Take Comfort in the Fact That Guy Fieri and Smash Mouth’s Steve Harwell Are Friends

The Brotherhood of the Traveling Oakleys

Twitter users were shocked and amazed to see Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell hanging out with Guy Fieri at the Food Network star’s palatial Northern California ranch this weekend. This pairing really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, though: The mayors of Flavortown and the Musictown have been friends for well over a decade. Fieri contributed recipes to the official Smash Mouth cookbook, Recipes from the Road, and the Platinum Prince also jumped on stage to rock out with the band during a concert last summer. Despite their well-documented friendship, some people still think that Fieri and Harwell are the same person, a myth that the Smash Mouth singer has tried to dispel in the past. Hopefully, Harwell’s visit to Guy’s backyard will turn into an episode of Guy’s Ranch Kitchen on the Food Network someday.

And in other news...

• Silicon Valley startup Impossible Burger just scored its biggest restaurant partner yet: Burger King. The chain will begin serving meatless Impossible Whoppers at 59 restaurants in the St. Louis area this month, and if everything goes according to plan, the chain will eventually roll out the product nationwide. [New York Times]
• Olive Garden is now serving a foot-long chicken parm, as well as a grapefruit-sized meatball (and reps from the O.G. have assured both Delish and Food Beast that this is not an April Fools’ joke). These two “giant Italian classics” are available from now through May 27. [Delish; Food Beast]
• To commemorate the launch of Game of Thrones Season 8 this month, Mountain Dew is releasing special all-white cans that when chilled reveal the names of all the people Arya Stark has murdered on the show. [Food & Wine]
• Here’s former NYT food critic Frank Bruni on learning to love a different type of restaurant after turning 50: “Your appetite matures, in terms of both the food and the mood you crave. Virgin sensations are less important; knowing that you’ll be able to hear and really talk with your tablemates, more. If having that reassurance means patronizing the same restaurant over and over, so be it. A roasted chicken in the hand is worth two in the bush.” [New York Times]
• The newest episode of Billions is all about a chicken farming operation in Arkansas. [AV Club]
• The Cheesecake Factory and DoorDash are offering free delivery this week (plus random food giveaways on delivery orders). [People]
• And finally, after representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to an inquiry about the “pastrami tacos” she served at her old job, Los Angeles-based food writer Gustavo Arellano chimed in with some bonus context: