Spicy Eyes

At the end of July, drawn in by an unusually green spring and our city's bright lights, millions of grasshoppers swarmed Las Vegas. Inspiration struck, and your intrepid hosts decided to catch and cook some grasshoppers for ourselves (and you, dear listeners). With the help of artists Mikayla Whitmore and Brent Holmes, we managed to trap a few dozen. Food writer Kim Foster helped us cook them up the next day. Along the way, we explore bug-eating traditions around the world, why hoppers aren't seen as food in much of the U.S., and why we might all need to take bugs-as-food a little more seriously. Oh, and we'll tell what grasshoppers taste like, too. This episode was written by Sonja Swanson, and produced by Kristy Totten and Sonja Swanson. Music by Jeremy Klewicki.

Love it or hate it, the casino buffet is a mainstay of the Las Vegas experience, for tourists and locals alike. First up, writer Cindi Reed (who writes under the name C. Moon Reed) gives us the historical lowdown, starting from the very first casino buffet in the 1940s. After that, we head to AYCE at The Palms, where we meet up with Yelp Elite member and buffet fanatic LJ Riofta (seriously, he eats at a buffet at least once a week—this guy's a pro). We learn important buffet tips, like limiting yourself to one drink so you can fit in more food. And last but not least, we talk to Sarah Stallard, the farm manager at Las Vegas Livestock, a pig farm about 30 minutes north of the city that takes in 20 tons of food waste daily, much of it from buffets. Here we learn just how our leftovers gets put to good use, and why not all buffets are quite so bad at food waste as you might think. This episode was produced by Sonja Swanson, and the music was composed by Jeremy Klewicki.

Hello Spicy Eyes listeners! We've got some updates for you in between episodes. Thanks, as always, for your patience and for tuning in — we put a lot of work into research, field recording and producing this show, which takes time! But in the meantime, here's what's in store in this bonus episode: We got a chance to hang out with a few very cool Vegas podcasts: Alison and Jacob of Wild & Free took us to Battista's Hole in the Wall, an old school red sauce Italian classic, and we recorded some sounds at dinner (an accordion player makes an appearance) Kristy hung out with Cheftimony host Graham MacLennan and they sat down with Chef Jamie Tran at Black Sheep (find the episode preview and a mini interview with Kristy here!) We went to a Latinos Who Lunch live show at UNLV's Barrick Museum, and got a very sweet shout out (thank you to Babelito & FavyFav!). Keep your eyes peeled for that episode, featuring guest Professor Erika Abad, coming soon. We also answer a few questions from friends of Spicy Eyes:

Every month, the Cupcake Girls deliver dozens of hot pink mini cupcakes to strip clubs and legal brothels in hopes of connecting sex workers with resources. In this episode, we discuss the sex work landscape in Las Vegas, what a cupcake symbolizes and why it's the perfect metaphor for our city's restrained, contained hedonism. This episode was produced by Kristy Totten. Sonja Swanson produced the Daily Nugget.

We've got Hawaiian food all over town—and that's because Las Vegas is also known as the Ninth Island. Seriously, it's home to the largest Hawaiian population outside of Hawaii. Turns out, there are a lot of reasons for that, involving a clever casino operator (and perhaps a bowl of oxtail soup), plus some pretty serious land issues back in the 808. But Hawaiians here stay connected to home through music, dance, festivals and (you guessed it) food. This episode was produced by Sonja Swanson.

Las Vegas is home to 20,000 Muslims, but halal food can still be hard to come by. We talk to an imam, two Muslims who grew up here, the owner of a halal market and a Halal Guys rep to learn more about what it means to eat halal in Las Vegas. This episode was produced by Kristy Totten.

We're hard at work on a couple of new episodes — one about eating halal in Las Vegas and some of the difficulties of finding halal in the city, and another episode about Hawaiians and how Las Vegas came to be known as the state's "Ninth Island."

When you ask anyone about good food off the Strip, you're definitely going to hear about Thai food. Everyone has a favorite — Komol, Weera, Lotus of Siam. How did the cuisine become popular in Las Vegas, and why does it have such staying power? Turns out clever marketing , government intervention and a glowing Jonathan Gold review go a long way. We talk to Lotus of Siam Chef Saipin Chutima, Asian Studies Professor Mark Padoongpatt and the kind members of Chaiya Meditation Monastery, a hub for Las Vegas' Thai community.

Welcome to Spicy Eyes, a podcast about food and culture in Las Vegas, hosted by Kristy Totten and Sonja Swanson.