On Sunday, July 14, Transmission Arcade will transform into a rock club for the evening featuring local bands Abacus and Mids, and swap its regular kitchen service for pizzas from Chef Hector Sanchez.
From kitchen to stage, chefs Alex Strickland (from The Dragon Room) and Josh Bumgarner (from Transmission Arcade) will leave their aprons behind for the night to perform in Abacus. We caught up with Strickland to chat about his favorite dishes, local spots he thinks Columbia foodies should try, and the creativity he brings to both his culinary creations and his music.
Temaki Crunchwrap was inspired by a similar dish chef Alex Strickland tried on a research trip.
Photo via The Dragon Room
What’s your favorite dish you’ve created at The Dragon Room?
I’m proud of all of them, but my favorite is the Temaki Crunchwrap. On an R+D (research and development) trip, I ate at a place that had a nori sheet taco shell that was super crispy on the outside. I was astounded. I asked the bartender if they made them or bought them. He responded, “I’ll ask, but we go through so many, I can’t imagine they make them.” I never got the answer, but I was determined to figure it out. Nori sheet wrapped in rice paper and deep fried. Incredible crunch with delicate salinity. Super clean and delicious. We take our shells, whichwe make daily, and put steamed rice, raw sushi-grade tuna, pickles, and yumyum sauce inside, garnish with tobikko, and serve it on top of seaweed salad.
How does your culinary creativity influence your music, or vice versa?
I think they both lend themselves to each other. Breaking down ingredients to create a dish is a lot like writing a song or part of a song. It takes practice, forethought, a sense of intuition or experimentation, and then saying, “f*ck it, let’s see what happens when we do THIS.” Sometimes it’s awesome, and sometimes it sucks, and you try again.
What are three local dishes or restaurants you think all Columbians should try?
Bodhi Thai, Terra, and Transmission Arcade are all at the top of their games. All push me to be a better cook, but they are all quintessential Columbia places to me. Bodhi Thai’s ribs are magical, nothing else compares. Terra has tons of seasonal direction, but every season has a can’t-miss dish; summertime is their heirloom tomato salad or their scallops with succotash. Transmission Arcade is the pinnacle of high-end stoner/bar food. Da*n near everything from scratch and made with care and attention to detail. The wings, duh, but I love their tikka masala chicken sandwich. It comes and goes, so if it’s on the menu, GET THAT.
What do your bandmates and restaurant staff think about your dual life as a chef and a leader of a hardcore band?
It’s daunting to do so many things at once sometimes, so I hope I’m not a total monster when life gets hectic. I know my bandmates get it; we’ve been doing this together for 10 plus years now. Josh and Kevin both know the struggle of balancing cook life with band life. My staff gets to see one side of me, so it’s fun to show them the band side sometimes. Mostly they say, “Yeah, I get that,” when they see or hear Abacus; sometimes they are totally caught off guard. It’s hilarious either way to me.
This isn’t your first collaboration with Transmission; they use your BBQ sauce on some of their sandwiches, and you’ve cooked brunch there before. How do the music and food communities intersect here for these types of things to happen?
Abacus BBQ sauce was born from Josh and my love for cooking. It’s our sauce, as a band, but we wouldn’t have that sauce without us both being involved.
Aggressive music and food go hand in hand in a lot of very practical ways, but more philosophically, they are both a counter-culture somewhat. On the fringes of popular music and popular career choices (albeit with celebrity chefs and TV shows about chefs so prevalent now, maybe a bit less so). In a more straightforward way, music can be afforded by having a flexible job such as food+ bev. I’ve made and burned bridges in both communities for the love of one or the other. Balancing the two is everything.
Do you get more of a rush on stage or at the height of dinner service?
They both have rushes, but they are both crazy different. Stemming from the same thing of wanting to put out something you are proud of, the adrenaline on stage from screaming your heart out in front of people beating the sh*t out of themselves in a pit is equal to making someone feel something when you cook for them. I’m very lucky I can do both.
