9 minute read
Listen if You Dare
Breaking Breadwith Benn Grim
BY WINTER CAPLANSON
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WARNING: THIS PODCAST CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE AND PASSIONATE OPINIONS
(which may be unsuitable for the thinskinned), calls out what’s not working (which may be unsuitable for those unwilling to step up their game), and delivers an extra generous serving of humor (which may be unsuitable for anyone who takes themselves too seriously).”
Chef Tyler Anderson calls him “Vince McMahon of the digital airwaves” and Chef Xavier Santiago says, “He’s the voice of food industry people.”
Benjamin Grippo, a rapper and substance abuse counselor with a master’s degree in clinical counseling, lost 10 years of his life to opiate addiction and rehab. He battled back over the next decade, emerging, as surprised as anyone, to find himself a driving force in elevating the Connecticut food scene with his podcast, Breaking Bread with Benn Grim, a name referencing his rap moniker. A new episode publishes Tuesday mornings to an eager audience of line cooks who crush, chefs pushing the envelope, bartenders stirring mind-blowing “cocks and mocks,” and all the rest of us living in or on the fringes the Connecticut food world.
Benn’s life post alcohol and drugs called for embracing a new vice. “I had nothing indulgent left, but I like to eat and thought that was probably going to be the closest I could get to using,” he recalled.
And so he ate, a lot, especially desserts, his favorites, and met the Connecticut chefs behind the food. As a man who had successfully created a persona and promoted himself as a rapper, Benn thought, “Why not create food content, begin writing about it, and turn it into something?”
That something was at first just restaurant reviews, Benn Breaks Bread, on Tumblr, awarding up to 10 loaves of bread as a rating. He wrote with no holds barred, sometimes awarding far fewer than 10 loaves. Benn began one review, “I haven’t done a bad review since late winter/early spring and I hoped one wouldn’t rear its ugly head for at least a year… but the time has come. I’m not here to bash, I’m here to inform. I’m a firm believer that spending hard-earned money on eating out should never result in a poor experience. My job as a food writer is to let you know what’s good and to also inform you on my personal opinion of the restaurant/food/service. I’m not here to be anyone’s friend, even though I make a lot of them. Think of me as a culinary referee. I’m gonna call the plays as I see them and I’m gonna throw a fucking penalty on the play if that shit sucks. Today we have multiple flags on the play.” His veracity raised ire among some, but many more found his honesty refreshing.
And so Benn Grim the foodie brand was born, forged in red hot candor. His previous writing experience amounted to academic papers only, APA format if you please. Now, Benn’s focus was getting his word out in a voice unhindered by correctness or profanity filters.
Benn said that, privately, chefs tell him, “‘You’re saying what we WANT to say, we can’t for professional reasons. You’re the only person saying it.’ The reality is that if you are working in the industry or mainstream media and say something crazy or piss somebody off, you’re gone. But no one can do that to me.”
“Benn doesn’t give a flying fuck about your feelings,” said Dimitrios Zahariadis, aka The Cocktail Chemist. “If you don’t like what he says about you or your food, step up your game! Simple as that.”
In fact, popular or not, telling the truth is the most important part for Benn. “I came from a place of zero credibility as a drug addict who no one trusted. I spent eight years being deceptive, feeding my addiction. I had shed that Benn; however, I needed to prove it to everybody.”
Comfortable behind a microphone, Benn and his friend Dave Hutchinson launched a podcast exploring a variety of topics, and when Dave departed, Benn continued solo, doubling down on food. His fiancée, Meghan Mason, a graphic designer, assessed his Tumblr page as “some rookie shit.” Benn recalled, “I realized I needed to step it up and make a real website uniting the podcast and restaurant reviews. Once I did, they took off.”
Going completely free style with no prepared questions, Benn interviews his podcast guests, many of them chefs, employing a sixth sense of quickly finding common ground with anybody and tearing into it with authenticity. The connection is real. “By the time they leave, I have a new friend.”
“Benn is letting people know what is going on in Connecticut!” said Chef Van Hurd. “It’s a small market but we got shit going on! His podcasts are bringing a buzz to some very talented chefs and restaurants. It’s funny and gritty, and I fucking love it!”
“BEN’S PODCASTS AND REVIEWS ARE SO REFRESHING! HE ONLY SURROUNDS HIMSELF WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE AND HAS NO USE TO PROMOTE OTHERS JUST FOR THE SAKE OF ‘PROMOTION.’ HE HAS AN AGENDA TO SHOWCASE AND PUT A SPOTLIGHT ON THOSE IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY THAT ARE PASSIONATE, UNCENSORED, EDUCATED, AND GENUINE. HE COMES FROM A PLACE OF REAL, NOT SOCIAL MEDIA OR PAID PROMOTION REAL, BUT ACTUAL REAL. IT’S WHAT TRULY DEFINES HIM AND HIS STYLE, AND SETS HIM APART FROM THE PACK.”
- CARRIE CARELLA, OWNER AT NORA CUPCAKE CO.
Although Benn does include an occasional ad, the podcast has never turned a profit. He steers clear of the sponsored posts that are profitable for many social media influencers. “I have no wish to sell out and I’m not going to water down the brand.”
Sometimes, a chef will send out a “gift from the kitchen” when Benn is recognized in a restaurant. If an offer is extended to dine on the house, and it’s a place Benn has been curious about, he’ll go. “But I am going to tell the truth when I write about it.” Most often, though, Benn dines anonymously to prepare for a review.
Benn’s priority is not making money; it’s doing something good with that distinctive voice of his. “Not a day goes by where I don’t have a friend, or their mother, or even a stranger hitting me up via Facebook asking me where they should go eat. It makes me proud to send them in a direction they will be happy with…and I’ve never had anything to be proud of.”
Where listenership is crucial in for-profit media, not so for Benn. “Podcast stats tell me how many listeners a show had. But I stopped looking because there were days where I thought, ‘I’m gonna be a fucking star,’ and there were other days when I just shut the computer after seeing a full eight people had listened. It’s not about that. I don’t care. It’s about somebody stopping me on the street to tell me what they liked.”
What Benn himself likes in a restaurant is the weird stuff. “I want a menu where I’m reading and wondering what IS that?
- CHEF VAN HURD
Or that? An uncommon spice, an unfamiliar cut of meat, a vegetable the general population thinks is useless. I love it when I see a chef doing something most people are going to think is gross. Fermenting, preserving, and foraging for mushrooms…I’m a fan of getting over your fears to do the crazy. The unusual dish that was amazing, I make that the star of my review or a stand-alone Instagram post. My goal is to make someone try something new.”
Benn has earned his place as a valued member of the Connecticut food world at a level he never anticipated. Perhaps it’s his unbridled appreciation for it that has fueled his evolution as a reviewer, giving a wider berth to restaurants still finding their legs.
“I made a mistake, once, in going to review a restaurant that was open for three days,” Benn said in Episode 48, which aired on May 1. “I was served desserts that were still frozen solid. I wrote negatively about the place and really felt bad about that for a long time. My approach was ‘I’m going to be an asshole, and it’s going to cause a stir, and that’s how I’m going to get things to be found out about.’ Slowly, I learned that’s not the way to do it. Instead, take all the best and showcase that. Every once in a while, though, if you are very scorned, you can tell people about it. But remember, that will always be there to haunt you.”
A chef not trying, not growing, not caring, however, is something he has no patience for, as seen in this exchange from Episode 50 on May 15:
Chef Xavier Santiago: “It doesn’t matter how big you get or how much you accomplish or how much you have or don’t have…you always have to stay hungry for more.”
Benn Grippo: “The minute you don’t is when you start making them shitty chicken parms…. I know cooks that are just there for the paycheck and don’t give a fuck about how you like their food. And then there’s the people that DO give a fuck.”
Chef Mike Touranjoe: “And the people that do give a fuck end up being like us.”
The Breaking Bread with Benn Grim podcast: passionate, irreverent, and funny. Nothing is safe, listen if you dare. People like us all are.
The Breaking Bread with Benn Grim podcast and reviews can be found at bennbreaksbread.com.•
