The Round Up - Nashville 2 Belfast with Michael King

good evening good evening and welcome along to the Roundup coming up on the show tonight we're talking about the relationship between Belfast and Nashville there's a load of events happening across the city this weekend and to tell us all about them and pleased to say all the way from Nashville is a restaurant her Michael King how are you great to be here Rob thank you so much great to see you obviously you've been in Belfast before yes oh my gosh you know Belfast and Nashville are similar the energy the vibrancy um some of the clubs here have better music than we have in Nashville but it's true I mean the the the um excitement that they get around country music and so we started this about four or five years ago with City sister um in Nashville and they came and and I said you know you're just doing music but what about food what about other avenues that bring people together and so I loaded up our big old iron skillets paid $3,000 extra for the poundage for six Skillets showed up with bacon grease and cream corn biscuits that were unth in my wow that's one thing I must say about when I'm in America the biscuits biscuits but you got to explain so so here biscuits are the you know the cookies that you have with your tea or whatever we have biscuits if you um imagine doing a loaf of bread and and cutting the middle of it yes that's the the type of biscuits and it it has uh butter on top where it's crispy and you open it up and it smokes and the flavor and then you put we have a peach preserves we make I tell people we put Jack Daniels in it but anyway and and gravy gravy so what we did the whole purpose of this was there's more things that we have in common than we have dividing us yes and one of the main focus on this is to bring the cultural exchange so what we do is we bring some of the flavor of Nashville merge it in with Belfast we work with a lot of the chefs around here and they'll feature some of our Nashville on their menu just to kind of get into it and then we have some of the musicians that are playing in some of the the pubs so that you know just people go oh you're from Nashville but the the important part is is to create that unity and try to sit at a table and eat with strangers and leave as friends that's an amazing thing that yeah and that's going to happen this same Friday night at the codon hotel which which is a fabulous venue fabulous Hotel beautiful beautiful and so what is is we decided to do the the Gaya of the Nashville tradition so we have the Tennessee teners who are an entertainment act which is phenomenal uh Jinger Newman uh a sultry onew woman show Jill Andrews a very successful songwriter we have brought them in and then the the Kadin and and Chef Mark has been just brilliant and Michelle who is there I said I want to do family style and of course they're like what and I said just and now they're on board they're excited so we're going to have some of the Irish food mixed in with the skillet Fried Chicken yeah and I I was doing it just the other day at the St George's and people say what Skillet Fried Chicken it's in the South you have big Iron Skillets yeah you put maybe that much oil and you fry your chicken with that much oil and the skin is crispy and it's moist inside so we did that at St George's I think we cooked 90 pieces of chicken because the first time I did it I only had six I thought who the heck wants to watch someone from Nashville cook they're like like my god there was 300 people there I felt like I was separating loaves of bread trying to feed the M this time I came prepared so we're doing the popup all this to say um the cadin is just a wonderful venue to do this and then Saturday and Sunday at St congol which is another fabulous venue as well quite new to us here yes well and there's so much history yeah and and it we could have probably put this popup in the city square or some and make tons of money but that's not the issue we did the St Congos because there's so much history there yeah and there's been a lot of conflict and all and what these people have done to bring the school back and to create the history around it it's the only thing that brings people in so we're doing family style which means that you'll come in we don't take reservations we'll sit you down at the big tables with other people and we bring out platters of food so we're doing country breakfast on Saturday morning from 8:00 to 1 so what's on the menu for breakfast then smoke sausage bacon biscuits country ham pancakes scrambled eggs cheese and grits fried apples hash browns fried chicken and corn pudding coffee juice 12 lb I haven't had the um the Apple the fried apple thing long time love that with cinnamon and butter oh absolutely and so then we're going to do lunch lunch will go 1 to three and that will be uh slice roast Skillet Fried Chicken four vegetables three salads drink and dessert that's going to be 15 lbs wow and then dinner time we add another meat to it and that's uh 20 lb and then we'll do Sund from 11 to and that's 20b as well and people said what I want people to experience it yes right a lot of that money goes to St Congos we gave them a $10,000 scholarship to start their students on music and understanding the connection of because listen our country music comes from Belfast really absolutely the Celtic music the music that was created here helped the Appalachian music because in when they started doing the immigration they came through the Appalachian Mountains so you have a lot of Irish in Appalachian in in Virginia in Tennessee um going down and so that created the bluegrass music which then turned into what you're hearing today so Nashville grany Belfast bring it home to tradition and of course we have a big storytelling tradition here as well and of course that's what country music songs are all about as well the big stories big stories yeah and you know it's it's interesting because Belfast has been uh slowly coming on the Forefront of a lot of these artists yeah it's not with all due respect it's not Dublin no exactly there's there's a history there's a flavor here that artists prefer because there's such like especially when the farmers come in yeah they truly appreciate and it doesn't matter what side you on you can be sitting there when the farmers come in to hear their true country music they're in heaven and that's why a lot of these stars are coming here because there is such a a a Vibe if I can say that of a vibrancy yeah and when I look back even to the '90s when G Brooks came here for the first time it was Belfast he came to he filled the king's hole for something like five nights in a row or something you know yeah cor correct and and what what I hear from our Island and we have some great people like Marissa creger is a great uh producer over there with uh pamis good friend and the people here like the oldest Stars yeah and the people back in our side like the younger ones so what happens is you have these older stars that have developed yes for Piggy on the so these new folks can be on their shoulders right yes exactly and somehow they're lost yeah so when I keep on going back to them and go to some of the older stars and say listen we've got a venue for you it's called Belfast Ireland they're ecstatic because they can be appreciated again and I think if we don't don't take care of the older ones the younger ones are okay but if we don't take care of the older ones what a shame and a disservice we're doing to not only country music but to them as performers tell us about tell what's happening in Nashville at the moment because we've got the 100th anniversary of the grander coming up haven't we so inside scoop we've been working hard um you may see the granal opery here in the next couple of years really yeah um they can't deny their connection to Belfast um I so many Irish artists as well from here have actually played absolutely absolutely and I think that once we can um I think one of the things that benefits the granal OPI from coming here and kind of making its home you know maybe it's a week maybe it's a two week I I don't know what that looks like but what it does is it starts bringing all the people over here you know it starts making this particular week the granery week or the two week or the whole month of country music and it just um let London come over here yeah you know let all the other Germany let them come to Belfast we'll show you what we have we got plenty of rooms we got my gosh we got the Titanic Museum yeah exactly right and so it's exciting just just be aware of there's been a lot of conversation on the behalf of Belfast to to make it happen so that's what's exciting it's exciting being here with you and your show I mean you bring so much um stories yeah to the audience that would otherwise be ignored yes yes so I commend you on that and we're going to get you to Nashville we're going to get you right there Grand we're going to put a hat on you and make you sing wow that's amazing you'll love it I would love it I've always wanted to go to Nashville it's phenomenal and and you know it's a 5H hour flight to to Chicago and of course it's a 6h hour difference and then two hours there so really it's a 6-h hour flight yeah it you can get to Nashville round trip for 685 700 you can do direct with British Airways now for 495 I mean Nashville is not an expensive place and then you can come to my restaurant tell us about your restaurant monells mon yes it is so it's family style it's in an old Victorian home and you sit at large tables we serve almost 9,000 meals a week wow 72 seats we do 18 tons of chicken a month all in iron skillets wow I mean 5,000 lb of potato was just on Sunday yeah so it is and I say that because I started at 30 I was unemployed no money savings and no savings account I had five gold credit cards Faith Of God said okay yeah 30 years ago opened up on Thanksgiving Day had I opened up a day later I would have been totally bankrupt but there was an inner there was a desire it needed to happen and as the years have gone I have seen why like when 9/11 happened we were absolutely packed because people were scared and the only comfort they got was not only in but with other people who were scared with them so all these traumatic things have gone through the years I have seen the restaurant just Embrace because food covers all ethnic it does yeah emotional spiritual religion it doesn't matter when you sit down with your brother you're breaking bread and that's what's important when you start having conversations with your brother or your sister you find out wow the they're human yeah we all want the same thing right we want a good job we want a house we want education for the children we want food on our table and a little bit of money to go to Nashville or to the beach or so so it just allows people to be people again and and get away from some of the history that they may have been taught or told or maybe even experience and um but it's great so we serve seven days a week we serve chicken fried chicken at every meal including breakfast that's why we decided we're going to show you and this Skillet thing is the most important thing they're so important you brought it to Belfast with absolutely it cost me a lot of money and it was well worth it but they're iron skillets we do the long ones and when they they will slowly um disintegrate the these iron still I mean for us because we cook so much of them that we literally I'm in tears because you season these everyday cooking so some of these skills have been with us five six years and when you just can't use them anymore I mean I'm just heartbroken because this is what but it's it's a little oil the chicken is not submerged and people say well how do you make the chicken it's very easy don't use buttermilk don't use milk you have hot water you put your chicken in you have self-rising flour Lowry seasoning sauce which they need to get from Amazon and coarse pepper that's it you do it this you drop in the oil but the oil has to be this much because the chicken needs to breathe on the top if that makes sense and then you flip it and it's crispy so where did your love for food and cooking where did all that come from there youngest of eight yeah come from a Catholic Family uh mother made us she said you all going to never embarrass me when you're out in public so she taught us how to cook clean knit crochet like that really worked um all these things and she all of us were assigned my best thing when I grew up was scrambled eggs I was the one that made the scrambled eggs what makes a scrambled egg so good then milk and beat it yeah mhm a little bit of milk and beat it hard and then put it right on in in the hot so it starts the curdling it's oh yeah there my wife says it's the amount of butter you put in as well she has oh absolutely oh yeah butter makes everything butter is perfect I mean when I came the first time I came butter and and bacon grease are the two most essential and people say well what's bacon grease it's the rendering from all the bacon now you all have beautiful bacon here we are used to our bacon that has little meat and more fat and it's right all that grease well I brought it with me thinking oh my God if they stopped me I can't make my green beans I can't make my cornbread I this is coming in at in the morning I haven't had cornbread in a long time either I love it God you're well you're going to come to St Congos you're going to eat cornbread and you're going to have some biscuits and the the thing with it they it was 5:00 in the morning there was no one at the security but I was walking out of the Dublin Airport like just just thinking my heart's palpitating cuz I had a thing of bacon grease yeah that was gold to me you could take everything you want except my BAC so moral of that story is we got it in sorry TSA but we're here you smuggled it in yes wow that's amazing and as I go to jail tomorrow I'm going to thank you I'll be like wait let me cook the chicken then take me to jail but but it's um there's a passion in food and I think I always mom always made sure we sat around the table we had conver ations and that was the only time of dinner where you understood your brothers and sisters yes and you were able to um eat what she cooked because if you didn't like what it was you were going to bed hungry was there anything you hated as a child that's you still might even hate today oh yeah uh uh pea soup so my mom spent all day making pea soup right there's eight of us plus my dad and my mom put the pea soup up we all sat down and we just kind of looked at it none of us said a word of move moved and my father was so upset your mother worked all day if you don't like it you all go to bed we all pushed our chair not a word all eight of us went up to bed because we all hate pea soup and my mom looked at my father George this is great and all you saw was eight bowls of pea soup just my so pea soup I just can't do it now Mash Peas I enjoy thank you very much Mushy peas mushy yeah yeah yeah what about other things here in in Northern Ireland food like soda bread you like soda bread I enjoy in fact when we first came four or five years ago was so good we enjoyed it that we do soda bread on our Buffet uh when we do caterings yeah it is so well-received it's so unique it's so different you know food doesn't have to be complicated to be good yeah you can go to Michelin stars and I love it Alec green who phenomenal Chef here is probably my most favorite chef of all he's young he's talented his food is magnificent and yet you'll go to a couple others that just have simple food like the pubs the the fish and chips the you know you sometimes just need comfort food yeah to make you alive yeah exactly yeah if that makes sense so seafood chowder that's another one we do well here oh my God we had one yesterday at St George's Market oh chowder up wow oh my God I this was the first time because again raised in Massachusetts Boston we have our our clam chowder it's clams yeah this had all the fish oh it's you know you all are fortunate I know sometimes people go it's Belfast I want to get out I I get it yeah but the food quality that you have here and you drinking plenty of Guinness while you're here oh no no no I I'm sorry to insult you I can't do it really yeah yeah and and and it's not because of Guinness it's just I'm not a Beer Drinker yeah and yet I own the October Fest exactly and people go how is that I go you know I they'll come to me and say well what bear is the lightest and you know I just look at the lightest color oh yeah this one's going to be not thinking it's but we are doing Jin very well in Northern Ireland at the moment yes yes a jawbox yes yes I had the rubab it's good oh I mean I and this is the only place I drink it yeah and the whiskey you know hinch whiskey oh my gosh it's a newer it's a newer Distillery and we're working with them on getting in Tennessee and Terry and his crew the whiskey phenomenal I mean I walked through their their um um plant the other day and just it it's delightful I mean really you got a lot of great history so Friday night you're in the colen the big night with all the great live entertainment and Saturday and Sunday in andom gos for the popup restaurant and then Saturday night we have M mccullin's um Distillery with Jill is doing a wonderful there and then on Sunday night we're in the Europa um Lounge yeah where Ginger is doing her one woman show she we've brought in her pianist Russell who's has played on many many albums country albums as well he's going to be here um accompanying her so it's just enough to give you some music and enough to make it different does that make sense want to compete with everything else going on we just want to give your listeners and and Belfast the opportunity to try something different uh if you want true southern food you come Saturday and Sunday you'll experience and of course you don't have to book as well you just turn up don't you you uhuh and you may have to wait you know they don't like to wait here in belf Fest I find but you know for my fried chicken I may not look pretty but my fried chicken is beautiful so you just come stay for that and yeah it's a delightful it's a it's just a fun event and we have a lot of folks that are coming in looking at Belfast and see what we can create for the future so it's a it's a it's a great program exciting times enjoy the rest of your week fast and love you to meet you Michael thank you for coming in thank you so much