Today, we’re launching the OKC Underground podcast, and it’s taken a couple years to get to this point. Alex Kroblin (Thirst Wine Merchants, Revolution), Cody Wilson (George’s Liquors, Modern Liquor) and I were tasting wines about three years ago, and Alex said, “Oklahoma City needs an underground food and booze podcast.” I couldn’t shake the idea, and since I was podcasting way back in 2007 — about religion and culture in those days — I knew I could pull it off with the right team. Two years ago this month, I sat down with Rachel Cope, founder and CEO of 84 Hospitality, because it was Pride month, and because I’ve known Rachel for about 15 years, and so I figured a conversation about food, Pride, the OKC scene, etc., would be easy. Turns out I was right. I liked the format. Test listeners liked the format. As a proof of concept, it was excellent, and it’s the reason we’re beginning with episode 201 instead of 101. (No, there weren’t 100 previous episodes; I just don’t like numbering things conventionally.)

So here we are. We’re starting with two a month, beginning with a long-time friend and restaurateur, Jimmy “J” Mays, co-founder and operating partner of Killer Squid Hospitality (Cafe 7, Dado’s Pizza, The Hamilton). He’s a minority partner in a couple Tulsa spots too: R Bar and Roosevelt’s. J also serves on a couple boards for the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, of which we at EatingOKC.com are proud members because they’re doing real work that helps local restaurants, the Oklahoma Hospitality Foundation, and Oklahoma State University. Basically, he never sleeps.

Next week, we’ll drop my chat with Chaya Pennington. I wrote about her story for Luxiere magazine, and it’s definitely worth your time. Chaya has been in hospitality since she was 17, so about 30 years, and now she trains some of the finest culinary students in the state at Metro Tech, where she is the Culinary Coordinator and instructor. She’s very involved in NEOKC projects, including her new role with Restore OKC, which she discusses in the episode. I’ve known Chaya for more than 20 years, and she’s been an endless source of help, advice, education, and insight.

Chaya Pennington

Because of the nature of an “underground” podcast, we’re letting people say what they want, and if you know hospitality, you know the language of both front- and back-of-house is colorful and entertaining. Congratulations to J Mays for uttering the first F-bomb on the show, by the way. This also means we’re talking about things that impact hospitality that can be unpleasant at times: race, gender, sexual assault, sexual harassment, suicide, drug addiction, rising costs, and obnoxious guests. No, that’s not our agenda every episode. We’re just going to let people tell their stories — with a little traffic cop assistance from me — and we’ll go where the story goes. That includes where they’re eating, where I’m eating, and where you should be eating. And drinking, because yeah, we’re going to lean into booze, too. One of our July guests has been instrumental in developing a remarkable wine culture in the state, and my business partner and show producer James Frazier is a beer nerd extraordinaire.

We have some initial sponsors, and thanks so much to them: Advanced Body Scans, AccidentCare.com, and George’s Liquor. This would be much much harder without their support.