Carlos Miranda on his podcast Eating And Waiting To Eat: 'We just geek out about places that we love'
The passionate team behind hit Edinburgh food podcast Eating And Waiting To Eat talk to Jo Laidlaw about peeking behind the scenes of the city’s restaurant industry and building an online community of foodie fanatics
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A shared accent and a love of lamination led to Carlos Miranda and Kevin Rivers meeting in the queue at Lannan bakery in Stockbridge (surely the meet-cute de nos jours). From this chance encounter, and a mutual love of food and hospitality, sprang Eating And Waiting To Eat, the podcast that took Edinburgh’s diners and hospitality community by storm last year. As the American duo prepare to launch their second series, with a starry rollcall of chefs and restaurateurs queuing up to tell their story, what was the inspiration? ‘We love being regulars at restaurants,’ says Rivers, ‘and after a few glasses of wine one night we said “oh, what if we just started a podcast that gives people an opportunity to tell their stories?”’ Miranda adds drily: ‘Let’s not forget that the world really needed two more middle-aged dudes talking into a microphone… we just started asking people and everybody said yes. Before we knew it, we kind of had a show.’
Rivers says the duo wanted an opportunity to tell chefs’ stories. ‘But never did we think that they’d peel back the curtain to show us the difficulties they’re facing in running a restaurant in addition to what they love about it,’ he says. And indeed, it’s the honesty that Rivers and Miranda’s laid-back lines of questioning evoke in their guests that has hooked so many listeners.
That, and feeling you really are eavesdropping into a conversation on the table next to you, which was a very deliberate choice from Rivers, a former sound engineer who records and edits the podcast. ‘That is what we were going for. A lot of it comes from the preparation we do. We spend hours preparing because we want to go in with an idea of the story that we want to tell. We want to cultivate a feeling that we know each other and that there’s a purpose to the conversation.’
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Alongside hospitality folk and tourists preparing to eat their way around the city, their main audience is hyper-local. It’s this concept of community that underpins their approach, alongside their undoubted enthusiasm. ‘We’re not reviewing restaurants; we just geek out about places that we love,’ states Miranda. ‘We’re like, “what’s the story of this restaurant? Wouldn’t it be awesome to know?’”
So there are no plans for world domination? Rivers is honest. ‘When we first started the show, we thought, “oh, we can do season one in Edinburgh and then branch out”. But as we’ve gotten into it we realised there’s still so much that we want to hit in Edinburgh. It’s about the places that we love eating; the places that we feel are a part of our community. Really what we’re trying to do is build community and I don’t think we’re through with that mission yet.’
That’s not to say they’re standing still. Season two will include interviews with the likes of Stuart Ralston (Lyla/Tipo/Noto), rising star Barry Bryson of Barry Fish, and Jo Radford of the venerable Timberyard, alongside short features (Side Quests) led by non-restaurateurs. But the duo are also keen to reach beyond the mic, with a return of their popular supper clubs and some other, currently top secret, face-to-face events in the pipeline. Ultimately though, it’s the geek-out enthusiasm that’s building an audience, and Miranda remains quietly thrilled by the pod’s success. ‘I’m just excited that someone other than my mom listens to it. I was expecting it would just be this fun little thing, but it has very much turned into something. And that’s pretty cool.’
Eating And Waiting To Eat is available wherever you get your podcasts.