Hey, I have Windsor -Essex County's very own
Jen, the tailgate takeout. If you follow her
on Instagram, and if not, you should be. Hi Jen,
how you doing? Hi Tracy, I'm good. How are you?
I'm awesome. It's been a year since we've had
you. I didn't realize it was that long. Jen knows
everything. food -related in the Windsor -Essex
County area. She is the go -to person. If you
want to know about any events, about food trucks,
restaurants, you name it, she knows it. I try,
I try. I try to keep up with. But there's always
new ones popping up, which is really cool. I
just, I love our region for that. Now, how do
you find out about these? Do they come to you
now or are you still scrolling? A little bit
of both. You know, sometimes I'm tipped off.
Someone says, oh, this person's opening a restaurant.
Sometimes they reach out to the page. Or, yeah,
just kind of scrolling and seeing what's out
there. I like to kind of keep my ear out for
new things. And there's always things popping
up, it seems lately. Or people are rebranding,
retooling. reinventing themselves and but uh
my waistline hates it no i was gonna say this
is we don't want to look at last year's and how
much weight has gained since the last uh i saw
the last interview no we don't look okay good
it was good it's fine we have our personality
that's okay We like food. We do. We do. And it's
so it's hard to say no to a lot of this. It's
just so good. And our area is full of like super
talented people. And I think people don't realize
how spoiled we are here. Like the restaurants,
the diversity of the restaurants and, you know,
basically whatever you've got a craving for,
you can generally find around here. But yeah,
it's very hard to say no, especially when you
look at some of the stuff coming out. It's just
like beautiful and it looks as good as it tastes.
And yeah. Oh, I hear you. After we're done, I'm
going to Villa 92 in Decumseh. Yep. They have
such great food. Nice small menu. So because
I can never choose. I always ask the waitress,
so what do you suggest? What's your favorite?
Because you can make too many options. Forget
it. Yeah. Yeah. Or or go with a friend. You make
someone order one thing. You order the other.
That's the trick. That's what I like to try to
do is share. Well, at Villa 92, the nice thing
is, it's kind of like Eerie Street Gastropub.
There's a lot of apps and their appetizers are
shareable. So you have more than enough. So we'll
order a ton of apps between me and John. I love
doing that too. It's nice to have those restaurants
where you have a lot of, like a variety of things
that you can kind of pick at and share. But yeah,
I have a hard time choosing. And sometimes, I
mean, just from doing the page and thinking about
it from a perspective of like, What do I want
to photograph? Or what do I want to feature?
And then I actually have a hard time deciding,
what do I actually want? Because I'll eat anything.
I'm not too picky. But you're like me. You tend
to lean towards Mexican food. And the margaritas.
And margaritas. That's where my heart is. I think
anyone that follows the page, I get so many memes
about tacos and also pickles. So that's pretty
funny. Actually, Red Piston just did the little
action figure AI trend that's been going around.
And my accessories were a taco and a pickle.
So yeah, it's just something. And I think we
have a great shmattering. of Mexican style restaurants
of all different like you have like authentic
you know coming out of like Leamington then you've
got like Grand Cantina that's more like funky
inventive and then like El Patron again very
authentic and like just just a really cool atmosphere
they're always changing up their drinks and it's
just always a good Mexican food Mexican culture
it's just always a good vibe to me so I kind
of lean towards that. But I was thinking of you
last night and I was at Erie Street Gastropub
and they had an Harvest Apple Margarita. I saw
your picture. Oh my goodness. And there was cinnamon
stick in it and cinnamon and sugar lining the
rim. It was like apple juice heaven and I probably
could have drank it all night long. I know. I'm
sad I missed that one because I love Erie Street
Gastropub. Just went there for a Christmas event
a few months back. But always again, very cool,
very different, great cocktail menu. I just like
the vibe of a place and that's been the really
great thing about doing what I do is meeting
the people behind it understanding their passion
behind it and seeing that come through in the
food and drink menu and just how fun it is like
I said we walk into like El Patron you walk into
Grand Cantina it's just fun yeah it's just great
and it's a you know it's very welcoming and you
just want to be a part of that vibe you know
And that's the thing with Villa 92 Eatery and
also Erie Street Gastropub is their Asian fusion.
Erie Street, I know they are from the Toronto
area and came down and they're bringing some
of the knowledge of the Toronto food industry.
And Ville 92, they are from Windsor, but she
likes the Toronto vibe. So they're going that
way as well. So it's really nice to have like
normal foods, like normal English foods, as well
as the Asian little flair to it. And that's my
second favorite kind of food. It's hard for me
to, you know, I always, like I said, we lean
towards tacos, Mexican food, but like, I'll...
generally try anything. You know I go on these
runs of like I'm on a sushi kick so I'll be ordering
from like Kona or Funky Chow like every other
day. You know like you kind of go on runs or
you get in and moods for certain things. Obviously
like we have a great Italian community here.
My stepdad is Italian so I always kind of lean
towards that and a little bit snobby I think
with some of that. So I mean you'll see that
a lot come through on my page. Like I definitely
have like the cuisines I lean towards. but I
am open to try anything once. I don't think there's
anything I've ever really said no to unless it's
like just way out of my comfort zone, but I have
not run into that yet in like, it just was four
years, four years of actual tailgate takeout.
That's what I was gonna ask you for the people
that have not or haven't watched the first episode.
What is the background of Tailgate Takeout? Yeah,
so I've had the page itself for about eight or
nine years, I want to say. Prior to that, it
was called Jen the Star Wars nerd, huge Star
Wars nerd. I was also on the radio. That's kind
of where I started. And we were doing the Monday
Morning Munchies segment that would come in and
do kind of nerd segments as well with the Morning
Showboys on 89X. when the pandemic hit. And we
were kind of filming some videos. We were still
trying to do like the junk food thing and filming
videos separate. And then I said, hey guys, you
know, like let's. get out to some of the restaurants
that are really suffering right now, because
we had done a few where we had gone into different
restaurants. We went to Salty Dog, Garfield's
out in the county. And I said, well, let's do
more, but let's do it outside. Let's all park
in a circle, semi -circle and open up our tailgates
and let's all eat together in the tailgate. So
we're all safely distanced and we're still supporting
like local food versus just like junk food, grocery
store stuff. And they were like, you know what?
No, we're gonna hold off. And then 89X became
a country station. Things kind of evolved from
there, and I said, you know what? I still want
to do this. It's something like I feel very passionate
about. I had known a few of the restaurant owners
and, you know, food business owners. Obviously,
again, if people know my page, they know like
Robbie's Gourmet Sausage. That's the big brother
from another mother. Yes, the big brother I never
wanted this joke about. But, you know, he's fantastic.
Going to the cheese bar all the time. All these
little places. And I used to just post about
it. And I was like, well, no, this needs to be
the focus of my page. So I shifted to these tailgate
takeout episodes right at the beginning of the
pandemic. And I actually, I had a surprise COVID
baby. And I, yeah, well, you know, lockdown was
boring. Had to do something. So. I actually,
the first video is like she was less than a month
old and she's just off camera. My husband's taking
her for a little stroller walk and I was doing
these videos with like a newborn baby. But it
was something I really was passionate about,
and I saw and knew so many of the restaurant
owners that were struggling. And I thought, hey,
if I have a platform and I can spread the word
at all, this is something I feel called to do.
It was just something that felt like a natural
progression of what I was already doing. So yeah,
it evolved from there. Well, it's so much fun.
It's so much fun to to find all these different
places and that's where I mean people can talk
about Toronto and they can talk about Detroit
and Chicago and New York and that but we're just
a small little area, this small little area of
Ontario, Essex County all included and we have
such a wide variety like you said of foods of
different flavors of foods but we really pack
in the restaurants and the cafes, the cafes that
make the lunches and everything and it's hard
to say no because they're all good. They are.
Really the first year was me literally driving
everywhere across Essex County and like I don't
even want to think about how much money I spent,
how much gas I burned, going to all these places,
setting up in parking lots because again the
restaurants were closed. So really just exploring,
I had known a lot just because I enjoyed prior
to doing the page, I had enjoyed trying new restaurants,
but really going out there and seeing, you know,
the different places I hadn't tried, bringing
attention to them. Definitely, definitely went
broke and put on weight in the first couple of
years. Oh, well, and we're happy. Yeah. But then
things changed as, you know, the pandemic wound
down people started going back into restaurants
and a lot of them started just inviting me in
and they wanted to show off you know some of
them had redone their their dining rooms or they
had kind of unique things look better plated
right you know i was eating out of takeout containers
but you know they used to this beautiful plating
of of a meal so the page has kind of shifted
more to that like traditional food blogger which
you see a lot of everywhere in every city. There's
always tons of us, right? I miss doing the tailgate
part of it because it was something unique and
it was fun and I could just kind of do it on
my own time. But at the same time, it's... a
better representation of the restaurants to kind
of to be there, right? Well, you can just change
it up a bit. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't have to
be out of the back of your car now. It could
be a patio. Yeah. Yeah, we were doing that was
the first kind of transition back to the restaurants
was the first summer where everything kind of
opened up. It was patio pit stops. And yeah,
so we're I'm kind of in the process right now
of of rethinking because someone said to me like,
why is it called? tailgate takeout and I'm like,
yes, if you're new, you do not realize kind of
where this came from and it doesn't really make
sense anymore. So rebranding is. in the works.
That's hard, obviously. Honestly, this is the
year of transition. I know so many people that
want to branch out into different things or rebrand
themselves, and me included, but that's awesome.
Yeah, it's a lot to consider, right? Because
people... It's funny, someone's like, are you
Mrs. Tailgate? Yes, I am. My first name is Tailgate.
Yeah. But that's what people know you as, you
know, like same with YQG and Bloom. I know you
have a similar story of just starting this in
the pandemic and starting from like gardening
and plants. And so it's like, OK, what is what
does this represent? I think for you, yours,
obviously, you know, Windsor is blooming. Exactly.
So it's still it still works. But for me, I'm
going when people are sharing a question or there's
actually a new restaurant. went out in Essex
called Tailgaters. Yeah, which I haven't tried,
which you would think. I need to get there, actually.
But I keep getting resumes for people applying
for jobs, or like, hey, are you open today? And
I'm like, oh, okay. No, I'm not a restaurant.
So yeah, I think it's probably time, but. Slowly
but surely. Again, doing this, this is not my
full -time gig, and I have two kids at home,
so trying to balance all the regular work and
the side projects and tailgate and the kiddos
is a lot. She has about 50 jobs, I swear to goodness.
I tried to cut back and then I think I just have
more now. I'm thinking so because you also write
for the Food and Wine for The Drive magazine.
The Drive magazine I write for. They'll be coming
out with a special edition Food and Wine. magazine
so that's kind of my little baby right now in
the coming weeks but yeah I've been with The
Drive I want to say about seven years took a
little break just because I need to you know
be a mom and you know work the full -time job
but coming back to that because it's really something
I'm passionate about that's my actual job what
I actually went to school for is to be a writer
And you're good at it. Well, thank you. So, yeah,
that's one little side project. I write the visitor
guide for Tourism Windsor -Essex. I've done that
the last four years. This page has brought me
a lot of amazing opportunities, and so I've been
able to kind of marry the passion project with...
you know the the actual skill so um that's been
really lovely and uh managing a little bit a
few social media accounts for different uh you
know restaurants that kind of you know people
in the industry but it becomes a lot i didn't
know you did that either jeepers my god how do
you do you sleep no i do not i stop sleeping
here eat and drink coffee. Yes that's so much
caffeine but yeah it's it's a lot but it's when
you love it like I just I don't know how to not
because you want to just keep going because it's
great and you meet the most lovely people. It's
true I'm in the same way because I kind of went
through a little bit of a funk this year and
then I'm like don't know and people were going
you can't stop this and I just I've still been
doing it but finding other things and rebranding
and the passion of it and just every week I'm
going out at least once or twice to meet people
because I always meet them first and this town
is just all about being supportive. It is and
I think we're so lucky and you think of things
I think of during the pandemic or you know afterwards
where people they needed you know their freezer
broke at a restaurant then you've got like five
other restaurants going you can store stuff here
you can borrow mine or like one of the breweries
one of their you know systems broke and so they
were able to go to one of the other breweries
to help them out like people don't realize how
interconnected everyone is and how supportive
like people that are in the same industry and
the same type of cuisine and they're not competing.
No they're helping. They're supporting each other
which is again it's yeah it's why you do what
you do it's you love it. Fog and craftheads are
blending together moving next door to Windsor
Eats. That's going to be awesome. That's going
to be an amazing corner. I think people are very
adaptable and you have to be and even in the
current climate where like the world just seems
like There are days where you're like, okay,
is this it? But people are adaptable. They're
supportive. They think of like new ways to stay
alive and to keep going. And it's so beautiful
to see that. It really is. And so for me, it
just makes me want to keep doing what I'm doing
because I want to share these stories. And that's
a lot with like working for the drive is like,
you know. Here's some some ideas like you didn't
know that this chef Overcame cancer and used
to have a music career and this and this and
this like all these stories I think really need
to be told I think people would be surprised
like the the incredible people or how they relate
to You know your own personal stories and I think
that's a big part of the page as well as like
connecting people And now I know you have an
event that's coming up. This is year two four
or three, wow. You're two in the same spot. Okay.
Yeah, you're three or. The first year was like,
I don't know what to expect, but we're going
to just do this. So yeah, we're doing the charity
cornhole tournament again this year. This was
something I came up with a few years ago where
I had people message the page and they said like,
oh, like I want to come out and eat with you
or where are you going? Or like, you know, you
should go out with people. And I'm like, yeah,
this is cool. But like, how can we bring that
together and, you know, make it? kind of a party,
something that matched the tailgate theme. And
I said, what do people do when you tailgate?
You know, you eat food and you play cornhole.
Yeah. So I was like, OK, I want to do a cornhole
tournament. How do I do that? I don't think I've
ever played sober. Right. You just in the backyard.
You know at a barbecue or something. So I actually
met an amazing person Jason Charette from Windsor
cornhole That's why I was just gonna say we have
somebody in Windsor that makes cornholes. We
do everything here There's a couple like and
there are a few leagues. I didn't realize it
was as big as it was So I met Jason. I don't
know if I would have been able to run the event
without him You know, he does everything like
it's a computerized system. You check in with
an app and you know what board you're supposed
to be at. It's incredible, so he was really like.
the savior of, I'm like, I don't know how I'm
going to do this. And then I happened to meet
him. And then it kind of just grew from there.
So the first year we raised about $2 ,500 for
the Welcome Center Shelter for Women. And then
year two, I thought, OK, I want to go big. It
was out in the county the first year. The second
year, I thought, I want to bring it into Windsor.
So it's kind of walkable for people that live
close. And I've worked with Walkerville Brewery
just through my page for many years. And they're
a fantastic team. I love what they do with the
night market. So I said, can we do this here?
Can we do this here? And I've also worked with
the Canadian Mental Health Association as a sole
focus ambassador the last few years. And I thought,
OK, this is a cause that really aligns to. you
know things I want to support and promote people
you know sharing their their struggles with mental
health so partnered up with them, partnered up
with Walkerville, brought in Jason from Windsor
Cornhole and last year we more than doubled what
we raised the first year and we had over 52 teams
which is like 104 people plus and then plus everyone
who I know you guys stopped by oh my god Now,
if you're in the Windsor -Essex County area,
you have to go to this because there was food
trucks, there was alcohol with the with the Waterville
Brewery. And then there was you go out of it
and it was like a little market as well. There
was a few different things going on. There was
so much going on. It was so much fun. I didn't
even play it. Yeah. Yeah. It was. And that's
a thing I know. Like my parents came and they're
like, we don't want to play. Like, just come
hang out. I might play this year if I can. needed
team. No, so this is actually the really cool
thing this year. people were signing up as teams
the first two years uh and Jason was like you
know what we do these swap tournaments and they've
been really successful um so everyone this year
will sign up as an individual so ticket prices
are lower you're just signing up yourself um
you can still come with your friends hang out
with your friends but you're gonna play with
a stranger you're gonna play with maybe it's
someone you know uh maybe it's a professional
cornhole player because we have a lot of people
that play in leagues that come out i don't even
know last time i've played so this is where you
still have a shot at you know these cash prizes
because you're playing with a variety of different
people with different skill levels you're meeting
new people which is fun but you're still hanging
out with you know all of all of your regular
friends because you're not really hanging out
with people when you're playing you're just you're
on one end and they're way over there on the
other end but it gives you an opportunity to
say like you're playing with someone who plays
in a league every week like well you might make
it through to the end round and maybe you're
gonna win a cash prize so i think that's really
great because a lot of people were like oh man
these professional cornhole players are kicking
my butt now how much does it will it cost to
enter now that it's just one person? So it's
$35. Tickets are on sale through Eventbrite.
The event is actually, I don't think we mentioned
the date, the event is no it's May 24th from
12 to 5 at Walkerville Brewery and yeah $35 per
person so sign yourself up but obviously you
know bring your friends and you might even end
up playing with someone you come with. And then
we've got, I always like to have that food element
obviously because that's what I do, so we have
butchers. on the block this year, which I was
like, oh my God, we're getting butchers on the
block. They're fantastic. Have you not had butchers
on the block? Yes, I've had them. But I thought
they were there last year for some reason. No,
we feel from Black Magic, who was amazing last
year. He made a dill pickle mac and cheese. Oh,
that's who it was. Yeah, that's who it was. Yep,
yep. So. I'm trying to rotate through the different
events. Yes, they're amazing. They're deep -fried
mac and cheese. I was just going to say. Yeah.
So they'll be there. And then Tallulah Cafe,
they are incredible. The F &B Hospitality Group,
I absolutely love them. I love all of their restaurants.
So they own, used to be F &B, but they own Tallulah,
Funky Chow, Grand Cantina, and then the Tiki
Bar. I know the owner kind of Speakeasy Tiki
Bar. They're a fantastic group. They're big supporters
of the Walkerville region. So they're on board
again as a sponsor this year. They're super supportive.
And they'll also have Tallulah's got a new truck.
Like a new trailer. So they're going to have
like all like beverages, snacks, those kind of
like light things. And then a runner. So if anyone
wants to order from Funky Chow, they can take
their order. They can and then have it brought
to them. Yeah, that's cool. Because I know Tallulah
is vegan. Not all of it. They have a lot of vegan
options and actually one word for best vegan
eater. It's not all vegan. But yeah, they've
got great coffees, teas, like ice, you know,
it'll be stuff because it'll be warm out. And
then different pastries, other peanut butter
cookies are like my favorite. But yeah, so we've
got those two lined up, which is great. We've
got another local business. It's called Affinity
Outdoor. They actually make patio furniture from
recycled plastics from the automotive industry.
It is such a cool concept. So it's high end,
beautiful patio furniture. And it's made from
the waste that, you know, the gentleman who started
it, he actually saw that this was a problem.
Like, look how much we're throwing away. Look,
it's, you know, it's bad for the environment.
So taking these plastics and repurposing them
into like high -end beautiful patio furniture.
So he'll have his stuff set up. So there's kind
of, you know, I think last year you saw there's
like the chill zone and there's some umbrellas,
some patio stuff, and he's actually giving away.
One of our giveaways is a patio set, two Adirondack
chairs and a table. So we've got a 50 -50 draw.
We've got some other giveaways from local businesses.
I love Nuts for Dates. Right away, we're like,
what do you need? We want to support this. So
we've got some great raffle prizes as well from
other local businesses. And I'm excited. I want
to go bigger. And I want to - It sounds it. Yeah,
I want to beat what I did last year. So again,
I think I have like the A - Like I think everyone
is just like doing an amazing job of promoting
this. The CMHA is wonderful to work with. I'm
thinking we need a little life feed going on.
I think we should. I think we should. It's getting
this cornhole action. It gets kind of crazy.
I had a blast. I mean I wish I could have gone
there longer but it was near the end of the day
and it was it was hot and it was fun. I tried
to do it like so it's May 24th which actually
is the weekend after the long weekend because
everyone says May 24th. weekend but I know that
a lot of people go away that weekend so it's
the weekend after the long weekend it's a Saturday
12 to 5 and yeah you might not be there the whole
day because as the elimination rounds happen
you know then it goes down to like the final
final two but yeah I think it's just a fun time
even if you're not playing and that that's kind
of the vibe I want to watch yeah yeah it's pretty
intense I know they get so serious watching their
faces and it's like It's fun, it's really fun.
I don't think anybody would want to play with
me because I wouldn't even get a halfway because
it's quite a distance. Yeah, the professional
distance between them was I was like, oh no,
I'm not playing. No, but it's fun and I think
a lot of people were surprised actually how well
they did too. They were like, oh wow, this is
great. And it opened up people into the potential
of playing in a league. introducing that sport
and growing the sport locally too, which is nice
to see. Like I said, I've loved working with
Windsor Cornhole and I think I've just found
the right... group of people to continue to grow
this. Well, that's awesome. Yeah. And I know
you do some spots with AM 800 with Dan and Dan
McDonald from the Dan McDonald show. And you
guys talk and Kyle. Yeah. And that's all food
related. Yeah, that's been really fun as well.
So yeah, I've been on with Dan. Dan, which is
I think about it is like over 20 years now from
when I when I started at the radio station. and
Kyle almost just as long. So, you know, always
pop on Dan's show. We announced the Cornhole
Tournament on Dan's show and I've been doing
some videos with Kyle Horner too. He has his,
the segment Monday morning, or sorry, Saturday.
Yeah. Saturday mornings. So we've gone on and
done a few videos together and it's been fun
kind of, you know, bringing him along and I think
he's a little bit of a picky eater actually.
So I'm like, no, you're going to eat this. But
yeah, it's been really fun. hoping to do a little
bit more of that into the summer as well. We've
got a few things coming up. So always good to
kind of keep my, I like to dip my toes back into
radio and stay connected with the people that
like, the people at Amy 100 have been my friends.
Like I said, it's been like 20 years and I'd
love that I still get to work with them. It's
nice to turn on the radio and it's like, Oh,
I know her. It's been really cool to be able
to do that. So that's something, it's just another
little fun side quest. Yeah, I enjoyed the segments
that you did with Kyle. It was funny. I mean,
I'm sorry, he's a sloppy eater. That was awesome.
He tried, he tried. There's so many napkins.
The burgers. When you guys did the burgers and
it was just all over the place. I said I need
tailgate bibs because... I've ruined so many
white shirts. Yeah. I always said to him about
my son, you're not allowed to wear a white and
his fiance buys him a white hoodie and I'm like
five minutes, boom, something on it. Yeah, I've
learned my lesson over the years. So dark clothes,
dark clothes. But yeah, it's it's just again,
it's one of those little like side quest fun
things that I get to do. And I get to, you know,
bring in the people that I love to work with
and and do cool shit. You know? Yeah, I like
that. Okay, we are back and When I was at Eerie
Street Gastropub last night, I had to bring some
of their alcohol infused ice cream. Oh, man I'm
sorry. I skipped ahead. Oh, don't worry about
it Oh, it's I have to look here. It is the London
Fog Rum Chata. Oh my gosh and I had some of this
last night, and it's just so good. So I apologize,
but we're gonna be eating while we talk, because
you have to hit Erie Street Gastro Pub for their
infused ice cream. And they do have the non -alcoholic
as well, so. Mm -hmm, mm -hmm. But I mean, this
is pretty good. Just at 12%. I've never been
bombed off of ice cream before. But there's a
first time for everything. Yeah, I've been meaning
to try this. Frozen Fusion is kind of like the
brand of this. Again, Erie Street Gastropub,
they're fantastic. Their food's great. I love
their poutine. It's like a very different, like
the flavor, it's got that Asian fusion vibe to
it. Last night, he had the sticky pork belly.
This is so good. I know, it's like you get pulled
over. How much have you had tonight? Oh, just
a margarita and about five scoops of ice cream.
Nothing. Not lying. No, this is fantastic. This
is like, I hate when I try things and I'm like,
why did it take me so long to try them? But again,
it's so hard to. to get out to all these places
all the time. But yeah, love the team there.
This is amazing. They've also got a coffee shop
right around the attached, the refined roast.
They're lovely, lovely people. And oh, I will
definitely be back here in the summer. I love
Ramchada and I love London Fog. And so this is
like the ice cream baby I never knew I needed.
I know. This is great. Yeah, I do. I mean, the
number one rule of like TV and don't eat on camera.
I'm sorry. Literally, I built a career. of it
so you have to so I'm gonna go have to buy more
of this this is when like the job becomes a problem
but this is where the job was a nice job because
Graham was lovely enough I asked him to buy that
to bring here today and he's like no he says
you guys try it out the the generosity and the
kindness of so many of these restaurant owners
and just It's lovely to meet people that you
otherwise wouldn't have met. And like I said,
you hear their stories, you see why they're passionate
about what they're doing. It's been really fantastic.
And yeah, a lot of like really cool friendships
have formed from me doing what I do and we joked
about before was Robbie. Everyone, they're like,
is that your husband? I'm like, God, no, no.
And we're talking from Robbie Sausage. Yeah,
Robbie's Gourmet Sausage, formerly in Walkerville.
He's out of Little Foot Foods now. Another beautiful
pairing. Yes, yes. Fantastic. And actually, yeah,
he's collaborated with them quite a bit on a
lot of They're like pro -gees, which has been
neat. I've collaborated with him. I want to say
our first sausage came out eight years ago, was
the JB Strong chicken gyro. I had gone through
an illness and I was going through a really strict
diet and I was... not eating pork. And we loved
Robbie's, we loved going there. It was a cool
business. And I said, you don't really make a
lot of chicken sausage. Like, have you thought
about this? I had never even thought of chicken
sausage. Yeah, but I was like, there's gotta
be an alternative. I'm not like a big pork fan.
And I said, have you thought of like chicken
giro or like some kind of like street foodie,
like we're, you know, making food that tastes
like other food. And he's like, no, you know,
let me get back to you. And I kind of thought,
oh, like he's just being nice. And then I get
a message like two days later saying, JB Strong,
chicken giro coming next week. And I was like,
what? So he made the sausage. It was amazing.
He named it after me, which was really funny
because that's my personal Instagram handle was
JBStrong and he thought that was very funny for
some reason. So we have, I want to say it's close
to 10, maybe about eight sausages now. under
that line that we've kind of um developed because
i didn't know this yeah yeah so uh chicken gyro
was the first we also did the chicken shawarma
um i love the street food like handheld i love
sandwiches um huge pickle fan obviously so we
did the jb strong no big dill which is like bacon
cheese and it's loaded with dill pickle so that's
the big Oh I need to go over there. Yeah and
so and their number one like seller has been
the the JB Strong Philly cheesesteak. So Philly
cheesesteak sausage so he rotates through all
of these. We've had a bunch uh we've had like
a taco uh the taco supreme one that literally
tastes like I don't know how he got the corn
tortilla flavor in it like but it tastes like
you're eating like a Taco Bell taco. It's so
good. I actually brought some for Kyle to try
because I'm like, you have to try this. So yeah.
I have a blueberry one that he did. Drunken blueberry
is so good. And he said to pair it with the farmer's
cheese proggy from Wellfoot food. And it's so
good together. He's just an incredible chef in
general. Like I always, I always bug him. Like
when are you going to open a restaurant? When
are you going to do this? Because I think he's
so, so talented and his flavor profiles and how
smart and again, a self -taught person, um, he
was in landscaping and then was just had a chorizo
sausage in Mexico, changed his life. And he became
obsessed with this. And, and then we just kind
of became besties. And it's this really weird
relationship where we, you know, yell at each
other and, and work things out and try to find
cool ways to. to do new sausages. And so we've
got one new one in the works that we're trying
to figure out. And I think as he's grown and
learned how to... mimic the flavors of things
and work with things that he's finally ready
to launch, this one that I've been pushing probably
since the beginning. Do you know when about that's
gonna come? I'm not even gonna ask what it is,
it's gotta be a surprise. It's gonna be a surprise,
but it's another sandwich -y, street food -y
kind of vibe that I always lean towards. But
it will be hopefully in the next month or so,
we're working on potentially an event together,
more just kind of ironing out the details, but
a type of like a pairing. events, so pairing
the sausages and having Robbie kind of explain
the flavor profiles and how he came up with them.
So I'm super excited for that. He's run sausage
making classes and I think this could be like
kind of the next evolution of what he's doing
because again I just think he's so super talented.
He is and I know I've gone to Little Foot Foods
to get pierogies and that and that's when I found
out Robbie was there. And that they serve a lunch.
His burgers, oh my goodness. I have to stay away
from there. I haven't been in a while because
I know I'd be addicted. And then the poutine.
You have to upside to the poutine. Yeah, that's
what got Kyle. I did a video at Little Foot.
Kyle was like, I need this poutine every day
in my life. It's true. Yeah. And then, yeah,
so Robbie's incorporated some of his sauces into
that menu. And he, again, has worked really well
with them. The burgers have the zoob sauce, which
I keep pushing him, like, you gotta sell some
of these. You're just, what you're doing is amazing.
So yeah, it's, it's been a really cool, like,
again, it's one of those stories where I get
to watch him grow and it's become this weird
little friendship that like - Is the perfect
friendship. Yeah, yeah. Perfect combination of
tastes. Yeah. So I'm constantly like, that's
too spicy. What are you doing here? And he's
like, this is why I'm doing this. And it's a
fun little thing. And so I think that I'm like,
how come we haven't actually done like really
an event together? He was the food vendor for
my first cornhole tournament. But other than
that, I'm like, we haven't done enough together.
So I think this will be really fun. So details
to come in the coming weeks. So you'll see it
on my page and on Robbie's page. And I hope to.
and get a good crowd out for that. My day job
is an event manager, an event planner. It's right
up your alley. I'm trying to, again, with the
writing, I'm trying to merge those two loves
and get some more food -related events coming
on in the city in the next year or so. I like
the experience of going out, not just like, yeah,
you go and have a meal and it's good, but the
experience of like, This pairs with this or you
hear like why the chef, you know made this go
with potatoes instead of rice. It kind of adds
to the experience of going out. You're not just
sitting around and shoveling down a meal and
leaving. You're kind of having this whole experience
and it's opening and kind of broadening your
horizons to new things. And I hope it inspires
people when they go out. I know my son is 13.
He's been my little foodie buddy through a lot
of this. And he actually is like... maybe I wanna
learn how to cook. And so that's kind of what
I'm like introducing people to like maybe a new
passion or even just like cooking at home and
that's. It's kind of the point of all of this
is just inspire people right to do to do fun
things and to learn new things well I never would
have met Adriana or Windsor Eats without you
and In the summertime we were there at least
once a week at least and it's just a fun place
even in the wintertime food's amazing, food trucks
and great events. Yeah that's I love people that
like just keep working for this city because
I think where we're like our own worst critics
a lot of the times and growing up it was like
there's nothing to do in Windsor and okay Betcha
have you looked and that's again with with this
page is showing people like there's so much out
there and there are these passionate people that
you know, keep going and keep thinking of like
cool new things to bring to our city or concepts
or ideas. It's just, it's very cool to be a little
itty bitty part of that. No, I think you're a
big part of the food industry. In Windsor -Essex
County you are. If people followed you they would
see all the lovely places that you've been to
and Get to visualize the food. Yeah, that's a
thing too, is kind of showing people like, this
is what it looks like inside. Here's what, you
know, here's what I suggest to order. And then,
you know, yeah, it breaks down some of those
initial barriers of people going like, oh, what
if I don't like something? Okay, well, you know,
you got a little taste of it by just seeing some
of the pictures. Yeah. Oh, it looks really fancy
outside. And you realize when you go in there,
it's nice and it's warm, like Erie Street Gastropub.
It looks like it should be a really fancy dress
up place, even when you go inside. But it really
isn't. It's just a really warm, welcoming, inviting,
like casual, like they sell poutine. Maybe you
wouldn't know that if you didn't, you know, see
them on social media. But yeah, it was a nice.
Oh, God. ice cream yeah I'm gonna need I'm gonna
need more of this so is there anything else that
you're going to be doing oh my goodness there
actually is that's that's the sad part yeah definitely
like I said working on a few more like events
kind of in the background I was like towards
Halloween, you know, working with the team at
ScareHouse on things. So hopefully continue to
do that. Yeah, a few little things that are already
kind of cooking. You were the one that put together
that dinner that we did. Yeah, that was me. ScareHouse.
Oh, so much fun. Yeah, that was amazing. I love
horror movies. I love scary stuff. I love Halloween.
And that was like, these are my favorite things
all together. And then we all, yeah, I think
you almost took down Kyle. Well, it wasn't ripped,
but it was pulled. There was a huge pull and
I'm sorry, I had my light on the whole time and
Ben's behind me and I'm screaming blue bloody
murder. But the food was great. It was. That
was the black and white dinner that we did. It
was weird to try and eat food that you couldn't
see what it is. And you couldn't, like, I couldn't
figure out the carrots. No, I thought they were
parsnips. And then I taste them and I'm like,
no, that's not parsnips. I thought it was a sweet
potato. Yeah. And then I'm like, Because the
flavoring yes Every once in a while I had to
put my camera in my hand so you could see. It
was the only way. I didn't know what the dessert
was. I thought it was strawberry, it was cherry.
So one of the rooms is like eating in a black
and white movie. They have different themes we
did. The one year was like a fortune teller theme
one. They've got like a cabin in the woods murder
kind of one that's really fun as well. So yeah,
that's something again, these cool experiences
that people are building out that I just want
to continue to highlight. um again finding cool
people to do cool shit with oh that's awesome
i can't wait to see the rebranded tailgate takeout
i'm nervous that's gonna be fun but i think it'll
match more of of like what i'm doing so yeah
it's always scary when you do that i hope i can
still always be mrs tailgate and you know you
will yeah You will well, thank you so much. I
appreciate you coming on again and giving us
I appreciate the ice cream Thank you graham.
Yeah Oh, that's great. And i'm going to have
all the information up on the podcast as well
as social media About the cornhole tournament
that is coming may 24th 2025 at 12 from 12 to
5 pm at walkerville brewery put on by her and
a lot of lovely people. If you wanna try your
hand at cornhole, go for it, go enter. And if
not, just come and have fun, have some food,
have some alcohol, and just enjoy the day. And
again, my name is Tracy, this is YQGM Bloom,
and you guys all have a wonderful day.