The Secret To The Band Savoir Adore's "Virginity Pasta"
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Savoir Adore is Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer, a Brooklyn indie-pop duo whose first album, In The Wooded Forest, launched them to SXSW and beyond. Their dreamy "magical world" tunes and lush vocal harmonies are all at once soothing, mesmerizing and dancetastic, and they've toured around the world with bands like St. Lucia and MGMT.
Deidre kindly invited me to her Williamsburg apartment (where they have a recording studio) in between soundcheck and their show at the Knitting Factory — a mere 8 blocks away — for amazing slow-cooker pork and squash. Over dinner, she, Paul and I got down to the real reason people slave away in the kitchen.
Have either of you worked in the foodservice industry?
Deidre: I was a prep cook at this beach club on Long Island. I learned how to make a lot of straightforward stuff really well, like egg salad. It's really about the lubricant, if you will? Obviously mayo, but we put in a little Dijon mustard, a little relish, a little bit of lemon juice, salt, pepper and paprika. It's one of my favorite things I make.
Paul: I was a waiter at an assisted living center, which is sort of like a cushy waitering job but can also be hard because they're older people who would sometimes have incredible mood swings and get really mad if they insisted they were allowed to have wine, but I couldn't give it to them.
What do you eat before a show so that you can sing?
Paul: My favorite thing is spicy noodle soup, because it clears out your sinuses and it's not too heavy cause it's soup. Did you know that Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga both puked on stage this week? I saw a video, she's literally puking and she keeps going on with her choreography while she's puking. It's amazing. I was like "you are incredible, this is so gross." She worked it into her routine.
(we then paused the interview to watch the video, which was indeed incredible and gross)
Do you guys have a tour rider?
Paul: We do. It's rarely fulfilled, but when it is, it's really exciting: a case of local beer, Maker's Mark, chips and salsa, fruits and vegetables, coconut water and that's it. Bare essentials. We do like to drink beer.
What's your favorite food city to tour in?
Deidre: Paris. I love duck leg confit. We went to this restaurant called La Cloche D'Or that was really incredible. Also, on the way to SXSW we stopped in rural South Carolina, like bigtime rural: Sweatman's. It's only open Friday and Saturday and we happened to be rolling past when our guitarist, who's a master of Yelp, made us stop. It was my favorite BBQ I've ever had in my life.
Paul: Their pulled pork was incredible, ribs were great, they made great cracklins and the sides were incredible — best mac and cheese and best baked beans I've ever had, collard greens and then...oh, banana pudding. The chef said, "If you hear someone going like this," and she smacked the wall a few times, "that's someone eating my banana pudding and doing cartwheels." It was the cutest thing in the tiniest town 45 minutes off the highway.
What's the best thing each of you cooks?
Paul: This is going to be a little bit of an overshare. When I was 8, I went to a restaurant in Bermuda with my family and had whole wheat pasta with shrimp and I remembered it very vividly because whole wheat pasta has such an incredible taste, basically I ended up stealing the recipe. I cooked this the night I lost my virginity, the first time I kissed another girlfriend and the first time I kissed the girlfriend after that. It was our first official date and I thought to myself "say..." It really is my best work.
How do you make it?
Paul: Well, it's about virginity, so you get really good fresh shrimp, fresh vegetables, good olive oil — it's this combination of heartiness that gives you energy. Shrimp are pretty sexy. Like a tiger prawn? What's more sexy than a tiger prawn?
What's a band you've worked with who's also super into food?
Deidre: St. Lucia! They're totally into food. We toured with them. We had one of the most delicious meals of this year with Jean at Cafe Mogador. We had one decadent weeknight dinner, went to his studio, tracked some vocals on their new record and then went out to dinner. Bottles of wine, bottles!
Paul: He's just this joyous South African creature who yells "wine, more wine! Wine for the table!" They're the most wonderful people.
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