Interview: Gene Simmons + Paul Stanley (KISS + Rock & Brews)

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Rock Stars

Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Michael Zislis honored Wounded Warriors at Rock & Brews Torrance.

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When you’re on the road, how do you decide what to eat when you’re traveling?

Paul Stanley: We’re lucky. We have a chef. We look forward every night to what we’re going to have to eat. As other pursuits become more and more of a memory, food and drink comes more to the forefront. At this point, we’re looking for a great wine, we’re looking for a great meal, healthy food. Hopefully that’s what it comes down to. What this place is about is family and great food. And those are two of the most important things we like.

Do you have a favorite eating city?

Gene Simmons: Every city is so unique… The greatness of life is its variety, and food should be like that. Sort of the more Hispanic foods have that flavor. Sort of the more European foods have that flavor. Your soul foods. The staple of everything really is American food, and then you add garnish around it. You can’t beat a burger. It’s the perfect food, you don’t need a fork or knife, you just pick it up and stuff it in your mouth. Other than that, though, you want to get the spices and everything else, and the local flavor.

Paul Stanley: You’ll find me at The French Laundry. You’ll find me at Michelin starred restaurants. You’ll also find me at The Wiener Circle in Chicago, which is a 24-hour real hot dog stand. The idea that all food, to be good, has to be fine dining, is ridiculous. The thing we’re trying to do here is give you great food in an atmosphere that is comfortable for you and your family. You don’t have to have one to have the other. Quality food doesn’t mean you have to put on a suit and tie, although there’s a time and place for that. Here people can come to have a great meal, in an atmosphere that’s comfortable.

If you could only have one more beer, what would you fill your glass with?

Paul Stanley: There’s a great Strand beer here that’s local, that’s really, really terrific. There’s a beer out of Berlin called Berliner Weisse, which is a beer that gets mixed with raspberry syrup. That’s pretty cool, and hopefully we’ll be able to get that in here.

What about you, Gene. Do you have a favorite beer?

Gene Simmons: Here’s the great thing about having a menu like ours, is that you can come in and pick up the things that you love. You don’t have to love beer, you don’t have to love burgers, because you can have salads or pizzas or stuff like that. So, for those beer lovers, and there are millions of them, we can’t beat this. The craft beers that we have number as many as 80. So the choices are extra ordinary. It’s not about what a person likes or doesn’t like, but for, food. I don’t drink a lot. I’ve never been drunk actually.

When you get a chance to see live music in Los Angeles, what are some of your favorite music venues and how come?

Gene Simmons: For me, it’s less about the venue and more about the artist. So if you like Prince, I’ll see him in a big hall or in a small club. It’s really more about the artist and not about the venue.

Paul Stanley: There’s not a lot of great music that I want to go out and hear lately, so, I’m more content to put on the stereo. Obviously I’ll go to Staples to see some action, if it warrants it I’ll go to Viper. It really doesn’t matter. It’s just a matter of whether there’s somebody worth seeing. Unfortunately, I’ve found a lot of bands haven’t paid their dues in the sense that they’ve learned their craft. You have to play continually, incessantly, obsessively, in order to get good at what you do, and most chances don’t have the chance to do that, so I’m content to stay home.

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

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