin Pollack" is Episode 178 of Doughboys, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Maggiano's Little Itlay with Kevin Pollack" was released on November 1, 2018.
"Tomorrow..." - @doughboyspod
Synopsis[]
Diving into a chain focused on Italian-American cuisine, the 'boys are joined by Kevin Pollack (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Kevin Pollack's Chat Show) to discuss their recent experience at Maggiano's Little Italy. Plus, competing impressions, Kevin's stand up stories, and an Oreo-based Snack or Wack.
Nick's intro[]
"I aimed at the public's heart and by accident, I hit it in the stomach."
This was author and journalist Upton Sinclair reflecting on the impact of his 1905 novel, The Jungle, which described in grisly detail the plight of turn-of-the-century immigrants working in meatpacking plants in Chicago.
The Jungle
The Windy City's massive stockyards were once the backbone of its economy, and Sinclair sought to expose the backbreaking labor that injured and killed its desperate immigrant workforce, who found themselves living in slums and boarding houses.
The novel was a sensation, though it wasn't the labor abuses that horrified readers, but rather the filthy conditions of Chicago's slaughterhouses. Sinclair's visceral prose described human waste and dismembered fingers being ground up with pork and beef, employees sick with tuberculosis coughing up blood while handling meat - even workers who accidentally fell into rendering vats and were boiled alive, their remains sold as lard. Not even Sinclair's controversial socialist politics tempered the general public's universal revulsion and in response President Theodore Roosevelt quickly signed legislation creating what would become the Food & Drug Administration, forever transforming food-safety standards in America. By the turn-of-the-century, Chicago's stockyards would begin to close as meatpacking plants were relocated to rural areas.
Also exiled out to the city limits by modernity were the factories that used to clog the city's air with thick smoke. A neighborhood where many Italian immigrants settled was once known as Smoky Hollow because industrial exhaust often blocked out the sun. Smoky Hollow was re-dubbed River North after its pollution subsided and became known for its art galleries. And it's in this sanitized, gentrified, historically Italian neighborhood that restaurateur Rich Melman, with the punnily-named Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group, opened an Italian-American sit-down joint serving an accessible version of the cuisine's classics.
Designed as a throwback to pre-World War II dinner houses, it was an immediate hit, adding two more Illinois locations in its first three years. In 1995, the red-hot concept was acquired by Brinker International, the parent company of Chili's, and taken nationwide, expanding to over 50 locations today.
And while food sanitation in the U.S. may be much improved versus 110 years ago, working conditions in America's vast food industry, especially in slaughterhouses and on factory farms, resembles all too closely the punishing jungle described in Sinclair's magnum opus.
This week on Doughboys: Maggiano's Little Italy.
Fork rating[]
| guest / host | ordered | rating |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Wiger |
|
3.5 forks |
| Mike Mitchell |
|
3.5 forks |
| Kevin Pollack |
|
3.25 forks |
| Jaime Fox |
|
3 forks |
| shared |
|
Snack or Wack[]
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Oreo
In Snack or Wack, The Doughboys have a snack and decide if it is 'good' or 'bad.'
For this episode, they try Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Oreo.
| guest / host | verdict |
|---|---|
| Nick Wiger | Wack |
| Mike Mitchell | soft Wack |
| Kevin Pollack | Wack |
| Jamie Fox | Wack |
Roast Spoonman[]
The Six Million Dollar Man
| “ | The Six Million Calorie Man | ” |
–Eric and his wife | ||
Quotes[]
| “ | Mitch: We should only talk about 9/11 for 10 or 15 minutes. Kevin: I feel like 11 minutes would be... |
” |
–Mike Mitchell, on 9/11 | ||
| “ | On the show I was on, Netflix's Love, you can see me plump up between different takes. | ” |
–Mike Mitchell | ||
| “ | I think you're just as cool as Tom Cruise. | ” |
–Mike Mitchell, to Nick, with full sincerity surely | ||
| “ | Kevin: I worked at the very first Togo's sandwich place. Nick & Mitch: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW! |
” |
–Nick & Mitch, impressed | ||
The Feedbag[]
| “ | I love the show and I love my wife, but a year and a half into our marriage, she just revealed to me that she is a strange dipper. We stopped at a Starbucks while driving to SoCal. She got one of those little protein plates with assorted snacks and a little container of ranch. (Key detail.) She proceeded to dip EVERY item in the ranch: carrots, apples, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, all of it. The only one she didn't like was the sandwich. So do you all have any weird dipping habits? | ” |
–Matt from San Francisco | ||
#hashtags[]
- #OreoSpeedwagon
Related Episodes[]
| Kevin Pollack/Jaime Fox episodes |
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Photos (via @doughboyspod)[]
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