And now the.

490 with Gretchen de Bakker might kill them.

And Kevin Mullin.

Com.

Welcome into the 419, powered by and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

I'm Kevin mullen.

Gretchen.

Debacker, and I kill em.

We're continuing our tour into Restaurant Week, which kicks off Monday the second.

Yeah, the whole week.

Yes, it's that' why it's called Restaurant Week.

It's an educational program here at PBS to tell us.

Holy cow.

We got an exciting show for you today.

One of the most innovative, entrepreneurial creatives, restaurant.

Tours couldn't make it.

Know.

And we've got PK here today.

That's right, that's right.

And, And then Maddie, Koppel, the, food writer from the blaze.

Yes.

And I like this kind of balance.

Right.

Of, Oh.

See what I did there of, you know, talking with restaurant owners and then also talking with, some of the food critics about, you know, how do we how do you appropriately judge a restaurant?

And how to get outside you comfort zone as well like that.

You know, I had the conversation yesterday, with Michelle Bruni from she's eating it and kind of the, the encouragement to get outside your comfort zone to try something new.

And Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to do that and support a great cause.

Of course, restaurant week supporting leadership Toledo.

And celebrating not just the food, but all the great people that provide it.

Right?

There' a lot of local businesses here that give back in an extraordinary way.

There's been it's a it's a tough business to run.

But these are all a person and community oriented group, and we have a great example o that.

As you said, Kevin, today.

There are many industries that have is tired of emerging churches.

And as you know, the conversation yesterday with Trevor Dieter talking about, you know, mea prices are rising and so do you.

Lower the quality.

Do you raise the price?

You know, what do you do in the end.

And he did both.

That's right.

That's right.

You know, but but the reality is they're also among the most generous folks, 100% that I have come across.

And and with my work with, you know, with the beer serving fire truck, I've had a chance to interact with a number of food truck owners and restaurant owners, and by and large, the numbe of times that they just say yes.

Yeah.

Is so incredible.

And I and I think it's a you know, it's a real community focused industry because every day, every interaction with every customer is the most important conversation, you know, important moment of your business right there.

So I'm excited to talk to talk about their growth, kind of what they're doing.

And, you know, when they came on the scene really sort of took a different approach to, you know, how you put a plate together.

Yeah.

And, and how you put a, how do you put a business together as well?

So excited for that conversation.

Me too.

This is a great time of year, if any number of ways.

But again, I can't emphasize enoug sort of celebrating who we are.

And that is something we don't always do that well.

So it's a great, great, great show.

And so this week and next week.

Pretty much every day we're going to have somebody different talking about and highlighting, Restaurant Wee and what's going on and giving you different opportunities for you to get out, get outside your comfort zon and enjoy it if you want to join the progra is three different opportunities every single day to enjoy the 419 7 a.m.

on YouTube, 3 p.m.

on FM 91 in Toledo.

Brian Defiance and Lima, and 6 p.m.

on connects channel 30.4.

When we come back, the three of us are goin to attempt to say the last name of our next guest pick.

From balance.

It's the 418.

We'll be right back.

Support for the 419 comes from we True Wealth Management, where we understand tha your financial path is personal.

Advisory services are offered through capital investment Advisory Services LLC, securities offered through Capital Investment Group member Finra and SIPC.

More information at Retro advisors.com.

The 419, powered by GT is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.

Introducing the Local Thread, a community news series uniting voices and storytellers from across the region in partnership with La Prensa, the Toledo Free Press, the Sojourner Truth, Toledo Public Schools, and veteran journalist Jerry Anderson.

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Welcome back to the 419.

We're talking Restaurant Week, and we've got, one of the, restaurants that's going to be featured, next week as part of Restaurant Week.

The owner, co-owner of Valance Grill, P.K.

and so we we have to get this first piece out of the way that just let's just acknowledge that the three of us have no idea what your name actually is.

Okay.

But we're going to take an attempt at it.

And the reason he goes by kick is because of idiots like us who can't pronounce his name.

Yeah.

So where are you from originally?

So I was born in Texas, but my family is from India.

And s Prakash is a very common name, and that's as far as I'm going to get into it.

My last name.

Not that common.

So give it it give it a try.

So, Prakash, I feel pretty good about.

Yeah.

The, So I think it's Karam Fandi.

Very close.

I was going to say the same thing.

Yeah I was just say Smith.

Oh, man.

That's right.

Yes.

You, You cowards.

Yeah.

I took a shout.

Out for these two welded.

Yeah, I love that.

Yeah, I love that it's.

Crunch and Danny.

So just come on.

I left, the and I. At the end.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because there's that other a in the middle crunch.

Danny.

Yep.

All right.

We're only going to I would have been.

Yeah.

You can just call me that.

When I was in high school I played sports and I had like, two letters off of each seam on my shoulder.

Right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

There's something behind us.

You literall can't read the whole last name.

And that's the reason why you're not a professional athlete.

I'm not a professional athlete because I'm five foot six.

Okay.

Yeah, that's a different show.

So for people that don't know, let's just start right off at the top.

I don't know how they could I know, but tell us what balanced grill is.

So balanced grill we're fast casual.

We call ourselves Asian fusion.

But really we just tr to make everything from scratch.

So kind of tech forward, most people end up ordering from the app.

But yeah, just very customizable.

Everyday food is what we shoot for.

And your origin story, I think is a fascinating one.

At the ris of overshooting this, you know that I'm a big fan of yours in a number of ways.

And candidly, whenever there is somebody that has a question, regardless of the subject matter, or they need, a fresh look at something, I usually do call PCA.

And you have done that a number of occasions.

So at the end I'm putting you on the spot.

But pork, talk to me about how you started.

You've always naturally been inquisitive.

Your parents are both, engineers, or.

How did you get to this position that you're in?

Yeah, yeah.

So my parents very high expectations.

They really wanted me to be a doctor.

And, I was like, I just.

I just can't do it.

That's right.

Yeah.

Physically inept.

But yeah, I just had, like, really no interest in it.

So when I started out in college, it was all pre-med.

And then I went back to my parents and I was like, look I just really don't like this.

I don't have a lot of interest.

I'm, like, sitting in the back of the class, like split screen, watching TV and taking notes.

And I just can't focus.

I don't I don't like it.

They still made me take the mcats just to kind of proof that I could get it.

And I guess, but they let me go into finance because, as you alluded to, my dad is an engineer.

That's how we ended up in Toledo.

He worked at Sony for, like, 27 years.

Great company.

Yeah.

And, my mom's a CPA and she's entrepreneurial.

Started her own firm.

So they basically said, as long as you get a degree in finance you're always going to be fine.

So go get a degree in finance.

And I was like, sweetie, I love it.

Anyway, to Toledo, I did.

Yeah, I went to the University of Toledo.

I actually went to BG for two years.

Not the best place to sta focused, so came back to Toledo.

Sure.

How did your family get from Texas to Toledo?

Yeah.

So my dad, he came here.

I got to start back a little bit further.

So my parents are from an area of India that is no longer in India.

It's like pre partition.

So they're in where Pakistan is now.

And so they were immigrants in Indi is like a way to think about it.

And then my dad initially went to Dubai which Just got it.

No, it's still pretty far from India, but a lot further from here.

Yeah.

And he went there in the early 80s because he was in construction and engineering.

And that can be kind of a perilous place to go if you're Indian, because they'll just, like, take your passport and stuff.

So he had to, like, earn his way out of that.

And then by the time he came out of that, he had, like, no money.

He had like $17 the equivalent of.

And so he decided to come to America and, thought like he had a lot of friends and family and stuff.

But then nobody really, like, answered the phone when he got here.

So your mom at this time, As he was a bachelor.

Okay.

And, so he lived in a YMCA and, worked at a gas station.

Yeah, like, put himself through school, and then he went back to India, got married, in India.

Arranged marriages, very like common.

You know?

So he's like, cool.

I'm settled.

I'm in.

I'm in America.

I'm going to go back.

I'm going to get married.

I'm over here.

So he was still in Houston, and that's when the oil crash happened in like 85, 86.

And so he, lost his job.

Yeah.

And, moved up to Detroit, because by then he was, like, established.

So I guess, like his friend and family did answer the phone and, settled down in Detroit and was there for a few years and then got this job down here.

And so, so we and so that's, that is how, we ended up in Toledo.

Skipping ahead a few decades.

Yeah.

How how did you end up in the restaurant industry?

Yeah.

Totally backwards.

I really have no background in restaurants.

My, co-founder, CJ he grew up in restaurants, and, his family still runs a restaurant, and that's really his background.

And he was just my friend from college.

I had mentioned I graduated with this degree in finance, and I really did enjoy it, but I also graduated a degree in finance in 2008.

And so that was like the height of the financial crash.

Yeah.

And couldn't get a job in finance.

So I was doing it work.

I would like wire things up, like probably like what's in this room like wire up all the lights and networks and stuff like that.

Called myself a cable monkey.

Yeah.

So I was doing that.

Building websites, building software.

And then, they were really good friends, and we were friends at UT, and he's like, I want to start a restaurant.

And I was like, cool, that sounds like fun.

I will do that with you.

And where was the first location?

It was in Miami, Ohio.

And then downtown near to the Central Avenue.

On Central Avenue, and then Perrysburg and then downtown was.

Where you get started, the conversations around opening up the restaurant and yeah, the way your brain work and Matt alluded to it of like, I need somebody to look at something from a from a fresh perspective.

Yeah.

Were you and C.J.

always in sync on wha this restaurant was going to be, or, like, how what was it?

What was the proble you guys were trying to solve?

Yeah, definitely.

When we were finishing up college, it's when Chipotle first broke onto the scene and back then.

So transporting a really, long time ago at this point, I'm dating myself, but, like, Chinese food, Asian food, it was all kind of in, like one lump sum.

Sushi was just starting to kind of take off.

But generally people, thought of Asian food as like buffet quality food and not necessarily like fresh, drenched in sauce.

And we just wanted to kind of change that perspective.

And so C.J.

was a personal trainer, and then he was into fashion for a little bit.

And so.

I always did the same.

Yeah, I can tell.

Yeah.

Swagged out.

Man.

It's always entertaining.

This is 2009.

So right before we opened and, so yeah, we wanted to create like a fast, still fast Asian concept that made everything fresh because that's how Asian food was to us growing up in an Asian household.

You know, we don't eat leftovers.

Everything's just kind of like you go down to the market, whatever's fresh, you get what's at the market, you come back, you make something with it, you eat it.

Yeah.

So we just want to make, like, a really fresh of kitchen.

There's talking with Prakash Karamchand.

Danny from balance.

Talk.

A little bit about your menu.

So you talk about the fast casual and the and the fresh ingredients.

But at the beginning, what what are some of, like the key and remain some of the key elements of the menu.

It balance.

Yeah.

The first two years is really when we figured that out.

So we always start out with bowls because we never got burritos that that's full.

So we're like, we should make a really good Asian Bowl and kind of construct it properly with a different ratio.

And that's where the name balance comes from.

It's rebalancing the standard American diet to be more veggie focused.

Still heavy on clean proteins, but, you know, more veggie focused because it's tough to get veggies in a fast food environment and you need them.

You need.

Them.

So talk to me a little bit about an moment.

Or I guess to some degree you never feel like maybe you made it.

But was there a moment where you and KG sat back and said, all right, we've got this.

This is clicking, this is ticking.

This works.

Oh no, no.

No, you're.

Like 16 years that I haven't I haven't hit that yet.

Yeah.

No definitely not.

Could always do better for sure.

And there's been a couple of bi evolutions in in the business.

Probably many more than, than I'm even aware of.

But there's, there's two things I'd like to sort of chat with you about.

The first is, is balance farms.

Yeah.

And the growing of your own, items for, for your restaurants.

And the other is sort of the evolution of the technology that you just referred to.

Yeah.

Which is so interesting because your restaurants, in terms of interacting with, with an app, is probably one of the most seamless and easy to use, not just because you're here.

I'm saying that but I hate ordering through apps and doing it because it's never easy.

It never gets it right.

It's inconvenient.

You have to go through 9000 steps.

Your app is perfect.

You show up, you get it.

At what point in the 16 year journey did you really start developing that?

I'm thinking it was Covid time because you still have to wor that way earlier than that time.

Tell me about why this was important.

But yeah.

Yeah.

So we used an off the shelf app all the way back in 2012.

And we were able to do that because when we first started, we started with cloud based, POS technology, and that allowed us to interconnect a lot of things to our POS, pull a lot of data out, and we did it from, like a data perspective.

So I'd mentioned in the earlier years a balance was a lot of like menu evolution.

And we did that by analyzing our product mix and kind of what people wer buying and what the trends were.

And so we wanted more of that.

We wanted to understand a little bit better of, you know, what people wanted so we could meet that demand.

So we started with an off the shelf app.

And in 2015, we started developing our own in-house.

And we released that in 2017.

And we've used that same app, since this year, we are releasing our, our V3, platform.

So that is like a whole new one built completely side by side.

It should launch in the middle of the year which I'm pretty excited about.

I've been working on it for like 18 months.

My gosh, I do want to come back to Balance Farm.

But I remember thi has been a couple of years ago.

You would know the timing on this better than I would, but I walked into the downtown restaurant, walked up the kiosk to place my order, and the kiosk said, like on the screen, said, welcome back, Kevin.

That had the order I'd ordered the last time and I am.

So I am his name to Kevin.

But I mean, I am like pro technology.

I'm equally sort of creeped out by it, but I'm fascinated by it.

I loved the that experience of like when you walk into a great restaurant that you go to all the time.

And they know your name.

And they know your name and the server knows your order, and you found a way for the kiosk to replicate that experience.

For me.

What happened?

What what what is the the tech behind that that that I didn't see.

Yeah.

It i facial recognition technology.

And since the we have actually deactivated it because there's, I think like a wider, like social conversation around how that should be utilized.

But the, the intent of it is exactly what you were describing.

You know everybody wants to go to a place where they remember your name.

Yeah.

And, if we can deliver tha consistently every single time, we should we should utilize stuff.

I think Kevin wants to know because he wants to use it for his family.

Yeah, no.

I just I'm I'm legitimately fascinated by, you know, a restaurant.

People.

The way you guys innovate a a restaurant is not in the lane that I would expect you to innovate, right?

Yeah.

And I think it's the way how you use technology to improve the user experienc is not the experience I've had with any other restaurant in this country.

Because it's not annoying to deal with it.

It doesn't feel like, oh Lord, I got to deal with this computer, right?

Which there's something about it.

It feels different for sure.

Yeah.

What you just said.

We try and use it for enablement, you know?

So there's a very specific goal that roots back to like, traditional hospitality.

And we're trying to make tha either more efficient or more, you know, consistent consistency is really the name of the game.

Where most restaurants are trying to innovate or cut corners or cut costs is on.

Yes.

Is o the ingredient side of things.

Or on labor.

Yeah.

Especially like current technology which I think is not the direction that things should go.

But but Gretchen mentioned Balance Farms.

Talk to me about kind of the evolution of, of that.

What brought that idea forward.

And then what is it.

What is it today.

Yeah, absolutely.

So Balanced Farms really started was starting to I should back up when we first started.

It was easier to find local ingredients because we were small.

We're just like one shop.

And so we could do that.

You could go to a farmer's market, you could link with local producers.

As we got bigger you have to expand that radius a little bit to find farms that actually grow produce.

Because that's pretty atypical.

We grow a lot of, like, soy, wheat and corn around here.

We don't grow a lot of actual produce.

And so that's always been a challenge.

Plus it's seasonal.

And obviously we want to sell the same menu like throughout the year, or at least change it a couple times a year.

But deliver a consistent experience for people.

So introduce me, to a guy who was growing inside of a warehouse.

And so that was the first tim really seeing that technology.

I thought it was amazing.

It's like growing 365 days a year.

And so we decided to build one out, and we built it in downtown Toledo, right next to our downtown Toledo restaurant.

And, that was really an amazing project and that, just had the worst timing because we built it and set it up.

And it was November of 2019 when we got it up and going, and we ran it on a system called aquaponics.

And that takes time to season.

It's really a great system because you're growing plant and, raising fish and symbiosis.

And the fish create nutrients for the plants.

Plants filter the water for the fish.

And so it everything stays in balance.

It's a classic.

It.

Yeah.

But that takes time to season or cycle, as they call it.

And by the time we got up and going, we were dealing with Covid.

And so we couldn't go through and get like any kind of commercial sales license you have to get get certified.

And obviously, well, we want to put out food that's safe.

So that had to kind of like sit there and test for two years.

And then once we got it up and going and we started selling, we like quickly outpaced that space.

And so you were there for.

Yeah, five years.

It definitely was a good problem.

It was a great, like, test of concept.

Yes.

But then we actually partnered with a farm that is up in Detroit and it's called planted.

And so they had lik a massive facility, 28,000ft.

And so we moved our ops up there and, partnered with them, and they just have way better tech and, way better setup.

We're talking with Prakash Karamchand Downey, the owner, co-owner of Balance Grill.

When we come back, I want to dive in on growth outside of Toledo as well, because I have enjoyed balance, not just in Toledo, but in other cities as well.

So I want to talk about what that future looks like.

Yeah.

And then I also want to dive in on what Restaurant Week looks like at balance.

We'll be right back on the 419.

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I'm Danny Miller, and welcome to the point.

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Welcome back to the 419.

We're joined by PK from Balance Grill.

You've got three locations here in Northwest Ohio, but I know I've seen balance in other markets.

I was in Cleveland and.

Yeah, and saw it there.

And I've had a chance to enjoy, buy a balanced bowl.

In, in Cleveland.

Where else do you have, restaurants and where else are you looking to grow, too?

Yeah.

So the restaurants that we own and operate are just here.

Toledo and Cleveland.

We did try, a little bit of franchising.

And so we've opened in Denver and in Dallas markets.

But I think what we want t focus on is just stuff that we, run the wa that we want to run a business, because I think balance is, deeper than just the product that it is.

It's like kind of a philosophy.

I just sort of hinted at this in an earlier segment.

Earlier question.

But you are a, in rehab from medical school now, you're an entrepreneur that has businesses that are flourishin in our area, and now people are are so bought into this catch up, they want to buy into it.

Yeah.

Is there was other time when you drove around like this.

This is affirming.

This feels pretty good.

No.

No.

That's nonsense.

It's.

Yeah, a little bit more about that.

It's it's like an incredible responsibility.

Yes, sir.

You know, and I take that really seriously, and, I also kind of believe in kaizen, which is like this Japanese principle of just always focusing on yourself and focusing on who you were yesterda and try to get better tomorrow.

So I just try and stay in that track, you know.

Similar question.

Is there a point your parents wanted to be a doctor?

Yeah.

Is there a point where your parents have, like they want to be a doctor because they want you to be successful?

Yeah.

Is there a point where they sort of come around and said, like, yeah, he's great.

He should have been a doctor.

Yeah.

No, no, that's all.

I was tracking with you for a bit and.

Then I was like, no.

No.

Yeah, yeah.

That that hasn't gone away.

But my younger brother is now a physician and he's completely gone through med school and residency they love.

So.

Yes.

Yeah.

So they've got him, which is great.

Yeah.

Never let him eat it any.

Oh, man.

Is his single.

Time is only.

I have such a funny story about that, to tell you some time, but, his only job before he went to med school was working at balance.

Sure.

That was good.

You trained?

Yeah So it balanced to some degree.

You have a beautiful family.

And I want to talk about your wife, who is certainly the brains of the.

This generation of your group, but is balanced somewhat like a family member, the brand itself.

Like how do you think about it?

How do I think about balance?

I mean, it's it's our whole life, you know, it's what we do is we wake up, and that's we just put our all into it.

It's an amazing place.

Like, we have such an amazing team.

We have incredible retain meant.

Yes.

Like, compared to this is something like I look at a lot as like a restaurant tours like what are our stats, what are our KPIs?

And the restaurant industry is pretty notorious for like a really bad turnover rate.

I mentioned Chipotle earlier, totally not slamming them, but their their average ten year depending on the year.

If you read their investor statements as like 34 to 41 days.

No, that's a days.

It's measured.

In days bu they're not making any.

Money.

Yeah.

And like the restaurant industry it is they they actually do make a pretty good amount of money, which is pretty amazing.

But I think they do tha because when you order online, the portions are like half the amount.

You know, when you start, when you start creating a men or start, laying out the design of a new restaurant, what do you think about walking through the door?

Is it going to sound corny?

But pretty much everybody, you know, we want to make sure that we have something that is reaching and accessible and inclusive for everyone.

That is super important.

And so we take customer feedback really seriously.

It's another thing that's kind of behind the scenes, but we have really good feedback loops, both for employees and for customers.

And we do read them.

We listen to them all the time, aggregate them and then try and create menu items around them.

When did you guys add the, bubble piece?

And can you talk a little bit about what that i or someone that hasn't tried it?

Yes.

So bubble tea is a Taiwanese drink got popular in the late 80s.

I loved it when I was in college.

Nobody in Toledo was doing it at the time.

We started with bubble tea at our mommy location all the way back in 2010.

When we opened our central Avenue location, we just didn't have the space for it.

It was like 1400 square feet when we initially opened.

And so we'd make them in Miami and bring them up, and they got really popular.

And so we expanded that store and added the bar there.

And so every one of our stores serves bubble tea now, and, it's really good.

It's great.

My my daughter, anytime she goes to the dentist, her like reward afterwards if she wants me to take her to Starbucks.

And I told her like nothin against Starbucks, but like, I'm a local, like, junkie.

You asked me to take you to someplace local.

I will agree every single time, right.

Do you want some coffee?

Drink?

I'll take you to sip anytime you want to go.

And for the first time, I don't know what it wasn't a that we had some reaso she was out of school and it's because it wasn't enough.

Yeah.

That's right.

It wasn't a if I take it back and I was like, what are we going to do?

And she goes, can we go to balance and get bubble tea?

And heard I had just such a great time and I loved she was excited to have it.

It was a treat for her.

Yeah, I loved it.

Every time I go into balance, I get the exact same thing, and I don't want to.

Yeah, but it's so good.

So I get the sweet and sour bowl every time.

We're all creatures of habit.

I think it's totally fine.

What should I do next?

Fried one time.

Right now, our fall menu is about to come off so we launched two menus a year.

We do a spring summer menu, we do a fall winter menu.

So grab our fall menu items before they're gone.

There's a honey butter chicken bowl.

That's really good.

And also kimchi case.

Currently my favorite.

We did get, nachos with the kimchi queso when I was there with my daughter, and it was really good.

Yeah.

It's good.

I think a good question after this one would be how a menu was created in that process, because it's probably some phone in some nightmare connected.

But what's in a refrigerator right now at home?

And talk to me about your partner at home, you have, a beautiful, brilliant, bride.

Yeah, but how she's made balance successful also.

So I actually met Navy and CJ around the same time I met CJ through Navy.

So, we all met at University of Toledo.

I followed her out of class one day.

I asked her out, which is, pretty tough because I'm an introvert.

But it worked out, and, Yeah.

And I'm glad I did.

Yeah.

And then, she worked in the mall at the time, and C.J.

Worked with her.

So that's how I met CJ.

Even thoug we were all at school together, we just didn't take the same classes.

And partner in creating balance as well.

Not just connecting with TJ, but I know that she is a positive influence.

Absolutely.

Both for this but also in the community.

She yeah, she does a lot.

She's a tour de force.

So talk to me a little bit about what makes her tick and, how she's making this region better because she's heard how.

The Navy is like, she's so on fire.

She takes care of our family, takes care of my parents, takes care of her parents, obviously our kids.

And then she's, like, balances mom, you know, talks to everybody.

And.

Then she does all of, like, our catering offsite.

Any type of, like, sponsorship events, community support event.

She's always, like, front and center and does that big, passion for that.

And she's awesome.

Matt brought up menu.

What what is your building out the menu.

What's the first step?

Data research.

That's the very first thing that we do.

So we analyze.

Yeah I know I'm boring.

Yeah.

But yeah it's data research.

So we look at what's trending on our menu, what's not.

And then we look at customer feedback.

We aggregate it and then we just look at like general food trends as well.

So once we come up with that we creat kind of a white board for that.

And CJ takes it from there.

He's so creative.

And he comes up with a bunch of menu items.

And then we do internal tasting, some customer tastings.

That's actually what we use Restaurant Week for, because I know we were going to talk a little bit about Restaurant Week, but Restaurant Week is always right before our spring summer menu launch.

So that's like a great way for us to put out items that we're 90% sure are going to hi and are going to be really good.

So what are some things you're going to have in a restaurant week menu?

Yeah.

So, the one that I' most excited about is a Japanese egg sando because we've never really done a sandwich on the balance menu.

That's not really like what we're known for, but handheld food is really good.

And I think like an egg salad sandwich, just like screams summer in Ohio to me.

But everybody is kind of aware that seven elevens in Japan have, like, way better food than seven elevens here.

And what they're known for are their sando, specifically their egg salad sando, and then also like their cream and fruit sando.

So we're doing an egg salad sando with actual like traditional mascarpone, Japanese show Japan bread, milk bread.

Yeah.

So really excited about that.

And then he's doing thi cucumber item, which I think is okay.

I will see how it goes.

I'm personally not, like, in love with it, but, I don't have to love every single one.

I don't I'm just more of, like, an acid guy.

Yeah, know.

And this is like a chili cucumber thing.

It is good in the sense that, like, it's spice and cooling and it's just it's got like the Sichuan peppercorns in it, but I think maybe that's not not what I love the numbing.

Yeah.

As well.

Yeah.

You're still, So today you are probably you never stopped exploring.

Brought to you by North Face, a sponsor.

But talk.

To you about how.

How you deconstruct, a dining experience.

But research, certainly from a data perspective, which is truly fascinating.

But talking about how you dine out, how you explore the planet, looking for things to inspire you or bring home, oh, man.

I am continuously inspired.

I really am.

I love to go explore.

I love to travel.

It's probably my favorite passion.

Not too much into other things.

I'm not like into fashio or cars or anything like that.

But I do love to travel.

And I love to meet people and I love to understand their stories.

And your family just kind of.

Come from a very.

Big international.

Trip.

We did?

Yeah, big milestone trip.

I had to take my kids to India, even though I'm not, like born there, but I really wanted to go before my parents aged out, of being able to do, like, long travel like that.

Yeah.

So being able to go with my parents and my kids was amazing.

And I tried a bunch of Indian food there, including, a India is a very, vegetarian focused diet.

And I've wanted something to replace our lentils as like, another protein option.

So came back with an idea for one.

And that's coming on our summer menu.

We're talking for P.K., the co-owner of Balance Grill, talking all things Restaurant Week, of course, Destination Toledo, one of the great partners and sponsors of our program, also one of the sponsors of Restaurant Week.

I'm curious for you, when you want to be a tourist in Toledo, what do you do?

Where do you eat?

Where do you get out and explore?

You don't have to look at Matt for this answer.

Yeah.

I, I pa attention to this Facebook group called Toledo to go.

And there's also like the other, like, I think it's for one nosh.

Pay attention to those two, because I found this really good Cuban restaurant, that I've been taking people to recently.

Awesome.

Is that Reynolds Road?

Yeah.

It's awesome.

So good.

Is that right?

It's called Jane's.

Yeah, that's.

Sweet.

Havana.

Yeah.

It's delicious.

Yeah.

It's really.

Good.

Oh, it's so good.

Most people haven't heard of it.

And then I also went to this Yemeni restaurant that's actually righ next door, Central Avenue store.

It's called Hydra Mount.

Amazing.

All right.

Really good.

All right.

It's now time for.

Gretchen's wacky with Barbara.

Oh, we also have presents for.

I'm gonna ask you for rapid fire questions.

Gretchen' asking for your favorite thing in or about Toledo, and then you are going to work together to describe Toledo in exactly nine words.

I wrote.

Down my nine.

Words.

Oh, see?

So of course you did.

Yeah, I love it.

Did you use, data analytics to decide the nine words?

No, no, I, I have listened to this podcast before, so I knew it was coming.

Let's.

So thank you.

All right.

Here we go.

What's your favorite way to relax?

Hang out with my kids.

If you could be.

If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be?

I actually just got my first pet.

It's a little goldendoodle.

I got them, like, a couple years ago named Smokey, and.

Yeah, 100% would stick with mochi.

What's something that always makes you laugh?

I'm going to go back to my kids again.

Yeah.

Super family focused, I know, and boring.

But some kids are hilarious.

Yeah.

And then lastly, what advic would you give your young self?

Stay a student.

That's very It's always something to learn.

What's your number one most favorite or what you consider to be the best thing about the city of Toledo or the region?

Support the community is incredible.

The people here are incredible, and they're genuinely like nice, good people.

I travel a lot, as I mentioned, and, as I get out, I always fee so comfortable when I come home.

Well, you made that community buddy, so make sure you do it.

And I'm not kidding.

All right, let's get nine words out of you.

Okay?

Let's do it from the very top picks.

Nine word list.

What?

Fire away.

Resilience.

Love it.

Entrepreneurial.

Good.

Creative okay.

Accessible.

Which was mentioned on a couple of podcast.

Gritty.

Well that's my favorite one.

Supportive as I mentioned earlier authentic which I don't think we've given enough credit for ourselves for, always growing and generally my last one.

Underrated, underrated.

I am going to put Metroparks down for you.

It's one I do love the most.

I know all of our institutions.

I never have room for it.

So I never look at the menu.

But is there a dessert at balance?

We are coming out with our very first dessert this summer.

Nice!

I'm so.

Excited I. Can't.

Review.

It's a twist on tiramisu made with matcha.

Oh, matcha.

Mizu matcha.

That sounds incredible.

I no longer have any idea how to say your last name.

Yeah, we go on.

Are you brought gifts?

I did one of Gretchen's requirements.

Yeah.

So Restaurant Week is 16 years old, and we just turned 16, so I brought some shirts.

Yes, that.

Are balance og 16 years in the making.

And a couple more of our hands.

Nice.

Oh and so this for our listeners.

It's a black t shirt say 16 years of craft and community.

And an awesome balanced grill hat I love it.

I will wear.

Modeling for you right now.

Yeah.

Will you.

Yeah.

Yes.

Amazing.

I think I'd get the Metroparks hat off.

There you go.

That's right.

SCC works there.

So that's a they know that he makes yeah.

They know oh that's an asset.

Smart hiring decisions.

There's no chance you hire math.

That's right, that's right 150 okay.

Thank you so much for coming in.

Thank you.

People want more information on Balanced Grill.

Where can I find it?

Balanced Goal.com or at Balanced Grill on any social media channel.

Download the ap and your location in Toledo are.

Sylvania, Perrysburg and downtown.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for having me.

Thanks for everything you do for the community and and being a part of Restaurant Week as well.

When we come back, Matty Kaplan, the food critic food writer for The Blade, will join us and we'll learn a little bit about how to be, be more critical.

Yes.

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Welcome back into the 419 powered by GT.

We're joined now by the blade own food editor, Matty Koppel.

Now, we talked about how to pronounce your name in the break, and I wanted to just g make it fancier than it needed.

Right.

But thank you so much for being with Cora.

Thank you, guys for having me.

So I said before the break that you're going to teach us how to be a critic of food, but really, it's more how to be an editor of people that are critics of food.

A little bit of that.

Yeah, yeah.

So mostly what I do is kind of adapt recipes, which is fun for the Sunday paper.

So a lot of recipe content.

I cook each week, most every week for the page.

So just kind of depending on like holidays and, you know, things happening in the region seasonal or anything like that.

How long have you been in this position.

Yeah.

So it's been about two and a half years.

Am I going to be three years in June?

So.

And how did you get to this position.

Yeah.

Yeah yeah.

It was I honestly always think it's like a little bit of a luck situation for me.

So I graduated from Ohio State in May of 2023, and I was really wanting to just find a job right after graduation.

It was in my head that I should have something lined up, but in hindsight, I kind of wish I maybe took a little more of a moment, kind of stop stressing myself out.

But, yeah, I was applying to jobs all year, my senior year, and I always wanted to do food writing.

I've always been interested in, like the Food Network.

That was.

I was obsessed with that growing up.

I would watch it with my grandma after school every day, and I wanted to, you know, have my own cooking show, you know, just be in the industry in some way.

I didn't kno exactly what it would look like, but I loved food, and I really got interested in writing during high school and college.

And I told my college advisor right when I got there that I wanted to be a food writer.

And she was like, well, you don't really have a major for that.

But, the closest thin was agricultural communication.

So that's what I studied at Ohio State, and my professors and advisors knew that it was more in a culinary specific interest rather than agriculture.

But, you know, it goes hand in hand.

So kind of where my interest in, like, sustainability comes from.

What do such a unique what a dream to have.

And I think about like, I'm curious about your parent approach to that because like, I know like, you know, I wanted to study theater in college and my dad was like, yeah, that's not going to.

Be, but you're not going to.

Get it right.

That sure.

Right.

That was important too, you know?

But like you you want to go into an industry where, like most markets have like one person, right?

Right.

Yeah.

So both my parents were very supportive, which I think was helpful.

You know, I wasn't feeling discouraged by the idea.

My mom was always like, you're going to have your own food Network show.

You'll b the Ina Garten of our hometown.

And yeah, maybe I wasn't, you know.

What was the hometown?

Chillicothe.

You.

Yeah.

Yeah.

About three, 3.5 hours.

I think there's a chili festival in.

Yes, yes, yeah.

Neighborhood shops they picked up.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Yeah.

It doesn't make any sense, actually.

But a neighborhood shuts down.

And everyone in the neighborhood house has its own chili, and you go door to door walking around.

That's right.

Yeah.

I want to say it was bigger years ago, but I do think they still do something kind of similar.

But in my dad, he owns our family business, Coppell and Supply.

And he jus was always very supportive of me doing something that, you know, didn't align with.

I mean, he was forced to kind of take over the business.

And he was like, you know, do your what do you passionate about?

You know, you don't have to come back and take this over.

It's they sell like brick and block which.

Yeah are delicious.

Yeah.

I mean super.

Passionate about brick is a is a stretch.

Right, right.

So you were stepping into this position after, sort of a local legend, Mary Alice Powell, who was the previous food writer for the blade, food editor for the blade.

Retired.

What?

What was that like?

And did you were you aware of her legacy?

Yes.

Yes, actually, this is her bracelet.

Oh, my.

Gave this to me.

Oh.

So I met her about about a year ago.

I got to do a story with her around the holidays.

Around Christmas time.

I'm kind of some, like, baked goods that she loves.

And to kind of make it you know, something that readers would love to enjoy because, I mean, she was a legend.

She still is.

She still has a column at th paper, still writes every week.

She's 96.

Oh my gosh.

And yeah I visited her out in her house in Grand Rapids and just got to chatting with her about her time as a food editor, which looked a lot different than today.

I mean, she was sent to, you know, judging in like Hawaii.

She got to go to Europe and you know, try different cuisines there and everything.

That's very much like your life now.

I mean.

Exactly.

Yeah.

You know, it hasn't changed a bit.

That's right.

But I think when.

You babysat for her.

Yes.

Yeah.

She was making snacks even then.

Even.

Good.

Yeah.

So tell me the concept.

So you, you you have an idea for for a story, something you want to write about.

And then what do you do?

Do yo you find recipes and test them?

Are you reviewing a. Cookbook like you.

You starting from the idea phase?

Yeah.

What do you do then to get to the article?

Yeah.

So what I usually do is create a spreadsheet of kind of, you know, the next several weeks.

And that's where the fun begins.

I love spreadsheets, I love organize who does?

Matt loves the spreadsheet that we have for the show.

Yeah, yeah, I just found out today we have line.

It's like color coordinated.

Yeah.

It's I don't know if it is.

He's never seen it.

Yeah.

Well that's okay.

Yeah.

You can look at my food spreadsheet.

And I will.

But yeah, basicall I kind of shape the story ideas first around like, like I said, like holiday or maybe like the season itself.

So I can focus the story around, like, a single vegetable or fruit and then kind of from ther to kind of make it more local.

What I'll do is either find lik area home cooks or restaurants chefs, you know, to kind of talk on that topic and yeah, share their insight, maybe share some recipes.

Sometimes I'll like adapt recipes from online.

Sometimes I'll adapt recipes like from my family or myself, things like that.

Yeah.

So it's a lot of different things.

For Restaurant Week, I did like a preview story.

So, you know, kind of event that happened in the area too.

I mean, the blade does best by if I'll be doing a story for that.

But, you know, holidays like Easter, I'll do like Easter recipes.

You know, I'm just coming ou with a bagel story just because, you know, wanted to do one.

You want to just.

You know, tal to some local places for that.

Is your focus on home cooks or is it on restaurants or combination?

It's a combination, for sure.

I would love to interview more home cooks.

I do find it's harder to source cheery home cooks than it is to, you know talk to known restaurant chefs.

But I do think that's fun for the readers, too, to kind of feel a little more personal, like, I can do this right thing.

I don't kno if you picked up on this or not, but Gretchen is actually like stumping for.

Herself and is a great cook.

One.

You have my email.

Yeah, I do.

I do, I do, yeah, that's a great chat.

We've we've talked about this like Gretchen is allegedly a great host.

I would never know this because I've never been invited to her house.

And I do and I do know it if you think so, too.

I love hosting.

Why is it fun for you?

I just think it's really fun to get like, your closest friends together and make it like an evening that's, you know just kind of like whimsical and and extravagant.

What I like to do is every week that I recipe test, I'll just invite friends over after work and kind of do a little dinner party.

I love doing, like the tablescape light and some candles.

This is, you know, absolutely nice.

I want you to invite me to your house before great desserts like that just need to have so I can hold that against you.

Yes.

Talk to me about a, cooking fail or the biggest disaster that stands out to you.

You know was the fire department there.

There was someone poisoned.

You're trying to poison Mary Alice.

The firefighters.

Actually got her job.

Actually.

Yeah, exactly.

You know, I was just.

I filmed an episode yesterday for my cooking show, meal with Maddie, with the doll shop.

The bakery?

Yeah.

And we were talking about macrons.

Yes.

And those are very hard to me.

I feel like cooking is a lot easier and more approachable than baking, because it's a little more specific with measurements, with cooking, you kind of throw it in, right You know.

It's very scientific.

So I was talking to her about macarons and, you know, they have the feet on them that there's like ridges.

I could never get that right.

So the last time I made macarons, they were a pistachio flavored.

So they were green and they totally failed.

They like deflated, they cracked.

So I turned i into like a macaron guacamole.

Oh my joy.

Like, crumbled them u and added, like the buttercream.

Sure.

You know.

Why not it?

Yeah.

It wasn't.

The prettiest thing ever tasted.

With some fruit.

Sure you're having the dollop shop on?

I think Friday fo as part of Restaurant Week.

Yes.

Yeah.

She was telling me all about her specials and everything.

Yes.

Oh.

She's exceptional.

So let's talk about Restaurant Week.

Yeah.

Kind of your excitement.

So Restaurant Wee kicks off this upcoming Monday.

What are you most excited about?

I just love the chance to try, like some of my favorite restaurants, but also restaurants I haven't maybe tried before and get to experience like new flavors that they're playing around with or just even get like a little bit of a discounted price.

It makes it a little more, you know, approachable to kind of go to multiple places during that week.

That feels less intimidating, I guess, that way.

I'm just excited to.

Yeah, get all around Toledo.

I interviewed Sidon for the story.

Great place.

And I mean, I just love it there.

It's so goo market too.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

And they have the new coffee corner that opened, like at the end of 2024.

I want to say.

But they.

Yeah that's new on their restaurant week menu is they're doing a coffee and dessert pairing.

So that's kind of fun to look out for.

And I talked to Marcel's to for this story that I'm doing.

And I don't kno if you guys have been there yet.

It's it's newer.

It opened at the very end of 2024.

So, yeah, I'm excited to like, I hadn't heard of that place.

So, you know, because of Restaurant Week, I found out about what.

Kind of what kind of restaurant is that.

Yeah.

So it's kind of like a fusion cuisine with like, comfort food as the base.

So it's Chef Marcel, and he, yo know, his namesake restaurant.

Yes.

And he's fantastic.

I didn't realize that.

He.

So I added recipes on restaurant.

Yes, yes.

And he for restaurant Week, he's doing some really comforting classics, like a carbonara, traditional meatloaf.

You know, I love a meatloaf.

Being from southern Ohio.

Sure.

Yeah.

A lot.

Ever intimidated Maddie?

I mean, you are now sort of cold calling to some degree.

But have you always been sort o naturally outgoing and coffee?

Yeah, I have bee pretty outgoing my whole life.

I mean, I could feel like all my friends used to say I coul talk to a wall, and, you know.

You are this morning.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

And I would say, like the you know, interviewing every day at work has been helpful.

And doing the meals with Maddie segments has been, you know, helpful as well.

And I've always liked public speaking.

I feel like as you get older it can kind of, you know, you get more aware of it, you know.

So when I was younger, I kind of maybe liked it a little bit better, but I think it's been helpful to, you know, do this every day for work.

Well, you're very delightful.

So one of the things that you're doing is expansion of sort of what you have at the plate is a new Facebook page.

Yes.

And so can you tell people where they can find that.

Yeah.

So it's Matty Eats is the name and it's through the blades account.

But I get to run it myself and I kind of post a lot of, you know, behind the scenes of recipe testing I just posted yesterday like a reel of behind the scenes of filming with the doll shop for the monthly Meals with Matty segments.

You know, share link to my stories, things like that.

And I hope as I get a bigger following, it can be a little more o like an interactive space too, for like I always lov and readers send in story ideas, I think, you know, you want to writ about what people want to read.

So we think about Restaurant Week, and obviously in your role, you've got to be a little bit adventurous, kind of what's the pitch to somebody who's, you know, you know, watching or listening to this segment, for them to b a little adventurous next week for Restaurant Week?

Yeah I mean, I say, just go out there and try something that, you know, some meals that you haven't experienced before, go with some friends.

It always is fun to, you know, get a few different item and share that and everything.

So yeah, I say goes to as many places as you can and just yeah, experience all that Toledo has to offer.

That's my favorite thing abou Toledo is the restaurant scene.

All right.

Maddie, it's now time for Gretchen's.

Wacky.

Quiz.

So that's how exciting I. Yeah, it' the second Penny's broken today.

All right, I'm going to ask yo for rapid fire questions, okay?

Gretchen' asking for your favorite thing in or about Toledo.

Okay.

And then Matt's going to work with you to describe Toledo in exactly nine words.

Okay.

I don't know the last time the blade gave you an exact word count.

Oh, we're doing it today.

Here we go.

Not a while.

All right.

Okay.

I'm so excited.

Who is your craziest relative?

Oh, my Uncle John, he's always very eccentric at Christmas.

That's how I love it.

What would your perfect Saturday be like?

Oh, reading on the couch with my cat and candles lit everywhere.

Cats name.

Ivy.

All right.

Love it.

I say this every time I grab a random card, and I love when the questions align so well with a guest.

What's the best meal you've ever made?

Oh.

You know what?

My first instinct goes to my mom's house.

Potato recipe.

It's a very simple scalloped potato with lots of cheese cream.

That's just.

It's foolproof.

You know, anyone can do it.

It's been published in the blade, so.

Oh, my gosh, house potato.

You can find it.

I'm gonna look it up.

What TV sitcom family would you be a member of?

Oh.

Oh, man, that's a good question.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Oh, it's not a sitcom.

Can I go with a different show?

Okay.

This is us.

Have you guys seen it?

Yes.

If not a sitcom.

No, I would love to be part of that family.

It's a good show.

Okay.

What is your number one most favorite?

Or were you considered to be the best thing about Toledo or the region?

Yeah, I would say, honestly, the food, you know, that's kind of the focus of this episode.

And yeah, it's my favorite thing for sure.

Okay.

All right.

Nine words.

Ready.

We can do it together.

Okay.

All right.

I have a. List.

Let's do it.

I pull it out today.

Yep.

Here we go.

We'll play the some music.

Yeah.

Take your time.

Beep beep I have I organize my email.

I have like a inbox zero.

Me too.

It's the.

Best thing.

So I put it in this row.

I put it in this year.

You're my idol now.

I will never achieve inbox zero.

I will never did I want unread, but I know I'll never get to zero.

All right.

I'm ready.

Okay.

Comforting.

Love it.

Familiar.

Growing perfect.

Experimental.

Community oriented.

Is that one?

We'll take.

Two will.

Take.

We'll take two.

Tasty.

Love it.

Love it.

I say cozy yet?

Nope.

Okay.

Cozy.

Friendly.

Friendly.

Is that it?

Finish strong.

One more.

Okay.

You know, can I say better?

Yeah, of course you'll do better.

You'll do.

Better.

Now, do you are, as we mentioned, at the top, we're talking to mad medi.

Couple.

I lost my couple who.

We don't trust on this show.

Just watch.

The blade.

You are our first guest from the Toledo Blade.

So welcome.

Thank you for being here.

And I think you brought us a gift as we did.

Yes, yes.

So I brought you guys a blade mug knife with some, you know, fun things in it.

This is really fun.

A nice ice scraper.

Need that?

Me too.

There you are.

Go ahead.

Yep.

And then some blades.

Sunglasses.

Oh, and a pen.

Some pens.

These are the pen tha my favorite thing is right here.

Isn't this cute?

It's a little magnet.

A little blade magnet.

Looks like we.

Need the customer service.

That's.

Love it.

We'll put them back together.

We'l put it up on our shelves.

Yes.

And then there's, like, a little keychain as well.

Oh, my.

Gosh, it's.

Bottomless.

Can opener Everything with the blade blue.

The signature I. Love it blade here.

The blade.

Food editor.

Thank you so much for joining us.

When we come back, we will wrap up this restaurant week preview edition.

Of the 419.

We'll be right back.

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Introducing the Local Thread, a community news series uniting voices and storytellers from across the region in partnership with La Prensa, the Toledo Free Press, the Sojourner Truth, Toledo Public Schools, and veteran journalist Jerry Anderson.

The Local Thread brings you stories and conversations that connect our community here at weeknights at seven on FM 91, with early access on podcast platforms each morning.

The local thread only on HGTV.

Welcome back into the 419 is a wrap up for Tuesday edition.

This is the day when we talk to, typicall talk to folks in the community that are making an incredible impact.

Our friends and community foundation, love to help us do that.

And there's no question, we had that conversation with a couple of folks, not just Matty from the blade, but certainly P.K., co-owner of Balance Grill, doing incredible work in the community.

Yeah I think we really just scratched the surface of all the things that he's innovated and been involved in, in our community of true, true.

Leader, I know that we say this almost every show.

But it's so true that, like we could do an entire show, with both of our guests, we could, there's so much more to talk about.

So many great things that I know PK is doing and working on, and just diving into the way his brain works.

Like, I would love to spend time with him.

And I know Matt referenc like picking him up and saying, hey, we're trying to solve this issue or whatever.

What are your thoughts on it?

But I would just love t just talk about Toledo with him and just dive in on a different ways that we can think differently about.

What?

I can't think of the word he used, but talking about customer service and, and accessibility and engagement and I just, I there's so much there and.

That's why I'm not here is he followed PK to his car.

That's right.

So we we hope that they're doing okay in the parking lot.

I don't know what's.

That's right.

Restaurant Wee Toledo kicks off next week.

Yes.

March 8th.

Our friends at Destination Toledo are sponsoring the Restaurant Week Toledo passport.

What is.

That?

It's very cool.

You go on to Destination Toledo's website.

They have all of the information that Leadership Toledo does, but they have set up this passport where every time you check in to one of the participating restaurants and they have the list there, you earn points and you enter your entered in to win cash and prizes.

It's a very cool way to another motivation to participate in Restaurant Week.

March 2nd to the eighth.

It's Restaurant Week Toledo.

You can learn more at Restaurant Week toledo.com.

Of course.

Restaurant Week, Supporting Leadership Toledo, presented by Libby, and of course, incredible support from our friends at Destination Toledo as well.

If you missed any part of th show, three opportunities 7 a.m.

on YouTube channel, 3 p.m.

on FM 91 and 6 p.m.

on WGR connects channel 30.4.

Of course, all of our pas episodes are available online.

Just go to w gt.org/the 419 tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Wellness Wednesday.

On this Wednesday we'll have a Wellness Wednesday segment.

And then we have two additional amazing restaurant tours that will be here.

Aaron Aaron from Eminence and Ritz Jam.

More from Maddie and Bella.

Oh, can we get coffee?

I want to know where the name came from.

Yeah.

All things.

We'll find out tomorrow.

We hope you'll join us.

We'll be back tomorrow for a Wellness Wednesday presented by Work Spring.

It's the 419 powered by Wjct, presented by Retro Wealth Management.

The 419, powered by GTD is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.