Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:04 — 28.0MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS
On the latest episode of Portrait of a Fangirl podcast, host Jenna Wrenn spoke with Chef and Hell’s Kitchen season 19 runner-up, Mary Lou Davis.
Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast
The Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast is a series from the team at the Temple of Geek. Portrait of a Fangirl initially began as a web series and has now expanded into a podcast series as well. You can watch and listen to the series both here and on our YouTube channel. The podcast is also currently in its second season.
Hosted by Jenna Wrenn, at the core of the project is the importance of telling the stories of women who have found inspiration, growth, and power through fandom.
You can listen to the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast directly on this page and also stream it on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcast / iHeart Radio / Spotify and wherever you stream your podcast. You can also watch it on our YouTube channel. You can also find us on social media on our website, Instagram and TikTok.
The Recipe for Success with Chef Mary Lou Davis
Mary Lou Davis is more than just a chef: she is a fangirl who expresses her love for geek culture with her unique dishes. By combining cuisine with some of her favorite fandoms, such as Naruto or Jujutsu Kaisen, Mary Lou truly lives up to her Instagram handle of geeksangrubs. Discussing her talent for creating fandom-based dishes, Mary Lou also speaks about a childhood love for television:
Jenna: What intrigued me about you too is you’re not just, run of the mill everyday chef. You are able to combine fandom and being a fangirl into your cooking. And that’s something I have never seen before until I kind of started following you and watching what you do. How how do you blend those two parts of yourself? The professional and the fangirl?
Mary: I think I’ve always been just like a nerdy person. I don’t want to say that I’m like straight weeb where I can just recite what’s going on on every episode. But I’m an only child, and I grew up just watching the TV and I would always want to eat whatever they were eating on the television. So I remember I would watch Looney Tunes and my mom would give me carrots so I could eat them with Bugs Bunny. And I was like, “these aren’t as good as he makes them. Taste like this–this is not what I’m liking.
But when it came to combining both of them, it started out with I would just recreate foods that I saw, but there’s so many people that recreate what you see. I wanted to actually give you an experience because I am a trained chef, so how can I make this different? And that’s pretty much what it’s like.
I started to be inspired by where I can just take different things that I see from either that episode, that character, or that dish and change it into something else. And then it started to get more exciting to me because, you know, like those kids in school, when they’re not challenged enough, they just start like breaking things and just being despicable. It’s like I wasn’t challenged and I just was like, oh, let me just make a Krabby Patty. But it was just a cheeseburger and like let’s do something else. So that’s a lot of how that came about. Same thing with my pop ups. It’s just like, I’m going to take something that I saw and I’ll just based off of that.
Pop Culture Pop-Ups
Speaking about her venture into creating fandom-inspired pop-up restaurants, Mary Lou also promises an entire experience for any customer. Not only are her pop-up events themes to a particular anime or show, but Mary Lou also enjoys cosplay to create the ultimate fun atmosphere.
Jenna: Can you also tell us a little bit about some of your pop ups? I know you mentioned Pokemon, and you mentioned Dragon Ball Z. So can you tell us a little bit about some of the other fandom inspired pop ups you do?
Mary: The last one that I did in Texas was a Jujutsu Kaisen pop up. So usually I’ll have, like, five items that are mine on the menu. So I had done Yuji’s chicken meatballs. But instead of them being meatballs, I made a wanton soup. And I had just taken the things that I had seen. So I’m still giving you like the chicken and ginger meatballs [but] I’m also creating like a ginger oil that I put on top. Everything had like a cursed element. So I had this like ash that I would either put on something or I made an ash oil that was put on top. I would make sure to like, burn things that I just like. Also cursed parts to things. So you’re still getting that? I think I had done a domain expansion style, Buddhist Delight.
If they’re are a themed pop up, I’m cosplaying. For the Jujutsu Kaisen one, I was Sukuna. And so I had the red contacts. I drew everything on my face. I was wearing the, the outfit, and I just walk around and I’m doing my best to cook in those. That is so fun.
Jenna: So you really do get a full experience at one of your pop up?
Mary: Yes. Like I tell everybody I said, “you guys are welcome to cosplay if you want, but I’m gonna.”
Be sure to follow Mary Lou on Instagram for the latest and greatest new recipes she cooks up!
About Our Host
Host and executive producer of the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast, Jenna Wrenn, is also an entertainment correspondent for Temple of Geek. Jenna has interviewed talents such as Felicia Day, Max Brooks, Katee Sackhoff, Rachel Smythe, and Ashley Eckstein. Because of her love for pop culture, Jenna has written several articles for Temple of Geek covering conventions, anime, pop culture, and much more. Jenna also served as a panelist at San Diego Comic-Con on Portrait of a Fangirl‘s panel, Adaptation to Advantage: How Women & Fandom Work Together.
Jenna is a historian by trade, a writer by passion, and a cat mom by birthright. Jenna loves to travel, forge new connections, and also drink large cold brews. Jenna is excited to bring more fascinating interviews to viewers/listeners of the Portrait of a Fangirl podcast.
More episodes from season two of the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast
- Episode 18: What is Post-Con Depression and How to Cope (9/27/24)
- Episode 17: A Conversation with “The Lovers’ Author Rebekah Faubion (9/13/24)
- Episode 16: The Ripped Bodice: How Women Are Reclaiming the Romance Genre (9/5/24)
- Episode 15: From Fangirl to Sci-Fi Icon: A Conversation With Katee Sackhoff (8/16/24)
- Episode 14: Candice Miller, Audience Winner at the 2024 Her Universe Fashion Show (7/30/24)
- Episode 13: Wes Jenkins Wins Her Universe Fashion Show With Barbie-Inspired Design (7/29/24)
- Episode 12: Interview: Raeven K, Winner and Judge of the Her Universe Fashion Show (7/22/24)
- Episode 11: Journalist Laura Sirikul on Balancing Professionalism and Fandom (7/14/24)
- Episode 10: Blazing Your Own Path in Fandom (7/8/2024)
- Episode 9: Ashley Eckstein on 10 Years of the Her Universe Fashion Show (7/3/2024)
- Episode 8: Micahel James Scott Returns for the Her Universe Fashion Show 10th Anniversary (6/27/2024)
- Episode 7: Breaking inot Hollywood Writing with Victoria Male (6/8/2024)
- Episode 6: FeliciaDay3D: Bringing 3D Printing, Tabletop, & Geek Culture Together (5/24/2024)
- Episode 5: Beyond the Stereotypes: How TikTok Star Shiv Reddy is Changing the Narrative (5/18/2024)
- Episode 4: From Retail to Red Carpet with Amanda Castrillo (4/25/2024)
- Episode 3: The Evolutions of Fangirling with Tara Sands (4/16/2024)
- Episode 2: Fandom as a Window to the World with Alice Fanchiang (3/29/2024)
- Episode 1: Fandom in Academia With Dr. Sabrina Mittermeier (3/15/2024)
Check out season one of the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast
- Conversation With Author EK Johnston (11/10/2023)
- Rachel Smythe Roundtable Interview at New York Comic Con 2023 (10/19/2023)
- Inclusivity and the Authentic Self in Content Creating (10/3/2023)
- Emily Zemler on “The Nightmare Before Christmas: Beyond Halloween Town” (9/8/2023)
- Kayleigh McKee on Creativity, Industry, and Personal Growth (9/1/2023)
- Fandom From Behind the Scenes – POAFG Podcast (8/15/2023)
- Discussion With Graphic Novelist Ghezal Omar (7/20/2023)
- The Art of Fangirling With “Let’s Play” Creator Leeanne Krecic (7/19/2023)
- Interview with Ashley Eckstein – Her Universe Fashion Show (6/28/2023)
