-Are we going uptown?
-Are you a backseat driver?
-I'm such a backseat driver.
-Yeah, I can tell.
-The worst part is that
I don't know how to drive.
Should we be taking the highway?
My name is Jonah Reider.
I'm a cook and a food writer
for Food & Wine Magazine,
and I also host a supper club
called Pith at my home here.
I started Pith
out of my dorm room,
and it just became
super popular.
Every night that I host Pith,
six people who have
bought tickets on my website
will come over to this space
and have a really relaxed
but hopefully elegant
and delicious meal.
I mean, last night
was a situation.
My partner, Sarah,
dropped her phone somewhere.
-It's probably, like,
down there.
-I'll fish around.
Want to sit between us?
-No.
-We're hoping that Colin, the
driver, is finding it right now.
Hoo-hoo-hoo!
Look at this.
When you lose your phone and
then you find it the next day,
is there a sweeter feeling?
-Oh, my phone.
-[ Laughs ]
I wish that more people
saw the joy in home cooking.
You know, you don't need to be
an amazing chef.
You just need to want
to open your space up,
want to play around with food,
and be able to serve it
with a sense of relaxation
and enjoy playing with it.
My ideal night is not going out
to tons of restaurants.
Last night, we really just went
to other people's houses.
First up, we're gonna stop
at my friend Ali's.
She invited me
to her family dinner.
Then we're stopping by
my friend Ian's house.
He sells some of the most
magnificent ingredients
to the best chefs
around New York.
And, lastly, we're heading
to my friend Matt's house.
He cooks the best fried chicken
sandwich in the world.
But first, Sarah and I had
a set of appetizers at our home.
Butter, garlic, and stuff
are so delicious,
but they're quite heavy,
actually, flavors.
So when I'm starting
a Pith meal,
I usually like to start
with much lighter,
more acidic, cooler dishes,
so tonight I'm serving
a few dishes of raw fish.
This is a piece of tuna.
I'm gonna serve it
with tomato paste and chili
and olive oil,
and then I'm just gonna grind
all this stuff together.
We'll get a really delicious,
sweet, salty,
spicy, fatty mixture
that I'm gonna layer
under and over the tuna,
which will give it
a really nice sheen
and also kind of
help marinate it
and add a little bit
of these flavors.
Little lime zest on the tuna.
I really think raw seafood
is amazing
with just olive oil,
citrus, and salt.
I mean, there's nothing better.
♪♪
I made sourdough bread,
this tuna with chili and tomato,
scallops with lemon
and olive oil,
and fluke with chilies
and olive oil.
For us, I feel like
eating and cooking
has become so central
to this space.
And we wanted our home to be
a space for people to come,
like, interact.
[ Glasses clink ]
Alright.
Let's get out of here.
So I've never been
to Ali's house before,
and I'm really excited.
She hosts an amazing podcast
called "Health Is Hell,"
and we did, like, an ASMR eating
of a baguette,
you know,
all the crispy sounds and shit.
She makes a lot of
really interesting content.
[ Rustling ]
-Ha!
-And she loves food.
-Hi.
-Hello.
-Come on in.
-Hi.
-Hi, Ali.
-Oh, my God.
-Ali's not a chef, but her
family, my Lord, they kill it.
Her mom was holding down
the fricking pasta.
-Alright.
So we're getting there.
-Those are looking toasty.
And, geez, it smells so good.
-Yeah. We're going to add
pretty good amount of wine.
-Oh, yeah.
Nice.
-And we're gonna add
some clam broth.
I read cookbooks
kind of like novels.
I don't actually
cook out of them.
I use them for inspiration.
-Me too. Totally.
Grandma was there vaping.
-3-D. Yes. Yes.
-Are you getting her high?
-No, I gave her the CBD,
not the weed.
-You remember
what happened last time.
-I gave her a 15-milligram
edible, that's why.
-She got me so stoned
on an edible.
I was crawling on the floor.
-Wow.
-Did y--
-Literally.
Literally.
I couldn't --
-Mom.
-What?
-Do me a favor.
Take that salad to the table.
This is the most important part.
Lots and lots
and lots of parsley.
-We got to have a round
of applause for the chef.
[ Applause ]
-Yeah!
-We had linguine with white wine
sauce and tons of little clams.
I love that we just had
this bowl of artichokes
passing around the table.
They were sitting in
kind of a minty broth.
It was great.
-Cheers.
-Thanks, Mom.
♪♪
-Your mom is really
a pasta queen.
Like, I was shocked.
She really knows what's up.
-She was born an Italian woman
in her soul
and just, like,
ended up a Jew, you know?
-'Cause everything
she did was classic.
-Yeah.
-Ian has really kindly invited
us over to his apartment.
He lives with two
truffle-hunting dogs, I believe.
-[ Gasps ]
-Hi.
-Oh.
Dude, what a sweet spot.
[ Dog barking ]
Maple is a truffle hunter,
and this one?
-This is a toy poodle
purely for comfort.
-Just for visual effect.
-Exactly.
-I met Ian a few years ago
when my cooking
was becoming very popular.
He took me out for a day
on his truck,
delivering truffles
to restaurants.
Basically, Ian slings some of
the best shit in New York City.
He's selling most
of the nicest restaurants
their truffles, caviar,
mushrooms, langoustine.
-I'm making eggs and biscuits
just for you.
-Hardcore.
-Oh, I love a biscuit.
-Caviar truffle.
-Okay, nice.
-Southern, right?
-Yeah.
I'm from Arkansas.
I guess --
-Nice. Did you grow up
eating eggs and biscuits?
-I did.
-Oh, my God.
-Yeah.
This is about $800.
It's a white winter truffle.
-Wow.
And so where is this from?
-This is from Montepulciano.
-Dude, it's amazing.
Where's Ali? Ali, you care
for a glass of wine?
-Wine?
Absolutely.
-He really had me working,
grating the butter.
He made these perfectly craggly,
buttery biscuits
and fluffy scrambled eggs.
-Dude, you're getting egg
everywhere.
-Look, I feel like
part of home cooking
is cleaning the fuck
out of your stove.
-Look at that huge spill.
-That was a minor spill.
-The truffle.
Oops, now the napkin's on fire.
-Don't let me catch this --
-Oh, God.
-What? We just caught
a little bit of fire.
-Till they catch on fire.
-Small fire.
Look, I've burned down
people's kitchens
so much worse than this.
Let me tell you.
-I could use some more wine.
Maybe we should --
-That's what I'm saying.
-We should open
another bottle up.
-We need to open
the other bottle.
-I also have bourbon
if anyone wants.
-I cannot say no.
Ali, you holding it down
over here?
-Oh, my God.
That is strong.
-Yeah.
-Very good but very strong.
-It's quite strong, 56% percent.
-[ Blows ]
-Oh.
-Oh, sexy.
-Nice.
They're golden.
-She looks quite flaky.
-Oh, this is like
the breakfast sandwich
to end all breakfast sandwiches.
And then he indulged us
in some caviar and truffles
that he shaved
onto the sandwich.
-How is that?
-Please share.
-Mmm.
Everything is really quite --
-Harmonious?
-Yeah.
Harmonious as fuck.
But the idea that this cat could
just hunt for a truffle --
-It's not a cat.
-The idea that this dog --
-[ Laughs ]
-Then we went down
to the West Village
to my friend Matt FX's house.
Why can't I be trusted
in people's houses?
I love houses.
-Go downstairs.
-Yo, wow.
We should do this every week.
What's this?
-No, no, just eat a little bit.
This is the edible.
Here, you want the rest of this?
I have a second piece.
Don't worry.
-I couldn't possibly.
Don't even try.
-It's all you, babe.
-How strong is this?
-Not very.
The entire thing
was 15 milligrams, so...
-She's gonna fall asleep
in the car.
-No, you won't.
It's gonna take a while.
By the time we get to Matt's,
I'm sure there
will be more alcohol.
-Where's the fried chicken?
I can smell it.
What up, Chef Matt?
-How's it going?
-Thanks for having us by.
-Oh, wow.
I can smell the booze on you.
-This is Sarah.
-We've met before.
-You know Ali.
You know Jack.
Anyway...
-Take off your shoes, guys.
-We'll take off our shoes.
He's a music supervisor
for television.
The dude is a slamming cook.
What is this?
-I'm gonna have him grind that.
That's cumin, fennel seed...
-What?
-...citron peppercorn,
three different types
of chilies,
dried chives,
and roasted peanuts.
-Wow. These are very light
roasted peanuts.
-Can you get to work?
-Yeah. I'm gonna get to work.
Geez.
How many iterations has this
sandwich gone through, though?
-Oh, like at least 12, 13.
I don't know.
I'm constantly changing it,
but I think I'm at the point now
where I'm, like,
extremely happy with it.
-Nice.
I was always happy with it.
-The secret ingredient
is a citron pickle relish.
-Whoa.
I have now had Matt's
fried chicken sandwich
a handful of times,
and every time,
it fucking slaps.
I met Matt through a handful
of my friends who are musicians.
I always was getting
kicked out of places
for cooking my supper clubs,
staying with this person,
getting kicked out, that person,
so I was sleeping
on the love seat
of lovelove studios in Bushwick.
Like, one part of the love seat
is your head pillow.
The other part is kind of
your feet pillow.
But, anyways, I was crashing
there, and Matt was there,
but Matt and I
have really bonded
over a love for food and music.
-Alright, so assembly-wise, it
goes bun, a bit of this relish,
and then one of these pieces
of chicken.
-And then the slaw.
-The spices definitely
wake you up.
-Yeah.
-Is this your main thing
that you make?
-My main thing is just, like,
comfort food in general.
My mother's Chinese. She taught
me when I was really young.
She was like, "Never look at one
recipe, always look at five."
So it's this idea of just, like,
figuring out the idea
of how to make a dish
and then just sort of,
like, freestyling it.
-What's the story of this place?
-Yeah, so it's called
Westbeth Artists Community.
It's technically the largest
artist community in the world.
My dad's had this apartment
for close to 50 years.
-[ Speaks indistinctly ]
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Of course.
-Ali, care for a tequila
and matcha?
-I can't say no.
I can't let you
drink by yourself.
-I can't believe we were
drinking those matcha tequilas.
Do you remember that, Sarah?
And then, from there,
who could say?
-Yes.
-Put on these sunglasses.
Lastly, we came back
to my house.
-Yes.
-Duh.
-You know what's funny?
Speaking about spicy, it's like
a Chinese thing for, like,
if you're really tired to just,
like, bite into a pepper.
Did it once to go
to a deejay event.
And the security was,
like, laughing at us.
-Yeah, but who, like,
brought a Thai chili with them?
-I brought it.
-Just, like, in your pocket,
there was a Thai chili?
-You're the one responsible
for the chili.
-You were the Thai chili plug?
-Yeah, exactly.
-I had a couple of friends
hanging out here.
[ Indistinct talking ]
-Hello, hello.
-Yo.
What's up, guys?
Sorry to keep you all waiting.
My friend Dave
was handling the oven.
Oh, nice. These are looking
really good, actually.
We had a giant bowl
of steaming mussels.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Oh.
That's a little thin.
Put them on the stove.
-Ow, that shit is hot.
-I want to thank
you all for coming.
-Yay.
-Really appreciate it.
-To Jonah.
-If anyone is hungry,
we got some mussels,
some crispy potatoes,
a little harissa yogurt sauce,
and that's that.
Going out to restaurants,
you kind of lose the part
of hanging out at your house,
you have some friends over,
and you're making some food,
and you eat it together.
These things really make
a meal feel special.
That is what's so beautiful
about hosting,
not really what you made.
You know, there's an art
to hosting
and a real joy in hosting.
I'll be hitting some of this.
-I'm gonna grab --
Yo, hey, Dave.
Can you grab the ashtray?
-I can't wait
until our hair is gray.
I was just designed to be old.
-That's probably coming soon
for you.
-What do you mean
it's coming soon for me?
-I'm down to be silver.
What do you mean soon?
What are you talking about?
-With your levels of anxiety,
drinking, and smoking,
it should be next year.
[ Laughter ]
