The 11 Best Lines From the Stephen Malkmus Episode of Food Is the New Rock

Portland-based indie rock band Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks— comprised of Stephen Malkmus (singer), Joanna Bolme (bassist), and Mike Clark (guitarist, keyboardist)— swung by the podcast Food Is the New Rock to talk about all things food. The group spends a decent amount of time discussing eating on tour and their preferences for food on the road. Also covered: Yelp, a surprising story about chef Andy Ricker (Pok Pok), being vegetarian, chef David Chang's fantasy sports league picks, and more. Below, the 11 best lines from the Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks episode of Food Is the New Rock; listen here and feel free to add your picks in the comments below.

1. The band, which has previously collaborated with Momofuku Milk Bar on an ice cream flavor for their album launch, on what what food collaboration they'd like to do next: "We need a Carnegie Deli sandwich named after us called the 'Malk' … served with a side of 'Jicks,' which could be jicama."

2. Keyboardist Mike Clark (who used to own a restaurant in Portland) on the restaurant industry: "If you want to know how to make a small fortune in the restaurant industry, you start with a large fortune."

3. Stephen Malkmus on chef David Chang's fantasy sports draft picks (Chang is in the same sports fantasy leagues as Malkmus): "He did draft so many asian guys on his team. He has a great pride. I once tried to draft an all white team and then it seemed kind of wrong."

4. SM on stadium dining: "Food concessions at sporting events is the next era in this food revolution, you know ... but I hear you can still get just a mediocre hot dog."

5. SM on Yelp: "I don't really trust that Yelp thing. People are so worried about service and they don't really care about atmosphere, which at this point is 70% of what you are going for. Everyone can make good food now, you want something where you don't feel uncomfortable in there."

6. Joanna Bolme on being vegetarian on the road: "I've had a lot of dinners that were just baked potatoes and salad … It's gotten better though, everyone has food allergies now, so that helps."

7. SM on touring with vegetarians in Germany in the 90s: "I remember guys on my tour going to a rest stop and just getting a block of cheese and just eating a whole block of cheese. Back in the 90s there were little pieces of meat in all the salads and stuff. They would eat french fries and cheese."

8. SM on his Philly cheesesteak preferences: "We went to Pat's, Geno's is ass."

9. MC on how to game the all-you-can-eat Vegas Buffets: "Walk right by the melon balls and go for the crab legs."

10. SM on his first time meeting chef Andy Ricker: "He was a house painter. He painted the outside of my house. I don't know if it was his business, but he was not a chef then."

11. SM on the similarity between chefs and musicians: "It takes a lot of handwork at this level to do it yourself. You can go to school or not, you really just have to do it … [In both industries though] there's a canon and there's reinterpreting it. Being a chef seems way more harder than what we do."

· Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks [Food Is the New Rock]
· All Podcast Coverage on Eater [-E-]