The Joe Rogan ExperienceJoe Rogan Experience #1469 - Adam Perry Lang
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 0:45
Restaurant shutdown reality check & APL’s immediate pivot
Joe opens by praising Adam Perry Lang’s steakhouse APL and frames the conversation around the unprecedented crisis facing restaurants during COVID shutdowns. Adam describes the emotional whiplash of suddenly losing dine-in service and trying to keep purpose and momentum amid uncertainty.
- 0:45 – 3:27
Keeping staff afloat, triage decisions, and early charity partnerships
Adam explains how he tried to protect his team, what it meant to cut staff dramatically, and how the restaurant looked for ways to stay useful. He details early charitable efforts, including a meal-donation match with Jimmy Kimmel supporting St. Joseph’s Center.
- 3:27 – 5:45
Frontline meal logistics: feeding hospitals and designing comfort menus
The discussion turns to the operational mechanics of feeding healthcare workers. Adam breaks down how organizations connect restaurants with hospitals, how meals are packaged and delivered, and why comfort food became central during the crisis.
- 5:45 – 7:11
Takeout economics: curbside vs delivery apps, and the 10–15% survival problem
Joe and Adam dig into how delivery platforms affect restaurant margins and why direct curbside pickup is preferable when possible. Adam quantifies the drop in business and explains the practical and emotional strategy of staying busy to endure.
- 7:11 – 10:23
Industry outlook, PPP loans, rent deferrals, and the ‘unknown rules’ ahead
Adam describes the anxiety restaurateurs share: unclear regulations, landlord negotiations, and financial tools that don’t fully fit restaurant realities. He explains the PPP program structure and why the restaurant sector struggled to access adequate relief.
- 10:23 – 16:24
Inside APL’s dry-aging: the ‘environmental chamber’ and flavor science
The conversation shifts from crisis to craft: Joe recounts eating extremely long-aged steak, and Adam explains what dry-aging changes in meat. He outlines the environmental variables and the biochemical transformations that create tenderness and deep, altered flavors.
- 16:24 – 20:55
How to cook steak properly: tempering, heat methods, and avoiding dry-aged ‘liver’ flavors
Adam details his approach to thicker steaks, resting/tempering techniques, and what temperatures mean in practice. They compare wood-fire cooking versus steakhouse broilers/plancha and discuss how smoke and fuel chemistry can mask dry-age flavor.
- 20:55 – 28:28
Building a unique dry-age ‘culture’: spores, room differences, and costly inventory bets
Adam explains that dry-aging is not a single standardized process; each room develops its own character like cheese caves. He describes intentionally propagating friendly molds/spores, tasting along the way, and why extended aging is a high-risk, high-cost differentiator.
- 28:28 – 37:40
Food as art and craft: Bourdain’s influence and the pre–Food Network kitchen mentality
Joe and Adam reflect on how Anthony Bourdain helped people understand cuisine as an art form and cultural bridge. Adam contrasts old-school kitchen progression and motivations with the celebrity-driven incentives that emerged with Food Network-era fame.
- 37:40 – 45:38
Custom steak knives, theft deterrence, and Adam’s path into bladesmithing
They discuss the signature APL touch: Adam-made steak knives and the practical problem of customers stealing them. Adam shares the felony-threshold pricing joke and recounts tracking down a knife thief, then explains how formal metalwork training became a serious pursuit.
- 45:38 – 56:36
Samurai sword interlude: steel, heat treatment, and the ‘soul of the blade’
Joe shows Adam a papered samurai sword from the 1500s, prompting a deep dive into steel craftsmanship. Adam explains quenching, molecular structure, and why heat treatment defines blade performance and elegance.
- 56:36 – 1:21:31
Cooking techniques debate: reverse sear, wild game, and sous vide (especially lobster)
Adam critiques the reverse-sear approach for steaks, emphasizing flavor compounds created when browning happens while juices re-adhere to the meat. They carve out exceptions for lean wild game and praise sous vide’s precision for delicate proteins like butter-poached lobster.
- 1:21:31 – 1:33:02
Fly fishing obsession: catch-and-release ethics, dry-fly culture, and Huey Lewis as mentor
The conversation veers into fly fishing, where Adam describes the meditative, technical nature of the sport and why his group is committed to catch-and-release. They unpack dry-fly purism, ‘cheating’ with subsurface rigs, and the surprising detail that Huey Lewis is part of the fishing circle.
- 1:33:02 – 1:47:46
Hunting, conservation funding, and responsible meat sourcing
Joe connects hunting ethics to conservation economics, explaining how licenses and excise taxes fund wildlife management and habitat. Adam then details his beef sourcing philosophy—relationships with purveyors, humane handling, and how stress affects meat quality—leading into a nuanced grass-fed vs grain-finished discussion.
- 1:47:46 – 1:57:49
Diet talk and chef lifestyle: carnivore month, intermittent fasting, sugar, and brutal hours
Joe describes his month-long carnivore diet experience and how it affected energy, weight, and cravings, while Adam shares what’s feasible when you taste food all day. They close by discussing intermittent fasting, sugar’s addictive pull, a chef’s long workdays (including sleeping at the restaurant), and the leadership strain during lockdown.
