SONIC DISH: CHEF JOHN MARRA x D.J. NATE DA GREAT
“If this dish were a track, what would it sound like?”
Executive Chef John Marra of Albany Ale & Oyster is a seasoned chef in the 518 having worked at Dayline Oyster Bar (Coxsackie,) City Beer Hall (Albany) + Unified Beer Works (Malta.) We paired Chef Marra with radio host + D.J. Nate da Great, another local fixture of the 518 D.J. scene and live radio shows, well-known for high energy sets and delivering funk and soul.
We asked, “If this dish were a track, what would it sound like?”
Photos: Provided
Read our review of Albany Ale + Oyster.
OK, Chef , what’s your dish?
The dish: K-Town Golumpki. It’s golumpki stuffed with kimchi, Korean BBQ beef and pork wrapped around a center of seasoned sushi rice.
The inspiration: The inspiration came from growing up eating golumpki that my Polish grandmother would braise in a big pot all day long. It was everyone’s favorite, including mine, so it’s really one of my favorite core food memories growing up. I also grew up doing Tae Kwon Do which is how I was first introduced to Korean food — specifically Kimchi. We went as a group to a Korean restaurant and it was legitimately mind blowing; something I had never experienced before. I made my mother get some kimchi the next day and it’s been a staple in my refrigerator ever since. I always thought it would be a fun idea to merge the two. My grandmother's golumpki recipe was very simple: Beef, pork, rice, cabbage, salt, pepper, and crushed tomato. So I took those things and gave them what I think is a very fun spin. My grandmother would glaze her golumpki with ketchup so mine has something similar: A glaze of ketchup-gochujang-soy sauce-Kewpie mayo!
D.J. Nate da Great, what does this dish sound like to you?
The track: To pair with Chef Marra’s K-Town Golumpki, I selected Hyun Sook’s 끓고있네 (“It’s boiling”) which is track #2 (that’s important if you can’t read Korean) on her 1978 album, 정답게 둘이서/붕어친구, which roughly translates to something like “two friends together.” The Seoul Funk genre is a goldmine of selection-worthy music. It was really hard to pick just one song, and I actually ended up with a full playlist of music. In the end, though, I wanted to stick to The Dishing’s format and choose just one. I landed on “It’s Boiling” simply because of its name. It seemed like the right pairing for a dish traditionally made with boiled cabbage.
The inspiration: Fermented foods are like the funk of the food world. Kimchi, for example, adds an extra bit of funky-ass tang that makes your face kinda screw up like “Whoa, what is that?” The first time I tried kimchi, I wasn’t quite sure if I even liked it. I was like, “Is it supposed to taste like this?” But it didn’t take long for me to develop a taste for it and I started craving that funky-ass fermentation.
Funk music is kind of like kimchi in a way. At first, you have to get used to the raw, grittiness of it. But, once you do, you’re hooked. There’s no turning back. So, it was Chef Marra’s cabbage mash-up (Polish vs Korean) that inspired me to double down and slap even more of that Korean funk on top of that golumpki.
The sound: I made sure to choose a song that isn’t trying to do too much. Some funk songs demand all of your energy and attention – like your 5 year old child trying to avoid bedtime. “It’s Boiling”, though, fits the bill perfectly. You get all of that stanky funk and still have enough energy and attention to give to your delicious plate of K-Town Golumpki. The track is a nice smooth ride that starts with a funky baseline and builds quickly, adding a simple horn-riff and Hyun Sook’s unrelenting vocals. At just 3 minutes long, it definitely leaves you wanting more. So, I also included a playlist with even more Korean Funk and “Seoul”.
Listen to: 끓고있네 (“It’s boiling”) by Hyun Sook on Spotify or listen on YouTube.
BONUS! For that added Korean Funk check-out Nate’s playlist, It’s Boiling — Funky Seoul — with The Dishing on Spotify
DJ Nate Da Great really just loves DJing and discovering new music. Most of his DJ career has taken place in and around Albany, New York, where he made a name selling mixtapes in the 1980s and ‘90s before co-hosting a long running radio show on WRPI in Troy with DJ J-Swift (Rest In Power). From opening sets for internationally known artists such as Shaggy, Bootsy Collins and Ghostface Killah and backing artists such as JB aka Dirty Moses, J-Live, Akrobatik, C-Rayz Walz, Moses Rockwell, Nate da Great has been a constant presence on the local scene, often playing alongside DJ Trumastr as the duo Great-Mastr, or in long-standing gigs on various radio shows. Nate has too many interesting club and art gigs to list but you can learn more about Nate on his website or listen to him, along with the whole No More Genre crew, on Friday and Saturday nights on WOOC-LP 105.3 FM in Troy, NY, or streaming online on Sanctuary Radio. | IG: @natedagreat
Chef John Marra is the Executive Chef at Albany Ale & Oyster and (soon to open) Little City Luncheonette in Albany. He previously worked as chef de cuisine at DayLine Oyster Bar and Patrick Henry’s Waterfront Tavern in Coxsackie under Executive Chef Ian O’Leary; as sous chef at City Beer Hall in Albany under Executive Chef Dimitrios Menagias, and took over the Head Chef position from Michele Hunter at Unified Beer Works in Malta. | IG: @kewsy3278
