Try It, You'll Like It

Chef Steve Samson hosts Winston and David at his restaurant Rossoblu in downtown LA this week to discuss the green bell pepper, the unripened, bitter version of it’s more brightly flavored primary color brethren. From the dining room, the three of them discuss Steve’s background, his Bologna inspired menu and how Rossoblu highlights his LA roots. For the tasting, a raw pepper and smoked one, green pepper jerky and a green pepper hummus are all served up.

Comedian and Podcaster Katelyn Hempstead confounds David and Winston this week with her dislike of melted cheese. For the tasting, a white queso dip, baked brie with fig jam, and a slice of deep dish pizza are served up.

Greenbar Distillery Cofounder, Spirits Maker & Novelist Litty Mathew treats Winston and David to some midday drinks while they continue to act as bad party hosts by offering Pshat, an armenian dried fruit that also goes by other names like the Persian Olive, Japanese Silverberry or Igde Pshat.

Comedian/Comic Artist Anna Salinas guests this week to discuss her dislike for anchovies, the little canned fish filets. Winston and David bring more Hot Tastes to the table with David wanting there to be a more publicly accepted practice of licking plates and with Winston unsure whether a certain inclusion should have been made on Netflix’s Ugly Delicious. For the tasting, filets straight from the can are served in addition to a caesar dressing and the bubbling northern Italian dip of Bagna Cauda.

Chicken artist/musician Brian Edwards of Fryin’ Brian Chicken joins Winston/David this week, bringing a full tupperware of fried chicken in tow to discuss his hated spread: mayonnaise. The Boys introduce their new segment Hot Tastes in which Winston says he prefers fried chicken and David wants people to stop looking at him weird when he eats alone at a restaurant. For the tasting, they serve up Best Foods mayo, a homemade mayo and black garlic mayo, plus a BLT with mayo-toasted bread.

Comedian/Writer Kyle Parulski guests this week to test the mettle of his hated food (and one of our most controversial so far): apples. Though his position may cause many of his friends to cast him aside once the episode is released, his bravery in taking on the bevy of presented apples and apple dishes is admirable. For the tasting, big bites of four varieties are had as well as an apple pan sauce and an appletouille.

Improviser/Actor/Former Wine Show Host/(the slashes could go on) Billy Merritt guests this week to tackle his aggressive indifference to white chocolate. For the tasting, a white chocolate bark with ridged potato chips, white chocolate mousse and a toasted white chocolate spread are served.

Comedian/producer/admired amateur culinary wizard Jacki Merchant guests this week to discuss water chestnuts, a tough taste and even tougher texture and it’s a food that nearly foils David and Winston in the kitchen. For the tasting, they dive deep into a dip, a raw water chestnut straight from the can and a sweet concoction of Winston’s own invention.

Writer/comedian Emily Schmidt guests to discuss ranch dressing and her overall aversion to sauces in general. The whole episode is a treasure trove of amazing pull quotes from Emily as she justifies trying ranch one more time since she’s turning 30 this year, she can handle this. For the tasting, Hidden Valley and homemade ranch dressings are served up as well as well as a ranch popcorn and novelty ranch dressing soda.

The boys host chef Johnny Zone as he hosts them in an episode recorded from his LA chinatown restaurant Howlin’ Ray’s. They discuss the upstart growth of Howlin’ Ray’s, the philosophy behind the restaurant and how nostalgia affects their food tastes. For the tasting section, they sample four types of boiled sweet potato rounds (boiled as well as sous vide poaching liquids made from butter, sriracha and maple & orange juice).

Farley Elliott (Senior Editor for Eater LA and author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History from Tamaleros to Taco Trucks) joins us to dive into Taco Zone, the Echo Park based taco truck. The hosts and Farley sample the entirety of their menu and why Farley chose to single out this particular truck instead of a specific food for a slight break in the show’s format.

Director, Pulitzer Prize Winner, and Meat-and-Potato Head Mark Potts joins us to try eggplant despite his overall aversion to vegetables. For the tasting, we try eggplant jerky (from Power Plant Organic Eggplant Jerky), an eggplant lasagna, and baba ghanoush.

Comedian Victoria Longwell (UCB) joins Winston and David to return to mango sorbet, a food she has not had since she was a child. The origins of this distaste are discussed as Victoria worries that she might actually like the sweet treat. For the tasting, the three of them sample a homemade mango sorbet, a granita, a Thai-influenced sorbet with condensed milk and a sweet bread made from a mango sorbet base.

Armando De La Torre Jr. of local LA stewed taco joint Guisados joins the boys to discuss his least favorite food, the salty bomb that is the olive. After discussing his restaurant, Winston joins Armando in solidarity over their dislike for the bitter, briney fruit while David is too excited to serve them up. In the tasting portion of the episode, they try a variety of olives, a tapenade, a olive infused goat cheese and an ice cream?!

On Try It, You’ll Like It, Winston Carter and David Zwick have their guests try a food they hate one last time. They’ll test their guest’s politeness as they serve up the hated edible entity in multiple ways to often cringeworthy results. In this teaser episode, Winston tries black licorice for the first time in years and David admits a distaste for champagne. Will the celebratory uncorking of this new podcast lead to a new food fave or a resolidify their respective stances? Listen and find out!