Nashville (not so) Hot Chicken was a revelation

Crunch, crunch, what? Crunch, what? Sorry, can’t hear you over the crunching.

The chicken from Red Chickz in Culver City, California, was so good that hubby and I couldn’t talk while eating. There were wide eyes, dropped jaws, moans and grins, but no actual words. Why waste time chatting when you could be biting into crunchy , juicy chicken with honey butter. That’s right, cholesterol be damned, I got the Honey Butter Chicken Sandwich. Hubby got the original which is topped with pickles and “Comeback Sauce.” (Sandwiches are $13 and come with coleslaw or potato wedges.)

Red Chickz lets you choose your spice level – cool, glow, spark, bonfire, blaze or inferno. We wimped out and ordered glow, but the owner didn’t sneer. Next time, we’re upping to spark. Truthfully, it wasn’t the heat that we fell in love with; it was the perfectly browned, oh-so-crispy coating.

This style of chicken, often dubbed Nashville Hot chicken, is booming. In 2023, Restaurantology.com dubbed it “one of the hottest taste trends in the industry, and not just in Nashville.” But the history of this dish actually goes back to African-American communities in Nashville in the 1930s.

Now that I’ve had a taste, I need more. I plan to check out Jay Bird’s Hot Chicken, which opened last year in St. George.

Free live concert in Hollywood

Five stars, highly recommend! Being an audience member for American Idol was a blast. It was like watching a multi-star concert for free, with the added charm of sitting with the families of the performers. I sat next to the grandmother of Kabrienne Richens, who by coincidence is from Utah.

During commercial breaks we watched Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan joke around with each other and the crew, get touchups to their makeup (see photo above), and shake hands with the fans standing near the stage. Noticeably absent was host Ryan Seacrest who hustled backstage at every break.

We went to L.A. primarily to see a taping of Jeopardy, but scored tickets for American Idol for the day before. (See on-camera-audiences.com) Unlike Jeopardy, which was a taping of a future show, the American Idol show was live so we didn’t have to sign NDAs promising secrecy.

Insider tip: Go early so you can get tickets with assigned seats. These are reserved for people with disabilities and senior citizens. The rest of the audience has to stand for three hours.

Waiting in line outside Red Studios in Hollywood.

Sworn to Secrecy

Want to know who wins Jeopardy? Can’t tell you. We had to sign an NDA, swearing not to reveal the outcome of the episodes we watched being taped.

Being a member of the studio audience for a game show has been on my bucket list for decades. We recently attended a taping of the Jeopardy Masters Tournament in Los Angeles, and it lived up to my expectations. Not only did we see contestants we had previously seen on TV, we also saw a previous winner in the audience. Ken Jennings was even more personable, quick-witted and self-effacing in person than he appears on TV. During breaks he strolled to the front of the stage to take questions from the audience. The pace was slower than we expected, with many breaks for technical issues, to correct mistakes, to consult the judges, or to allow contestants to have a drink of water and relax for a few minutes.

We did get the answer to a question that had puzzled us for years. When you watch the show, you see the contestants all punching their buzzers madly, trying to be first to ring in. In the olden days, contestants could ring in before the host had finished reading the question. Now, there are a string of bulbs on either side of the Jeopardy board that light up the exact second that Jennings finishes reading the question. (You cannot see these lights on TV.) After they light up, the first to press the buzzer wins. If a contestant presses the buzzer before the lights come on, they are locked out for a fraction of a second before they can press again, giving the other contestants a slight advantage.

Insider tip: If you decide to go to L.A. for a taping, report to the staging area an hour before your scheduled time. Seats are given last minute to celebrities and family members, so there’s a chance you won’t get seated if you are among the last to sign in.