Saigon, Day Three... and it's all coming together. This episode of Over Seasoned comes to you straight from the incredible Saigon Podcast Studio, where Xavier and Tony unpack their first real deep dive into Vietnam’s food culture — from tiny plastic stools and alleyway pho shops to an ambitious Michelin-star tasting menu that somehow bleeds into a full-blown waxing poetic about herbs.

There’s more pho chronicling, tendon talk, tight-chair survival tactics, and ample Vietnamese coffee praise.

The guys also break down their dinner at Anan Saigon — a modern Vietnamese tasting menu experience blending French influence with local flavors — and compare it to some of the unforgettable tasting menus they’ve had across Thailand and Bogotá. Along the way: foie gras spring rolls, turmeric black cod, pigeon with sticky rice, and an ongoing jealousy toward the French table next to them.

Even though it's the final day... this somehow feels like just the beginning of the Vietnam food tour.

This week, The Over Seasoned Crew dives headfirst into the rise, influence, and eventual backlash surrounding some of the most important restaurants in modern culinary history... from Ferran Adrià’s legendary El Bulli to René Redzepi’s global empire of fermentation and foraging at Noma.

What started as innovation eventually became imitation, and the guys unpack how molecular gastronomy, Nordic cuisine, tasting menu culture, and “Instagram dining” reshaped restaurants around the world (for better and for worse).

Along the way, they debate the death of slate plates (thank goodness), the exhaustion of trend-chasing chefs, the pressures of culinary fame, and why so many restaurants lost the plot trying to become the next big thing (sometimes you just want a classic done... well... classically).

The conversation also gets brutally honest about restaurant culture itself: kitchen hazing, burnout, abusive hierarchies, and the complicated reality behind the romanticism of fine dining. It’s thoughtful, funny, occasionally ruthless (of course), and no doubt grounded in years of firsthand industry experience.

If you’ve ever wondered how we got from white tablecloth classics to edible moss, tweezers, and 27-course tasting menus, this episode connects the dots.

We're tuning in from Saigon after two bowls of pho, one too many iced coffees, and a full-on battle with Vietnam heat and humidity. What starts as a conversation about linen shirts and hotel laundry somehow turns into an unexpectedly deep dive into sardine fasts, shrimp tail psychology, proper s’mores etiquette, and the strange comfort of eating the same thing every day.

Along the way you'll learn about:
-> the best canned sardines they’ve found
-> laundry culture differences between Colombia, the Philippines, and the U.S.
-> growing up between Puerto Rican family parties and academic Spanish dinner tables
-> the science of a proper s’more

-> wine bottle protocol and the pitfalls of potluck dining
-> why enjoying pho on a tiny plastic stool somehow feels like a perfect dining experience

Keep up with our part food podcast, part travel diary (plus a lot of other stuff that will surely keep you entertained).

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Recorded at Saigon Podcast Studio, this OverSeasoned Podcast episode starts in Los Angeles and ends somewhere between jet lag, Vietnamese coffee, and figuring out how many bowls of pho is too many.

It kicks off with a $500 dinner at Capo in Santa Monica (think: porterhouse, grilled calamari, Burgundy by the glass) and turns into a bigger conversation about what actually makes a restaurant worth it.

Not just price, but vibe, service, ingredients, and whether a place makes you feel like you belong or just ran your card.

There’s also a detour into Carbone, the rise of the $30 Caesar salad, and why sometimes you’d rather spend more once than eat mediocre five times.

Then... first impressions of Saigon, coffee culture (Nespresso debates included), what to eat, what to order, and how deep to go on pho without burning out on day two.

This one’s part restaurant philosophy, part travel log, part two guys trying to stay coherent on no sleep.

Welcome to OverSeasoned, on the road.

If we’ve learned one thing from our first day in Saigon… it’s that you don’t ease into Saigon.

You land, you blink, and suddenly you’re eating pho for breakfast, moving amongst the fluid dynamics of motorbikes, and watching someone casually break down a pig’s snout in an alley like it’s just another Tuesday.

This is our first 24 hours in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), recorded straight out of Saigon Podcast Studio: jet lagged, not under-caffeinated (hard to be in this town), and fully thrown into the deep end of Vietnam’s food culture.

We get into:

• The moment pho finally clicks (and why breakfast might be the best time for it)

• Vietnam’s wet markets: where you can buy herbs, headless frogs… or nail clippers

• Why banh mi might be the most perfect sandwich on earth

• The controlled chaos of Saigon’s streets and why it somehow works

• And a completely passionate detour into overcooked wild salmon and love for the broiler

It’s messy and meandering… and it’s exactly what day one in a new city should feel like. Equal parts discovery, confusion, and thrill.

Welcome to Vietnam. We’re figuring it out as we go.

Winter’s fading, grills are coming out of hibernation, and we are officially back in our element. In this episode of the OverSeasoned Podcast, we bounce from snowstorm war stories and restaurant hangover survival tactics to the real topic at hand: gearing up for grilling season.

What starts as a conversation about charcoal vs. gas quickly turns into a deep dive on fire-starting techniques, wood choices, dream grill setups, and why nothing beats the flavor of a properly charred burger over live fire.

We also unpack the art of hosting: what to cook for a dinner party when you don’t know your guests, how to navigate “chicken tender people”, and why a build-your-own meal might be the safest (and most subtly judgmental) move.

This episode will get you scheming your own grilling future.

In this episode of the Over Seasoned podcast, the crew records at Icon Studios in Atlanta and dives into wild food travel stories from Thailand and Mexico. From spice levels that hit way harder than expected, to dispensary-fueled eating sprees, bathroom survival strategies, and what not to order on travel days, this episode is a brutally honest look at the risks of culinary adventure. The guys also go deep on tequila culture in Jalisco, touring distilleries in the town of Tequila, breaking down how tequila is actually made, the difference between tequila and mezcal, blue agave farming, and the controversial additives and lawsuits shaking up the tequila industry. This is the real talk about what happens when curiosity beats common sense.

In this episode of OverSeasoned, the crew dives headfirst into a full-blown pho obsession after discovering unforgettable Vietnamese soup in Manila and Thailand. What starts as travel food fatigue turns into a deep appreciation for Vietnamese cuisine, broth culture, and the subtle differences between Northern pho vs Southern pho.

They debate the Michelin Guide’s impact on restaurants, why Bib Gourmand spots often beat three-star dining, and how global cities like Manila and Montreal can deliver world-class bowls of pho. The episode also explores soup culture across countries, including Colombian classics like caldo de costilla, and how those traditions connect to the love of pho (& soup season writ large)

If you love food travel, Vietnamese food, and Michelin debates… this one’s for you.