We are pleased to present our 101rst installment of Sound Advice featuring Eddie Huang. Eddie is the chef behind BaoHaus, and currently (6/3 – 6/9) the featured chef at LTO in the LES doing a Blue Crab Dinner Series. Enjoy.

Food & Music

Last Wednesday, I went over to LTO with my boy, Kenzo Digital, for Leah Cohen’s one week pop-up. We saw crazy visions. Thai style mussel omelets, cod with cockles, chinese sausage and yuzu dashi, and a remix of Bun Bo Lui with hanger steak and star fruit. It was like South East Asian Passover at Sammy’s hold the schmaltz on my Bun Bo Lui. The standout of dinner was a pork neck and watermelon salad with chili-lime dressing, but as I took my first bite … they just had to drop “Empire State of Mind”.

Almost simultaneously, we dropped our forks in protest. Really, “Empire State of Mind” the song they tried to make “New York, New York” for our generation? I mean, no one plays this outside Mercury Bars and Jersey. That’s what it’s for right? Drinking with your friends on a porch in Hoboken. Play it loud, drink your flavored vodka, peep the skyline, and for a few delusional minutes you convince yourself you’re in NY. Fair enough, take that, take that, take that. But dinner on East Broadway? Come on, yall.

Then came Gorillaz, “Feel Good Inc.” I mean, this literally became the MTV Party to Go 2005 mix. De La, Hov, I got love for you, but, more along the lines of “Cashmere Thoughts” or “Keepin the Faith”. It got us thinking, what is the perfect music to food pairing? Is there one genre of music that universally fits all food? Is it a music to food, music to chef, or music to the room pairing that we’re looking for? What’s the relationship between music in the kitchen and the dining room? And if there is a perfect restaurant playlist, what is it?

The boy is under water these days so I don’t have all the answers, but we did do a 15 spot of songs that we are gonna rock to this week at LTO. I wanted to do a list that is reminiscent of chillin on the back porch eatin crabs over the Sunday Post. Summer time, neighborhood, give me 12 crabs, 6 beers, some hush puppies, and a tip drill type thang. This isn’t a greatest hits, it’s just a restaurant playlist I’m fuckin with at the moment. #Proceed

Sound Advice 101

01. Streiht Up Menace by MC Eiht
02. Let Me Ride by Dr. Dre
03. Picture Me Rollin’ by 2Pac
04. Strawberry Letter 23 by Brothers Johnson
05. Shiraz by Action Bronson
06. Black Connection by Camp Lo
07. Bucktown by Smif-N-Wessun
08. Sandman by Camp Lo & Pete Rock
09. I Got Cha Opin by Black Moon
10. Watermelon Sundae by Dom Kennedy
11. Address by Currensy ft. Stalley
12. Tired of Being Alone by Al Green
13. Maybe So, Maybe No by Mayer Hawthorne
14. I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) by Aretha Franklin
15. Fly Away by Goodie Mob
16. Be With Me by Cam’ron & Vado
17. Barry Horowitz by Action Bronson
18. I Need A Dollar by Aloe Blacc
19. Tommy Chong by Blue Scholars
20. Audio Dope II by Currensy
21. Live on Live Long by Capone N Noreaga
22. Stay Chiseled by Nas
23. Up North Trip by Mobb Deep
24. Young Love by Nature
25. Fried Chicken by Nas ft. Busta Rhymes

Download Sound Advice 101 Now!

BONUS, most underrated album to listen to during a summer cookout: Nature “For All Seasons”