2 Chefs And A Lie: Canadian Prime Minister Edition (Reheat)

January 30, 2026·30 min·2 clips

Shanti Yen explains why he can't reveal what he served at state dinners: 'You can't be like, Angela Merkel is allergic to pine nuts — half the Western world will go down.'

The setup is flimsy in the best way. Dan says he has never prepared less, and Andres proves it by handing him the whole premise on one piece of paper. Then the music hits. What follows is more kitchen-table cross-examination than polished quiz show, with Dan half-playing detective and half-admitting the rules make no sense. Listeners get dragged in too. The cold open asks everyone to play along, including people who heard the original run and think memory might save them. Good luck with that. Dan has to decide whether the person across the line is real or fake. Jihei Kim sounds pretty convincing. She says her restaurant is connected to Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, then answers questions about local rhythms with a mix of confidence and blank spots. Dan catches a smell of trouble. If someone works in a major college town, maybe Michigan football should have rubbed off a little. So he pushes there. The quarterback question dies fast, and the rivalry question brings back Ohio and Wisconsin instead of the answer he seems to want. Dan sounds let down. Then the show slides back to food, where Jihei names Zingerman's Bakehouse Country Mish and talks about local grains, crust, and soft crumb. It sounds delicious. It also sounds, as Dan points out, like something a person could have Googled, which is exactly why the game works. The pleasure is in the squinting. Every detail can be proof, misdirection, real expertise, or a very tidy lie, depending on how suspicious everyone feels. Food becomes the trapdoor. A bread recommendation, a college-town assumption, and Dan's disappointment all turn into clues.

As heard by us

A playful Sporkful guessing game where bread, Ann Arbor local knowledge, and football trivia become evidence.

The Sporkful turns one of its food stories into a guessing game, with Dan Pashman playing alongside the listener while producer Andres O'Hara runs Two Chefs and a Lie.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Play if you want a food game that asks you to play along.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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