An honest conversation with ex-Otium employees. Plus, reactions to L.A. Taco's Taco 69, Ina Garten's media tour, California's octopus ban, and Paul Hollywood's extracurriculars.

What the hell is happening at Otium? Where the hell is Chef Tim Hollingsworth? And what are its former employees trying to do about it? We’re joined by former Otium employees Rylee Ratcliff and Melissa Mendoza for a raw and honest conversation about the exhausting, frustrating, and maddening weeks they’ve had since the acclaimed Downtown restaurant closed its doors for good on September 8. Father Sal also joins us to give Chef Tim some PR advice. We talk about LA Taco’s latest and greatest Taco 69 list, Ina Garten’s salacious new memoir, why the California legislature is banning farm-raised octopus, and what Paul Hollywood has been up to in his free time. Helpful links: Our free newsletter LA FOODSTACK, where you'll find most of the articles we referenced today https://thelacountdown.substack.com/ Otium Unpaid Staff Instagram Page https://www.instagram.com/otium_la_unpaid_staff_feed/?hl=en The LA Food Podcast is produced with the help of: Adam Skaggs Tiffany Perez Tim Bertolini Abdo Hajj – Get 10% off at Rusty’s Chips using code “LACOUNTDOWN” https://rustyschips.com/discount/LACOUNTDOWN -- Get 10% off at House of Macadamias using code "LAFOOD" https://www.houseofmacadamias.com/pages/la-foods