Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster - Ep 193: Arlo Parks

Episode Date: May 24, 2023

Mercury Prize-winning musician Arlo Parks gets an in-depth education in the musical genre ‘food rock’ in this week’s episode. Arlo Parks’ new album ‘Soft Machine’ is released on Transgressive Records on 26 May. Buy and stream it here. Arlo Park is on tour this autumn. Go to arloparksofficial.com for dates and tickets. Follow Arlo on Twitter @arloparks and Instagram @arlo.parks Recorded and edited by Ben Williams for Plosive.Artwork by Paul Gilbey (photography and design) and Amy Browne (illustrations).Follow Off Menu on Twitter and Instagram: @offmenuofficial.And go to our website www.offmenupodcast.co.uk for a list of restaurants recommended on the show.Watch Ed and James's YouTube series 'Just Puddings'. Watch here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, listeners of the Off Menu podcast. It is Ed Gamble here from the Off Menu podcast. I have a very exciting announcement. I have written my first ever book. I am absolutely over the moon to announce this. I'm very, very proud of it. Of course, what else could I write a book about? But food. My book is all about food. My life in food. How greedy I am. What a greedy little boy I was. What a greedy adult I am. I think it's very funny. I'm very proud of it. The book is called Glutton, the multi-course life of a very greedy boy. And it's coming out this October, but it is available to pre-order now, wherever you pre-order books from. And if you like my signature, I've done some signed copies,

which are exclusively available from Waterstones. But go and pre-order your copy of Glutton, the multi-course life of a very greedy boy now. Please? Welcome to the Off Menu podcast, shaking the bottle of the internet, opening the lid of friendship, and spraying the fizzy foam of humour all over the faces of our listeners. We own a dream restaurant, and every week we invite a guest in and ask them their favourite ever, start a main course, dessert, side dish, and drink, not in that order. And this week our guest is Arlo Parks. Arlo Parks, a wonderful musician, James. One of the most exciting musicians in the UK right now, Nay the World. Is that how people

talk? Yes, Nay the World. But very, very excited. I mean, Arlo's last album won the American Music Prize. And her new album, My Soft Machine, is out this week. Very excited to get to talk to Arlo about that. Very excited to hear the album as well. Big rival, though, James, to your album, My Soft Serve Machine, which came out last week. Yeah. Yeah. You know what? It's from the heart of that album. And if people want to listen to it, I really would appreciate it, because a lot of ballads on there. Absolutely. About the serve. Yeah. Very excited to hear Arlo's new album. She's absolutely brilliant. But of course, James, there will be a secret ingredient. Yes. And if Arlo

picks it, she's out of here. As always, hey, then, to the rules. And this week, the ingredient which we have deemed to be unacceptable is... Cola. Cola. Why is that, James? Now, listen. Sometimes we choose an ingredient that we don't like to eat, or that one of the listeners doesn't like to eat. Sometimes we just choose something that is associated with the guest. And Arlo has a song called Cola. Yes. So we're like, right, let's go for it. But we're a little bit apprehensive, because we are a bit worried, because that gets chosen as Dream Drink a lot. Yes. And also, why did Arlo have a song about it? Yes. Probably because she loves Cola. She loves Cola, right? Surely. And you know what? I'm going to back up the decision here, because I like

Diet Coca-Cola. I like Pepsi Max. Yeah. But Cola suggests to me, like, supermarket own brand Cola, which I do not like. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Well, I... I do not like it. I think... If Arlo says Diet Coke or something, that doesn't count. No, because that's a brand. Yeah. I think she says Coca-Cola. We've got... Yeah. But then she's gone. Can't we then go where from? And if she says Morrison's own Pepsi Coca-Cola. This is how we're interpreting it. I'm interpreting it. It's just any full-fat Cola. Okay. I don't like it. You don't like that? No. I guess if it happens, we can debate it with Arlo. Yes. And see how Arlo feels. And obviously, she knows what that song's about. Yeah. She can say...

I was talking about this. Yeah. So if you're doing it because of the song, then it's got to be that. Yeah. All right. Okay. Well, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Hopefully we won't cross that bridge. Yeah. And just for the record, for the listener, I would never put Diet Coke as a secret ingredient. No, man. You love it. I love it. I love Coke Zero. I love Pepsi Max. I love Diet Pepsi. James is hungover today. Oh, man. Because we're recording this on a Sunday, which is very rare for us. On Sunday, I'm hungover. Yeah. Without further ado, this is the off-menu-menu of Arlo Parts. Welcome, Arlo, to the Dream Restaurant. Thank you. Hello.

Welcome, Arlo Parts, to the Dream Restaurant. We've been expecting you for some time. Here we are. Oh, here we are. I like that intro. That was great. Jeannie. I'm a Jeannie. I know. I like that. I'm a Jeannie. Comes out of a lamp and I can get you any food you want. This is the last couple of records. We've actually had the lamp in the studio as well. I'll level with you. I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out. Was it in the other one? Yeah. It was in the other day when we were recording. Didn't notice it. I had no idea. But then I'm used to lamps because I'm a Jeannie, so I would notice it as much. It's not a bigger deal to me. Oh, yes. No, that does meet it.

But yeah, you like it. You like the lamp? It's quite an Aladdin vibe. Yeah, I was going to say. I feel like that's where Jeannie's live, right? Yeah, definitely. I mean, that's where you live, right? Yeah, I live in a lamp. Yeah, yeah. And I've asked for the Aladdin style lamp. But what other lamps do you imagine Jeannie's are living in then? Because surely that's... Bedside. Bedside? Bedside lamp? Is that a thing? A bedside lamp. Come on, Arlo. You've never ridden a bedside lamp. I know you've moved to LA. They do have lamps. They do have lamps in LA.

They're all still lamps. I'll be a big breaking news story if I turn out you didn't know what a bedside lamp was. Yeah, no, I can confirm that I do. Yeah, yeah, yes. Don't normally ask this. How many lamps you got in your house? Do you reckon? I feel like I've got, yeah, about eight. I would say eight lamps. That's a good amount. Yeah. Spreads throughout the house or all just in one? All in one. In one concentration. Yes.

I would say, I'm trying to think now, if I ask someone how many lamps I've got in their house, how many they would have to say for me to think that's too many lamps, even if I haven't seen their house, I think if they said anything of 20 and above, actually maybe even 15. I was going to say 15 lamps is quite a vast quantity of lamps in one house. 15 would be too much. 15, 15. I'm trying to think how many lamps I've got now. I think I've got. I might be 15. You haven't got 15 lamps. Am I at 15 lamps? How do you know? I think in your house.

Yeah, you didn't go in the lamp room. Oh yeah, you didn't go in the lamp room, to be fair. Let's not talk about lamps. Let's talk about our new album. Your new album comes out this Friday. Yes. It's very exciting. What can people expect? I feel like it's, I don't know, I wanted to surprise people a bit with this record. I feel like it just kind of expands the world of what I've already built. And I just wanted to show people the music that I grew up with, the music that they may not know that I like,

and get more involved in the production myself and just make something new. Because your life's changed a lot since the last album. Like your career's changed a lot and you're living in a completely different part of the world and stuff. And does that inform everything and make you approach it differently? Definitely. I mean, I feel like you're always kind of soaking up what's around you, like geographically and also having toured so much and having made new friends and just having like learned a lot about myself and just seen the world a bit more. I definitely think that bleeds into the music.

There's always a danger with comedians that when you end up touring a lot and doing all of that sort of stuff, the next show you write is all about service stations. Yes. Is that also a danger as a musician? I think so. Like you're constantly on the road. I think so. I've definitely heard some records where I'm like, you haven't really been anywhere but service stations in like the depths of Germany.

It definitely has that vibe sometimes. Some musicians can really pull that off. Some like the road. The road. And you're like, yeah, it's so very romantic and the idea of being on the road. I don't have a people that is like, yeah, I think he's just talked about having a steak baked from Greg's. It's not as enticing.

What is your favorite food to have on the road? On the road. I don't know. I feel like I feel like I try and stay quite healthy on the road. I feel like I like to say that on the road. Yeah, I don't know. What do I usually have? It depends where you are.

I feel like sometimes when you tour in certain places, there's like a specific staple. Like in Germany, there's just like brat versus. And they'll just have like a little cage of brat versus just spinning around. And it's always quite an ominous and ominous thing to see. A little cage. A little. Yeah. It's like a tiny little cage and they're spinning.

Yeah. And you've been on the road. Sorry. I've clearly I've been on a different road. I've never seen the cage of brat. You've not been on the German road. Yeah. That sounds like a nightclub situation.

There's a cage of brat versus in the middle, just like spinning around, going for it. Yeah. It's exciting actually. I now want to see the brat versus cage. I mean, when we started doing, when did you start touring? Like how long ago? Because like, we started standing up about 15 years ago. Just after the pandemic is the first time I was properly touring.

I've been doing music for five years, but I didn't really, really tour until I was still at school before the pandemic. I feel like old pieces of shit, aren't I? What? What? Yeah. So it's only been only been a few years for me, but I did like 125 shows last year. I was like, really?

Yeah. I was on the road. Did you have like, as a favorite place to talk? So you sound like you've gone to a bunch of different countries as well? Japan was really nice. I love Japan. I'm going back this year. I'm doing Japan and also I'm doing Seoul.

So yeah, that part of the world I'd never been to before. And I did this little kind of like travel show with MTV as well, where I got to experience like all the Japanese spas and get food cooked by this like 84 year old Buddhist monk who like only cooks for like the president. It was insane. Yeah. I had a great time. Wow.

You were in school a few years ago. I leveled up. It was like change fast. Do you consider yourself a foodie? Are you like big on food? Yeah. I would say so. I feel like I spend a lot of my time cooking when I am at home.

I'm just very like particular with what I wake up and I know exactly what I want to eat that whole day. Yeah. Oh, for the whole day? For the whole day. You've got it mapped out immediately. Always. Yeah. Today was it too, collectively, right?

Yeah. I was feeling it. Yeah, you were feeling it. It too was in the air. Maybe it's because we're going to meet Arlo. Arlo knows which one's for the whole day. Yeah. So I was there like I just know what I want immediately.

Yeah. And it was because I was vibing on whatever I was plugged into the Arlo parks. Mainframe. Mainframe. Yeah. Yeah. And also the big sushi cage they have there. Oh, yes.

It's very tempting, isn't it? You like the sushi cages rolling around. It's all just coming apart as it rolls around. So far. Just rice all over the bars. What's your itsu order? I always have just the avocado baby rolls because I can't have, I can't fish, I'm allergic. So sushi is a strange choice, but that specific thing is the only thing that

I can have and do you have from itsy. Avocado baby rolls seems like a very demeaning thing to call something. I know. Are you a baby? Avocado baby rolls. Avocado baby rolls. I don't know. If someone started calling me avocado baby rolls, I'm quite like it.

I think that's a nice affectionate. Yeah. That's your drag name. Yeah. Weirdly, I was thinking about if a drag queen called me it. Oh, right. If I was friends with drag queen and she was like, hey, avocado baby rolls, I'll be really happy with that every time.

Every day. Yeah. I sat front row of a drag show when I was in Vegas and they don't say things like avocado baby rolls. They'd say some horrible stuff to you, mate. Did you get destroyed at that show? Do you see someone else get destroyed? No, I got destroyed. You got destroyed.

Yeah. It was amazing though. It was like noon and everyone was hammered. Hammered. It was noon. Yeah. It was a brunch. It was a drag brunch.

And a woman fell over. She was so drunk and all her rings came off. She hit the floor so hard that all her jewelry flew off. Fantastic. It was like Sonic the Hedgehog. Their laugh and bonito there in the background. Crank it up. We always start with still all sparked in water.

Sparkling. Yeah. Of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. Why is it so? Of course. I don't know.

I feel like I just like the little tingle that gives me. To be honest, for half of my life though, I hated sparkling water. And I just woke up one day and it was only that. Well, this is part of you waking up and deciding exactly what you want to have. Exactly. And suddenly it was sparkling. Yeah. Someone programs you in the night.

Honestly, that's what it feels like sometimes. It's like so specific. I always know exactly what I want. So we've had singers on before and we've asked them about it. I think sparked in water is quite a pop. The choice was six as well. And but then we always have to ask, obviously, you don't drink on a stage, right?

Because then you're burping. Yeah. That's honestly one of my biggest fears. Is burping. Like sometimes I feel it coming and I'm like, okay, you've got to be ready for this. Especially during a high note. Just imagine that combination would be, yeah.

Would it be a high burp? It would. I guess. I feel like it would be. I feel like it would match the tone somehow, maybe. Imagine if it sounded so amazing that people were like, if you heard what Arlo's doing now. The game, this thing, I had to recreate every single show.

Every single time you're just down in bottles of Pepsi Max at the side of the stage. There we go. Burping on the high note. Can't wait. You want anything in the water? You want some ice? You want some fruit?

What's this new character? Huh? I like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What was going on there? I was wagging my fingers for the listener. Yeah. But you also sort of went, you wanted to think of the word?

Yeah, I was like a gangster. Yeah, I like that. I know what I was going to say. Yeah, yeah. I would say no ice. I'd have a bit of lime. A little bit of lime. A wedge of slice?

What do you want? A wedge. A wedge. A wedge. Yeah, yeah. I don't like this guy. No, you don't like him that. No, no, no, no.

He's out of state as welcome. Yeah. He just asks people about what they want in their water. Yeah, that's it. They won't be here for any other courses. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I won't bring him back.

But every episode we do now. Yeah, okay, yeah. He's going to be there just to ask people what they want in their water. The water gangster. Yeah, the water gangster. So a slice. Yes. Rather than a wedge.

You're not, you don't- Oh, I thought you said a wedge. No, I did say, yeah, I said a wedge. Yeah, I said a wedge. Sorry, that's getting confused. Yeah. So you can, are you picking the wedge out? And are you picking the wedge out or give it a little squeeze?

I guess, I guess I am. I was kidding, I like that. What a good character from a different place. So you would dip it in and give it a little squeeze? Squeeze it into the water. I wouldn't dip it in. I would just give it a squeeze from above. No, I wouldn't put my hands in it.

So if it's bobbing about in the water, the wedge of lime, but you don't want it bobbing about in the water, you want to be giving it separately and then squeeze it in. Yeah, squeeze, squeeze it in, and then that's it. If you do get given a water and there's a wedge of lime bobbing about in it, do you consider fishing it out if you think this is squeezing it in? No, no, no, that's not, that's not for me. Not getting my hands in there.

Is that you just fishing around in it? Fishing around in it. Four feet, five fingers in there. Yeah, not the whole hand. I'd say thumb and forefinger. Thumb and forefinger. Try to get a lime that's bobbing about. If it was trapped under a bit of ice, you've got to rescue it.

No, I'm not a fan of ice either. I don't have ice in anything. So no ice. Chip, it's a con, isn't it? No ice, yeah. I've said this on the podcast for a long time, the ice is a con. Taking up real estate in the glass, and it means you get less of the actual drink. It's true, I agree.

It is a con. Well, this is Ed's thing about Yorkshire puddings, yeah. They take up real estate as well, Yorkshire puddings. They're the ice of the roast dinner. The ice. I've always said that, Arlo. He has always said that, actually. The ice of the roast dinner.

It's not even a joke. I like that. Pop it up with your bread. Pop it up with your bread, Arlo. Parks, pop it up with your bread. Bread. Yeah. Yeah.

Any particular type? Forcatcher. I saw Jonathan Ross interview in someone the other day, Prudely, fornasked her what her favourite type of bread was, and she said, forcatcher. And he said, no, you just swear at me, you know. And it still makes me laugh now. It's the dad joke, but it was funny.

It made me laugh. It's funny stuff. No, he's used that kind of language on the show. It was funny. Forcatcher's your favourite? Yeah. How do you want it? You want it warm?

You want it with butter? You want it with... Warm with a bit of rosemary on top. And some salt and black pepper. You need that salt. The big crystals of salt. You need, yeah. I love it.

Anything with huge crystals of salt, to be honest. I agree. Jay, what? I can't get over that you were in school a few years ago, because you seem more mature than me. You're having rosemary on bread. That's the sign, is it? That's the sign of maturity.

I'm still not. Just the use of herbs. I like that. Yeah. Especially rosemary, man. I bit into a rosemary once when I was a kid. Why? Well, not on purpose.

I swear to God. It was in there. Whatever my mum had made. And I bit into it. And it made me very upset. I didn't like how it made my mouth feel. And I'm still not over it now. Whenever there's rosemary on stuff,

I've got to navigate around it. James' mum is a terrible cook. She's a very good cook. My mum makes wonderful food. It was angel delight, she'd made. Stuck a big bit of rosemary in. Disgusting. It's not true.

My mum will get very... My mum is at every episode of this show. I know, I was going to say, she's listening. She's listening. She knows he's trolling her. Yeah. But she'll rise to it. And I'm the one who gets the text.

So I'll get a lot of texts about how anguished is that Ed for spreading rumours about her. So sorry. He's a very naughty boy. I'm so sorry. Who says he's the best chef you know? The best? If they're inviting you over and you're like...

The best chef I know. I might have this meal. I'm trying to think of the best chef I know without offending anyone. There are a lot of people in my life who claim to be the best chef. And you know, my mum is a really good cook though. I think that's always the safest thing to go with. That is the safest thing.

You won't offend anyone who's left out there. And I was trying to think of all the dinner parties I went to and I was like, definitely have told all of my friends that they are the best chef I know. So I need to keep it together. But yeah, if it's your mum, now I'm just going to go, I listened to you on that podcast. I thought I was the best chef.

You said your mum? And you said your mum. They're not going to get angry at you. What's your mum's speciality? What do you look forward to that your mum cooks? Oh, what do I look forward to? She does like a really nice Spanish omelet that has, yeah, it's just like chopped onions, tomato.

And she also does great fajita, like great Mexican food as well. Nice. Yeah, I know. She'll definitely listen to this and be very pleased. Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hello, Mumma Parks? Mumma Parks, yeah, she'll have that, yeah. Yeah, a little shout out. What's your dream starter if we get into the meal proper?

Okay, I would say very simple, but I love like a tomato and burrata salad with a bit of basil. Again, black pepper, olive oil, just keep it simple. Is there a place where you've had that's like the best place, the way you've been to it, and they make the best version of that? There's a restaurant in LA called Spiranda that is really, really good Italian food. And I love that and all the pastas homemade.

I just love Italian food. I just love Italian food. It's just so like comforting because it feels really warm. Yeah, I love it. I think I like it. What? What? But then, so here's my problem. Italian food in general?

Yeah, come on, mate. Italian food. What? I like it. I'm the main foods. That's one of the main foods. It is. I do like it, but it's never my go-to. What? But this is the reaction I always get.

So I always get this reaction. Everyone's always like, who is this guy? I don't trust you anymore, Mumma. How is he talking about? Look, I love pasta. I love Teresa Broccoli pasta. Yeah. Teresa Broccoli is the go-to.

That was very specific. Yes, yes. He made it every day of lockdown. Yes. How dare you say you don't know if you like Italian food or not after doing The Wedge of Lime Guy? My Wedge of Lime Guy wasn't Italian? Yes, he was.

Well, he had all the Italian rhythms. He was London gangster. Rhythms. Yours was Italian American. What do you want? You want the... That was you. No, that was yours.

You had Italian rhythms. What do you want? Some lime or that? And you were like... It was just the hand that was the thing. It was very unexpected. It was very expressive. See, Italian hand? Yeah, you did Italian hand.

Well, I didn't know I did that. She probably should have apologized. That was my bad. Well, here's the thing. Everyone always... When I say this about Italian food, everyone's like, what the hell is the matter with you? Correct.

I like it, but like, I've never like gone nuts for it, never my first choice. And I went to Rome recently and I was like, here we go. I'm going to finally get it. I didn't get it. You didn't get it. I got the desserts. I love the desserts from Trevi Fountain.

Near Trevi Fountain. Not in the Trevi Fountain. No, just you stood in the middle of the Trevi Fountain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a place nearby with really good desserts. But what about like, you know, anti-pasteal, the cold meats... Arancini.

Arancini. None of that. No, I don't... I don't think it gets me as jazzed. What's your go-to then? I'll probably go for Thai over that or Indian or Chinese or Japanese. A lot of European cuisines.

Like Italian. No, no, no. I don't know about France and stuff. I mean... Barata. Sri Lankan. I'll just pick Barata, which I think if you did a spreadsheet

of all the best starter options... I do love Barata, actually. That would win out, surely. Barata is delicious. Treats of broccoli pasta and Barata. Yeah, yeah. And treats of broccoli pasta was invented by a man from Bristol.

Gloucester. Gloucester, sorry. Looked ahead there to see. Because I don't know where Tom Carage is from. It's from Gloucester. But yeah, Barata is delicious. And I love a Caprese salad. Is that Italian?

Yes. Yeah, I love that. As you well know. Yeah, I love it. Barata is... That's a great choice because some people come and say mozzarella and tomato salad, which is fine. But the Barata, it's a step up.

It is a step up. You've levelled up. Did you used to like mozzarella more? And then one day you woke up and you went, I prefer Barata. Yes. Yeah. That's probably exactly what happened.

That is probably exactly what happened. Again. Eyes opened. I'm a Barata person. I like that. First thought of the day. Probably. Yeah.

Do you know what it's probably? Are you going with... Because sometimes you order a Barata salad and they've already cut the Barata up or like... Oh, no, no. Drizzled it over and you're like, I wanted the experience. The experience of cutting it open

and it just, yeah, flows out. Definitely. It's part of it. I like to be in control, you know? Explore the Barata. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a big part of it. It's like, where do you draw the line of the control though?

Because you don't want to cook the whole meal. No, but I want to be able to configure it how I want, you know? Like with a lime. I'll do the squeeze. You'll do the squeeze, you know? So in the dream restaurant, for your dream meal, are you going to be overseeing things in the kitchen as well? No, no, no, no.

You don't want to be supervising? I'm just there in the kitchen, standing over them. No, no, no. You want the first bit done for you, but then... First bit done for me and then the rest of it I can handle. Is this why you're taking on more production duties with your albums now? Probably.

Just to have that little... You're sort of like squeezing the lime. Honestly, yes. Yeah, I want to be the one to squeeze the lime. I was trying to extend that into an analogy about making an album, but I've got absolutely no idea. I did not have the vocabulary to do that. How you would make squeeze the lime into a...

Yeah, into a note. Ah, baskets. A production choice. I don't need to squeeze the lime on this song. Although we have no idea what you're talking about. Well, let me squeeze the lime. With the baratas, I love cutting into the barata delicately, just releasing all the good stuff inside.

Do you ever imagine you're like a surgeon? No, I can't say that I've... I do. ...thought about opening a body when I eat barata. Yes. I've seen that in restaurants. Shout, we're loathing him! Pretty disconcerting.

I bring one of those vacuum things. Yeah, a little vacuum things. He knows all the terms. That's why it tends to be a surgeon. I had a lot of vacuum things on my face. Yes, I had a facial for the first time. What? I had a facial.

I did it. Went for it, really relaxing. Those little vacuum things on my face, I could feel without my eyes closed. Yeah, and then you went out and got drunk. Yeah, I got hammered out. Completely wasted time. Biggest waste of money ever.

I was going to say, that is a waste of time. Yeah, went and got a facial, really nice. She was like, so you look after yourself. I was like, yeah, yeah. And then went to my friend's birthday party. Got hammered. It was a waste of time. I was just absolutely reversing all the good I've done this afternoon.

Why did they put vacuums on? Have you ever had a facial where they put vacuums on your face? Not vacuums on my face. That's what I felt. I thought they were sucking my face. I don't see any of it. I had my eyes closed, so it could have been anything. I feel like I fell asleep.

I've only had a facial once when I fell asleep. It was really relaxing. There were no vacuums involved. Hydrofacial. Oh, what's that? I think it's just like they fill your face with water. Oh. They fill it with water.

Yeah, I think so. I think that's what it was. I don't think that's what happened. I think that's what it was. I don't think it was that. I'd imagine they'd blast water at it, right? Do they like blast water? I think they were vacuums.

Are you sure? Where did this happen? Putty bridge. You're stomping ground. Putty bridge or under the bridge. Under the bridge. That's what I was thinking. Just a load of lads went, right?

Close your eyes. Yeah. It's going to feel like a vacuum. They all just started sucking on your face. I looked 10 years ago. Well, I think. Dream bank course. So I went down the Mexican food route for that

because I love Mexican food. So I went for like some slow cooked carnitas tacos with guacamole, black beans, coriander, and like pigo de gallo. Yeah. I love Mexican food. I spend a lot of time in Mexico. Oh, do you? Oh, cool.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do. Has that always been a thing or is it recently? Just these past few years. I think it being so close to LA as well and like having a lot of friends who've like gone out there to make music, to Mexico City, but I went there with my friends in January.

It was really nice. What did you get up to? Honestly, just sitting on the beach, drinking margaritas, eating tacos, doing absolutely nothing. Great. And the guacamole, I'm told, since I've never been, is the best.

That is like a maze. It's like a completely different dish there. It's amazing. It is. I mean, they squeeze the lime into that. Yes. I like the lime theme. Would you want to do that?

Would you want to squeeze the lime into the guac? Um, no. I think I would allow them to do that. Yeah. These control of the lime. That's good of you, yeah. Yeah. If you're like, yeah, going to Mexico and being like,

and I'm like, excuse me. Guys, I know, I know you do this all the time, but I'll be fast here now. But I'll be. I've got this. I'm a lime squeezer and everyone knows it. So would you want these tacos for your dream meal from Mexico, or have you got a favorite place?

Because LA has very good Mexican food. LA does. They really do. My favorite place, probably in LA, is this place called Guisados. I don't know if you guys have been there. Yes, we have. We've been there together.

Oh, then yes. Yeah. Oh, is that what you took me? And they refuse to give us a certain one. They refuse to give me the spicy one? Yes. Why? Because I'm white as hell.

Oh, but. Because it's one look at me and one, you don't want that one. No, like you do. And I'm like, okay, thank you. Let me tell you, they did not disguise that reason at all. They told him it to his face, to his white, white face. We can handle our spice now.

Oh, yeah. You and me. We can go back to that place and tell them. Yeah. Give us the hottest one. The hottest one. Yeah, we could do it now. James and I filmed a video the other day

where they made us eat the hottest tortilla chip in the world. Okay. And it did not go well. What was it like? It was the pain, genuine pain. Yeah. What did they put in it? Like ghost?

Yeah, it's like ghost pepper, Carolina Reaper. And it was blue. Did you eat the whole thing? Yeah. Stupid. We didn't ask, and what is on this? How hot is it? We was like, yep, full thing in one.

And then afterwards, googled it and we're like, oh, it's like half a million Scovilles. And there's all these different things on it. And people have had heart attacks and all sorts of shit after eating it. Like really horrific. Almost destroyed your innards. Yeah.

Yeah. For a good day. I mean, James walked somewhere after that and I got a cab and it was, that was a pretty hairy cab ride home. And he was like, every speed pop we might know. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no. Because I'm about to destroy my Uber rating here. I could stop at a McDonald's.

Oh, no. I was texting Ed from the throne, telling him, I'm not leaving here until it's all out on me, Ed. I'm terrified. You find out who you are when you eat something that spicy though. You do. It's true. I went so quiet.

It humbles you. I went so quiet and just, and James, the most aggressive I've ever seen him. He was like a cornered hound. I was screaming. It was pain, it was physically painful. It felt like I was being stabbed in the tongue over and over again.

Like properly, only when I had the milk in my mouth was that, oh, it stops for a second. And as soon as you swallow the milk, you're back to being attacked. And it's like that for 10 minutes before it even starts to subside. I was screaming. I was kicking walls.

I was shouting at the crew. What's the spiciest thing you've ever eaten and what did it teach you about yourself? I feel like it was probably my grandma's soup because she just has this pepper soup. And my grandma lives in Nigeria and like the approach to spices is quite intense there. And I remember being like,

oh, I can't really handle my spice. So like, don't make it spicy. And she made this soup, which was basically just water and chilies. And I had to like, you know, I had like most of it because I was like, she made this delicious soup for me. And it's honestly, it was like the most unbearable. My tongue was numb for like at least five days.

Yeah, see, that's when your grandma's made it as well. You've got to eat it. You've got to eat it. Did you say to her like, yeah, this is too much? I can't. I was honestly, my eyes were just watering. She knew. And she thought, I think she thought it was

because I loved it so much. And I was like, yeah, it's great. She's crying. She loved it. She's crying. These tacos. So the carnitas is pork, right? Yes.

Really good stuff. Guisados is like, so just to describe it to people, it's more like a sort of, it feels like more of a cafe situation. Yeah, it is. They've got a couple in LA, but they make the tortillas fresh every morning. And it's just like a nice little like hole in the wall spot.

My favorite one's the one in Echo Park. And I go there, all, as I said, I know what I want to have every morning. And mostly for lunch, it'll be guisados at the studio. I'm like known for it. Like ask anyone I work with, they're like, what does she have almost every day? And it is the tacos.

It would be so nice. So is that good if you're recording music? I mean, I guess you need to think about it, especially if you're recording vocals. Yeah. You need to think about what you're eating for lunch. I feel like I'm quite loose. I'm quite loose with my life.

I'm just like, this is what I want. And that's just going to have to affect how I sound on this song. So that's a fun challenge for people. Yeah, it is. Which one? A taco take. Yeah.

I like that. Taco take. Yeah, yeah. That's lovely. We've got a taco take. This first is definitely post taco. Yeah. You dream side dish?

I dream side dish. Okay, I went for this one. I went for like some Mexican street corn. I think they call it like elote corn or something. And it's just like, they've got cheese on there. They've got like coriander and they've got crema fresca and butter. And it's just like a nice little side.

And they're quite spicy as well sometimes. But I can handle a little spicy bit of corn. I said on the cob. On the cob, never off. Really, is that? Never off. It's eventually off though, right? Yes.

Unless you're chowing down the whole cob. It begins on. Yeah. But then you see to that. Yeah, I see to that. Yes. What's your column on the cob eating technique? Are you going round?

Or cross? Across. Across. Is that a thing? Are you going left to right and then rotating it? Absolutely not. Or are you just going round, round, round, and then you move to the, and then you move to the position?

Round, round, round, and then move round, round, round. Like a gradual spinning top. Yeah. Yes. Side to side. Side to side. Do you guys do that? That's how they do it in cartoons, right?

Yes. That is true. That is how they do it in cartoons. Really big in cartoons even in the corner of the cob. Actually. Never really realised it before, but it's one of the things that happens. I'd say more in cartoons than in real life.

Hmm. There's a lot of it in corner of the cob. I'm so glad someone's picked this, because this is one of my favourite side dishes as well. Yeah. Because especially if it's been properly grilled, so there's like the little charred bits on it. And then the crema fresco,

you said, and the little bit of cheese. Yes. And lime. Yes. And lime. Squeeze your own lime. This is all the way through the menu. All the way through, there is lime.

You may as well just bring your bag of limes at the beginning of this meal. Yeah. When I went to Disney World, I went to, I've probably been there for like quite a few days at this point, at least five days. Five days. Eating just Disney food.

Oh, that's too much. Correct reaction, Arlo, thank you. Very, very long time to be in Disney World, surviving off that food as well. Yeah, but I was in god damn wrong for eight days. Boring. Least you in Disney World. Couldn't get away fast enough.

They didn't do any shows in the Trevi Fountain. Yeah, there's no parade. No parade. Yeah, Mickey Mouse wasn't waving from the Trevi Fountain. I would have loved that. Big change. But when I went to Animal Kingdom in Disney, five days in, whatever,

and I got the corn on the cob there, the Harambe from the Harambe fruit market. Harambe fruit market. That's what it's called. We're named after that. I think it was pulled up before the gorilla. I was going to say. I know that the gorilla was a big deal.

What's the store? Is the store called Cops Out for Harambe? Yeah, it's not about the gorilla. They're very clear about that. There's no one in a big Harambe outfit waving at you. I was going to say, that's what I imagined. And people take photos of them with it. Getting their little kids to go take the picture.

Yeah. Like, I love that gorilla as much as the next person. Like, it wasn't that. Nothing to do with it. I think the Disney people were like, well, it was already called it before that. We're not going to change it. Yeah.

You know, but they know everyone thinks about that gorilla when they go and get the corn on the cob. But my point is that the corn on the cob was much needed because I had days of just eating junk. So having some vegetables was very nice. And it was a very good corn on the cob. And everyone recommends it for a reason. Thank you very much.

That was it. Thank you. Thank you for that story. That's the story. I feel like the elote that Arlo is talking about is probably of a higher quality than the Disney world called on the cob from Harambe's fruit market. No, I'm the only one who could speak on that.

You had the Harambe fruit market call on the cob? He has. Benito's had it. He loves it. Yeah. He loves it. Benito's vegetarian and he loves Disney. Yeah, yeah.

So I mean, Benito would gladly spend a month in Disney. Really? Two weeks is crazy as well. I did one day. Yeah. That was way too much for me. In Florida? No, in the one in just outside of LA.

I did not enjoy that experience. How long is one day though? Because I went with my wife and she likes it, isn't it? From the beginning of the day, like from when the gates open to when the gates close. Yeah, that's a long day. It was a long day eating that food. All those turkey legs everywhere.

It's a pretty traumatic experience for me. You see, I love the turkey leg at Disney. Oh, no. It's so artificially moist. I love it. You just bite into it and it's just like a pint. A pint of salty turkey water. Horrid.

Delicious. So just one massive corn on the cob? Yes. Have you ever had corn rips before we move on? I have. I actually made them. Yeah, into them. So you made them?

Mm-hmm. It was really hard to cut them. It was so hard. I almost chopped my hand off. Because I put it in and I was just banging it on the floor. That's what it's always supposed to do. I don't know. I just put it stuck in and was just banging it around my kitchen.

Were you just like using the impact of banging it down and trying to chop it in half so the knife could have just come out? Yeah. Yeah. I don't think you're supposed to do it like that. Okay. I'd say definitely not. I watched the tutorial and that's what the guy was doing.

Oh, yeah? Yeah. Yeah. Did that guy have one hand? He also had a very straight... Yeah, I was going to say he did. Maybe he did have one hand. Yes.

Yeah, that's the hardest one. Yotam Otolengi came with the podcast and he was saying cutting corn long is the hardest. I got some texts from some friends after that episode all saying that they'd tried to cut corn long and it bought back memories listening to the pod. Man, my stories are not great today. It's my favourite.

Even I don't like them. Normally, Benito gets annoyed at me because all my stories are boring, but even I'm getting... Your friends not being able to cut corn long is, I'd say, a real Nadia. Your dream drink, Arlo Parks. My dream drink.

I feel like I would just go for like fresh orange juice. Yeah? That's it. Now, have you had one from the machine that looks like a contraption? What? Our brains are now just working the same because it was like,

James is going to bring up the machine. Because the contraption machine... It's pretty cool. Have you seen those machines? It's like... What, the one where it's... Yeah, they almost like... The orange, where it's got the orange cup things.

So Wallace and Gromit machines. Yes. Yeah. I used to be terrified of that. What? Wallace and Gromit, yeah. Why? The one where it's like the baker who like is a murderer.

Do you know which one I'm talking about? The film. Oh, I've been trying to remember the baker who's a murderer. That was a baker murderer. I have like a very specific list of films that traumatize me and it was the one about the baker murderer. Really? And Wallace and Gromit, yeah.

That one really... So, was it the baker specifically that I said you're not Wallace and Gromit themselves? The heroes in the piece? Yeah. I just associate them all now with fear and terror. So, you would still be scared if Wallace and Gromit walked in here now, you'd be scared?

I wouldn't, yeah. I wouldn't be happy. So, you wouldn't be like, I can't good, it's the good guys. You'd be like... No. Fuck off, I don't. Yeah.

Fuck off. Yeah, you'd be very scared of them. I would be very afraid. What would scare you more? Wallace and Gromit, like, as they are when they film them, like little plasticine models, or them, the size that they should be in real life.

It's human size. Definitely human size. Definitely. It's scarier. It is very much scarier, yes. And he's a wanker because he likes cheese, doesn't he, Wallace? Yes. He is just always eating cheese all the time,

which makes him a knobhead. No, it doesn't. There's a lot of cheese on Arlo's menu, so... There is a lot of cheese. I'm a real cheese boy, so... Yeah. And James loves to do that. Can you not have cheese?

I can have it, yeah, sure. But I'm not having it for dessert. Put it that way, Arlo. Like, whenever someone orders a cheese board for dessert, I go through the roof. Really? Yeah, yeah, I go through the roof, man. If I met Wallace and Gromit, I'd beat up Wallace.

I'll beat him up. Well, what do you reckon? Do you reckon James could take Wallace, or Wallace would absolutely destroy him? Be honest. He would destroy you. If he wanted to destroy me. He's a dork.

He wears a tank top and talks to his dog. He's got a little, like, feral vibe to him. I feel like he'd bite you or something. Yeah. This is because you're scared of him, though. That is true, I am afraid. You're asking someone who has, like, a deep-booted fear of Wallace and Gromit.

I do. I am really scared. I am a woman from Chicken Rum. Same animator. Same the pie, the pie lady. The woman who... Yeah, just the chopping one. Yeah. Yeah, that was scary.

So it's something about art and animations that scares you. It is. You ever watch Creature Comforts? No. Or Flushed Away? That one's alright. The singing Toads or something? The singing...

I've not seen it. Yeah, Flushed Away. A rat gets flushed down the toilet. I think that's the film. Yeah. Shaun the Sheep's Farmer getting? No. Can't say I've seen that one.

Can't watch that. Could you ever watch it, do you think? Maybe. If I said to you, we're going to watch Shaun the Sheep's Farmer getting after this, do you think you'd be able to watch it? I think so. Don't know if I'd want to, but I could,

theoretically. Well, you can see there's a chance you would get scared. Yes. Because they might have a character in it who's similar to one of those... Yes. The baker who kills people and the farmer's wife. The farmer's wife.

Arla's got quite a lot on with me, so I feel like Arla's got quite a lot on. So I think she probably couldn't call up her next interview and say, I'm going to be late. I'm watching Shaun the Sheep's Farmer get and see if I'm scared. To see if I'm scared is the best part of that sentence. It's a good experiment.

Yeah, you've had a lot of cheese on your menu so far, and I respect it. So we've had cheese for the starter, obviously. Was there cheese on the taco? No. No, but there is cheese on the... On the corn. Lovely.

No cheese on the orange juice, though. No. We're going pure... We're going pure OJ. ...orange juice. Yes. Are there other types... I'm going to ask you to rank the juices now.

Well, all of them. Do you have them? No. Never look... Never seen someone look so devastated. The suggestion of a question. No. Oh, my fucking God.

Let's do top five or top five juices. Top five. Or even top three, if that's easier. Okay. We've got orange. That's... Orange, yeah. You've got orange number one.

And I would say, you know, that's the original juice. Peach? Peach. Peach. Where are you getting peach juice? I don't think I've ever had a peach juice. Peach juice is really nice. Yeah, but it is.

I love peaches, man. Yeah. Peach juice. And then just apple juice. Easy. Apple and ginger, specifically. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm not into the vegetable juices. No. Tomato juice is at the end of that very long list. Really? It's at the very bottom. Not even in a Bloody Mary? No, absolutely. I can't understand it.

Because it's a bit like cold soup, right? Yes. Yeah. Yes, exactly why. It's a bit cold soupy. I love that. You love cold soup. Love...

Well, I love tomato juice. I love Bloody Mary's. I like imagining it as cold soup. I love Gospacho, for example. I love Gospacho, actually. I hate all of those things. Yeah, yeah. They all, like, the bottom of the Arlo Parks rankings for juice.

What would you do if you turned on the TV and it was Wallace in a new film when he was eating Gospacho? Good question. I'd hide. Well, if you woke up in the night and it's a figure at the end of your bedding, you could make out who it was. And you squint.

And then you realise it's Wallace. He's eating Gospacho. And he goes, Gospacho, so Paolo, would you run out of the room? I would really never sleep again. I would never sleep again. I could see why you'd be scared of it. You went to...

You went there recently, didn't you? Went to Aardman Animations, yeah? To film something at Aardman. Very nice people. They've... I said, how do you write your films? And they said, we create whatever we think Arlo Parks might be scared of.

That's how they... That would make sense. Yes. Take a picture of you on the... On the... On the big red cross. Yeah. I like that.

I'm going to get in her head. Good great Benito was quite rightly, and then quite an angry tone. Yeah. That he wants to watch. But I think... Yeah, the question great Benito wants to ask is, does the orange juice have bits in?

But I'm guessing if it's fresh... Yeah, because it's fresh. Yeah. Yeah, stupid question, Benito. Yeah. It has to have bits in it. And we already know that Arlo's not going to dip in and take all the bits out herself with her hands.

No. No. No. She... Yeah. That's insane. You're going to the same thing to do. So hold on.

We're talking all the way through this podcast about you squeezing the lime. Are you squeezing the orange? Are you making... No. Would you want to do that? No, I think... Have you ever tried to make your own orange?

I have, and it takes ages. It takes so many oranges to make one glass. So I usually... Yeah. Yeah. Also, if you live in LA, and in California, is it to do with the weather as well? If you're sipping a fresh orange juice in LA,

that must taste better than sipping a fresh orange juice in England. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's got to be in the sun. So your dream restaurant scenario, we haven't even talked about where you're in.

Where it is. I feel like either it would be in like a vineyard in the south of France, and you just like have a cool breeze, the sun shining. You've just got this view of nature. Or it would be by the sea, like a little like coastal moment. I think that would be really nice.

Sounds very peaceful. Yeah. I mean, if you're in a vineyard, and then they said, what do you want to drink? And I said, orange juice. Fresh orange juice, please. Yeah, but that's very me, though. I'm just like, I'm sorry.

I just... This is what I want, and this is what we're having. I mean, they'd be upset. They'd be upset. All the grapes would be shaking on the vine. Yeah. That fuck... I'll have orange wine, though.

I'm into orange wine, a little natural wine. If I was in a vineyard, I would. I would. Would you stomp the grapes yourself? Would you stomp them? No. No, it's the same question as would you dip me in. If Arlo's not dipping her fingers in to get a bit of lime,

it's not stomping the grapes. Well, listen, last time I checked, we do a podcast where we ask the same question 50 times. I don't know what you want from me yet. It's worked so far. I'd stomp the grapes. You would? Yeah, but I wouldn't then drink it.

No way. I was going to say. But I'd stomp it for someone else. But I think there's an extra process after people stomp the grapes. Stomping and pouring into the pot. I think it's just straight into the bottle. Straight into the bottle, is it? Yeah, yeah.

They drag the bottle through it. Yeah. They drag it through it. And then that's it. That does sound about right. Yeah. Yeah. There you go.

This is stomp by James Acaston. Some people would drink that. Yeah, yeah, there's some weird people out there. Dream dessert. My dream dessert, I went with just pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream. Pumpkin pie. I know it's something that people, I mean, American people mainly have at Thanksgiving,

but I have it all year long. From House of Pies. From House of Pies. There's this place called House of Pies, so we can get pies until like 3 a.m. That's after a night out, I have a little bit of pie. And it actually is a hack. Yeah.

It's so good. Yeah. That's what we're missing in this country. Yeah. Like good late night food. House of Pies at 3 a.m. They have pancakes. They've got like milkshakes, you know, whatever you want.

And they've got like, it's weird. They've got like breakfast stuff as well. So at 2 a.m. you can just get some scrambled eggs in. I don't, I don't even like going out that much. I'd set my alarm for 2 a.m. Wake up and go and get a pie. Yeah. I go to House of Pies.

Do they do cherry pie? Yeah. They do like, they have like 55 different pies. I was always like, I'll do, I'll schedule a delivery for when I know I'm going to get home and then there's a pie at my doorstep. Great. That's brilliant.

That's a satisfying feeling. Yeah, it is. Do you ever, I've been in a situation with, and this is probably one of the most tense things in the world. When I'm like in a, in a car home. Yeah. And it's smooth sailing. So I go and deliver a room.

Yeah. Okay. This is going to get there at the same time as me. Great. As soon as I've paid for it and it's locked in, traffic jam. And then I'm like, oh, oh shit. Oh no, I'm a mother of God.

Like, I don't know if I'm going to get my delivery room now. The guy's going to ring me being like where I am. Why don't you just leave out and say leave at door? Oh, no, I can't do it because I live in a, I live in a, a bit, there's like a, they have to buzz to get through to another. James lives in a gated community. Ah.

Yes. So you can't leave out the gate. Why not? Like I said, some, some like urchins or steels. Some urchins. Straight away though, that'll have that. Immediately. Yeah.

Oh, that'll get, that'll get swiped, man. You have no idea my area. Also the. Swipe it. It's just, it's just the worst. You, you never had that. You've never been, they're leaving on your doorstep for you. Yeah.

And no one's nicking that? No. No urchins, please. Not so far. No, no urchins. That's a good life. That's a good life. Yeah, yeah.

Oh, especially for the pie place. I mean, we've told this on the podcast before and it's another story that doesn't go anywhere. But like, you know, when we were in New York, Ed and I, we walked ages to go to this pie place and then it was shut. But like all we could think about was how much we wanted some of that sweet American pie.

Not like the film. We weren't doing that. I was going to say, that's what, that's what I was thinking. We weren't doing that with the pie. Trotting across New York. He couldn't wait to get to that sweet American pie. I thought it was, I thought it was a cultural tradition there. I got checked out the shop pretty quickly.

They had a, that film, man. What a film. We had to talk about that with Brett Goldstein recently. He asked, he asked us what the most, Brett Goldstein does their film podcast. So we did a mashup for Comic Relief. With the food podcast. He asked us, what was the most arousing meal?

Meal in a film is. And I said, did I say, what the fuck's the pie? I might have said it. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was Maddox. I was 13 years old and watching a sex, a sex film. Yeah, but there was a pie there.

Even when you weren't 13 going, oh, that's, that's sex. Hey, as far as I knew of that, I never quit. I probably know what to do with a pie more than a person. James grew up in Kettering, so the only apple pie he could lay his hand on was a McDonald's one. And he really burned himself. Boiling hot. To kingdom come.

I'm only just getting better now. Pumpkin pie though. Great. You can't get it here. I don't think really. Not really. Not the right kind of quality level. You ever get the tinned, the mix, the pumpkin pie, like in a tin?

You ever use that mix? You look disgusted, actually. I'm sorry, I bought it up. Sorry, a very expressive face as soon as you say something. I'm like... Does that give you away ever? A lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I really struggle to keep it in. In a good way and in a bad way, when I love food, I always do a little dance. Yeah, and then when I do it, I'm like... Yeah, you got songs about food? I feel like I mentioned food quite a lot, actually, in my songs. Yeah, I just like sensory writing. I write about food and smells and flowers and stuff.

Yeah. Do I think what the best song about food is? And now all I can think of is the Song American Pie, because we mentioned it earlier. And that's about a very different subject matter than the film, actually. Fast Food Rockers. Fast Food Rockers. Yeah.

What's that? I don't even know what that is. What's that song called? Look it up. I'm mainly imagining if the Song American Pie was the same tune and stuff that was about the subject matter from the Film American Pie. It would be... How well the song would have done if it was just fucking about.

Fast Food Rockers. What's that? Yeah. McDonald's, McDonald's. Can take a fridge and get in a pizza hut. What is that? Oh, sorry. I forgot.

You were at school probably when it came out. Yeah, yeah. I mean, to be fair, that's my world. It's a classic of genre. Oh, classic of wit genre. Fast Food Rock. Oh, yes. This is the most embarrassing thing we've ever done on this podcast.

It's that we've got to now explain to you how... This is the oldest I've ever felt. When we were in school, Ed and I, we didn't have phones or anything, and we would walk around singing a pizza hut, a pizza hut, Kentucky Fire Chicken, a pizza hut. You would think that. Why?

I don't know. It had little actions with it. Yeah. It was just all the fast food chains that there were at the time. Obviously, now there's a lot more. It would go on for ages, that song. But it was such a popular song that a dance troupe, like pop music, European pop music combo,

did a version of it that sounded like it should be in Eurovision. Your face is giving you away again. I'm very confused. You're using those lyrics. A pizza hut, a pizza hut, Kentucky Fire Chicken and a pizza hut. And there was dancing. Yeah, so you would go... A pizza hut was...

You would draw a hut like a little house with your hands. A pizza hut, a pizza hut. Kentucky Fire Chicken is the flat ground, like they're all chicken wings, and a pizza hut. And then McDonald's, you would do like the arches of McDonald's. And then Kentucky Fire Chicken and a pizza hut. And it was just that.

Over and over again. Over and over again. And that is the whole song. And that was what? Good song. That was fun. Yeah. That was what we did for fun back then.

Yeah. Yeah. In our day. Right. Yeah. That was how we had fun. We sang that. I prefer it.

I preferred that. Hate to be so mad. No, because of the good old days, where you had to use your imagination to have fun. Yeah, rather than all this vaping and nudes. Yeah. They're all too big to say. Nudes.

That was about all we ever did. Yeah. Yeah, what was that? So I don't know if you're doing any covers on your next tour, but you should consider doing the first food tour. It'll be a very, very brief cover. Yeah. Oh, look, can I ask you a favour?

Okay. Can you not tell anyone about us? But after this podcast, don't tell anyone who wasn't here about what we're like. James is worried, because James is about to release an album, and he's worried that it's going to get out in the music industry about what a sad loser he is. Yeah.

I've got to be cool. They've all got to think I'm cool in the music industry. Yeah. And this is not going to help me. Right. I'm going to read your menu back to you now. See how you feel about it? Okay.

You would like sparkling water with a wedge of lime that you will squeeze into it yourself. No ice. Poppins of bread you want warm for capture with rosemary, salt and black pepper. Starter, tomato and burrata salad with basil, olive oil, salt and pepper from Speranza in LA. Main course, slow cooked Cunny Testacos with guacamole,

black beans and pica de gallo. Oh, and when was that again, the tacos from? Guisados. Guisados. Yeah. Side dish, the Mexican street corn. Elotes, is this it says here? Yeah.

Drink, fresh orange juice. May or may not be made in the contraption. Dessert, a pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream from House of Pies. Ed, are you miking up your stomach? I was miking up my stomach just to show how much I enjoyed that menu. With respect. Because I'm hungry and then every time you mentioned New Zealand's going. I also am hungry and I also could feel my stomach rumbling

and I'm scared that he can hear it. Well, I tried to mic it up, but of course, as soon as the mic got on it, it was like, no way, I don't perform, don't perform for you. Can't get Ed in the studio. That is, that is a fantastic menu. Thank you. You've transported me to like California or Mexico as well,

I think it's perfect stuff. Yes, delicious. And apologies for our input. And generally, this episode is kind of apologize enough. Yeah, it's your dream meal. We don't need to be there at the dream meal. Yeah, just so you know, you don't have to part with this shit. We're not in the, in the vineyard.

You can't hear us in the vineyard. Well, Bonito's downloading Farmageddon now. What? And we're going to watch it. We're all going to watch it together. Ed fell for that. I can't believe I actually tricked him. I'm very hungry.

That's all born off and on the podcast. It's like, can't be a joke. But he's just actually downloaded Sure The Sheep's Farmageddon. Arlo, thank you so much for coming to the Dream Restaurant. Yeah, thanks for having me. Thank you, Arlo. Sorry. Well, there we are, James.

Delicious. Great menu from Arlo Parks there. Very tasty, very simple menu. That's what, that's, I mean, though those are the ones that transport you the most sometimes. Transportative. You were in LA, weren't you? You were in sunny LA.

I was in LA, but I was in LA and I wasn't really annoyed that I was in LA. Nice, James, for you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, just going around. God, how do these people not wear shorts? I'm going to have to wear shorts and I'll look like a complete moron.

Like that? It's your main concern. Yeah, that's a big concern. Is that no one else is wearing shorts and you're wearing shorts? It's warm outside, but they're never outside. They're always in their car or in their conditioned office. Whereas I like to have a little stroll round.

So I have to wear my little shorts and then I'll, you know, nip into some high-flying entertainment office. And I look like I'm on a tour. Yeah. Because it's freezing. Yeah. I mean, their air con as well, it should be pointed out, is freezing. It's like a walk-in freezer.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not like, oh, okay, that's a bit nicer than outside. It is like, oh, it's freezing. And if I dress for hot outside, I come in here. Yeah. And now I'm freezing. And part of the whole thing. My knees are knocking.

The whole thing in LA is you've got to like be, or brush and overly confident about what you do. Because otherwise they don't think you're any good at all. Yeah. And it's very difficult to be brushing over confident when you're the only person in an office wearing shorts, your dicks all shriveled up because of the air conditioning. It is hard to be confident when your dicks all shriveled up.

Did you see that, that shrimp dick UK comedian coming? That gamble. Stupid little fucking knees and dick. Love it. Love that voice. Yes, love the voice. Love the voice every time. Yeah.

It's a real... Would you consider going into the meeting and speaking in that voice? Yeah. That would make me more confident, actually. Yeah. That would be much better. Yeah. What's up?

Hey, guys. I've flown all the way from fucking London. I've got a shrimp dick. Make a show out of it. Out of it. Now imagine if I'd asked you... Good name for a sitcom, that. Good name for a sitcom.

Shrimp dick. Shrimp dick from London. Yeah. Thank you also to Arlo for not saying... Kohler. Didn't say Kohler, which would have... It was a soft drink, though. We went with...

It was. Orange, jus d'orange. Yeah, so no booze. If I may. Yeah, you may. Mercy. You've always made mercy. So, yeah, I mean, yeah.

I don't know. Is that the first time you've had fresh orange juice as the... No, I don't think so. We've definitely had fresh orange juice before, I think. Well, it's very... I mean, yeah, because we've probably asked about the contraption before. Yeah, we've definitely asked about the contraption before. Richard E. Grant chose the...

Oh, because he wanted to be squeezed till his pipsqueak. Yeah. Yeah, so, of course, he wanted to... Oh, we should remember to ask, when anybody picks fresh orange juice, do you want to be squeezed until your pipsqueak? Yeah, you should have asked her that. But she definitely doesn't,

because that would be like being in a Wallace and Gromit machine, wouldn't it? Yeah, that would be terrifying for Arlo. Absolutely terrifying for her. She's terrified of it. But I'll tell you what kind of machine she's not scared of. Her soft machine. Her soft machine.

Maybe that's what she's talking about. Oh, God, yeah. How do we miss that? She's talking about the orange juice machine. Yeah, maybe, because all the Wallace and Gromit stuff is obviously made of plasticine. Yeah. So there are all the machines in Wallace and Gromit

are soft machines. Yeah. So maybe it's about her fear of the contraptions in Wallace and Gromit. Or her love of orange juice. Oh, this is... Either way, we didn't ask the question. If we thought we didn't ask it, it's too late now.

Yeah. My soft machine is coming out on Transgressive Records on Friday, 26th of May. Go get it. And Arlo's gone on tour in September, Dublin, London, Europe, going to get tickets. Thank you very much for listening. We will see you again next week.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Hello, it's me, Amy Glendale. You might remember me from the best ever episode of Off Menu, where I spoke to my mum and asked her about seaweed on mashed potato. Our relationship's never been the same since. And I am joined by...

Me, Ian Smith. I would probably go bread. I'm not going to spoil it in case... Get him on, James and Ed. But we're here, sneaking in to your podcast experience to tell you about a new podcast that we're doing. It's called Northern News. It's about all the new stories

that we've missed out from the North, because, look, we're two Northerners. Sure, but we've been living in London for a long time. The new stories are funny. Quite a lot of them crimes. It's all kicking off. And that's a new podcast called Northern News we'd love you to listen to.

Maybe we'll get my mum on. Get Glendale's mum on every episode. That's Northern News. When's it out, Ian? It's already out now, Amy! Is it? Yeah, get listening. There's probably a backlog.

You've left it so late.