Entrepreneur
Key Takeaways
- From Arkansas rabbit to Buffalo’s Crunch Rolls, Oakley proves that the best stories are often served at the local level.
- After sampling nearly 200 foods in a single day, Oakley shares what truly stood out.
- Beyond the trade show, Oakley uses dinner events and social content to bring regional favorites like Triple XXX Root Beer and Mama Lil’s Peppers to bigger audiences.
Two hundred food samples in just 24 hours.
That was Bill Oakley’s scorecard at the National Restaurant Association Show, where rabbit, hot sauce and even world-famous neon green relish ended up on the menu. The former Simpsons writer and executive producer turned food obsessive wasn’t just grazing. He had already scouted the floor on his own, then circled back with Restaurant Influencers host Shawn Walchef to show off the finds that stuck in his head.
It has become their yearly tradition to walk the floor together at the National Restaurant Association Show and explore the bounty of free food and drinks.
This year’s target was Taste of the States, a pavilion packed with small-batch sauces, century-old family recipes and local specialties you won’t find on supermarket shelves. “This is my favorite part of the show,” Oakley says. “It’s all regional foods and often very small makers you wouldn’t have heard about otherwise.”
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Oakley’s résumé is as colorful as his palate. Before declaring himself a “professional food enthusiast,” he spent years writing for The Simpsons, honing the wit that now flavors his food adventures.
Not every state showed up, but the ones that did gave him plenty to rave about — from Southern comfort foods to Pacific Northwest staples.
Arkansas brought the curveball with Natural State Rabbit, serving farm-raised rabbit prepared sous vide with a mandarin ginger glaze. Instead of the gamey stereotype, Oakley called it richer, cleaner and flat-out better than chicken.
Portland, Oregon, delivered pride in the form of Secret Aardvark Sauce, a cult condiment Oakley swears belongs on everything, whether you’re dipping pretzels or mixing up a marinade. Buffalo, New York, true to form, fried up Crunch Rolls — which is almost like an oversized mozzarella stick with molten fillings that Oakley declared “so exceptionally crunchy” he couldn’t believe they weren’t already a national craze.
And that was just the warm-up. Oakley bounced from Arkansas to Oregon to New York like a man on a mission, never losing steam, no matter how many bites piled up. His taste buds might have been working overtime, but his enthusiasm never dipped.
Because here’s the thing: It wasn’t just about eating everything in sight. Oakley treats every booth like a story worth telling, and every regional dish as a chance to shine on a bigger stage.
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Every food has a backstory
Every booth has a story to tell, and every regional dish deserves a chance to shine on a bigger stage. That’s the lens Oakley brings to the National Restaurant Association Show, lighting up whenever he finds something most people have never heard of.
Take New York’s Salamida’s Spiedie Sauce, the marinade behind Binghamton’s famous spiedie sandwiches. Oakley described it simply: “It soaks into the meat.”
Then came Indiana’s Triple XXX Root Beer, once a national brand now run by a single family in West Lafayette. For Oakley, the taste carried a Simpsons connection. Famed writer John Swartzwelder, a known reclusive character who rarely endorses anything, once told him Triple XXX was worth seeking out. “And it lives up to his recommendation,” Oakley said with a grin.
Oregon earned another nod with Mama Lil’s Peppers, a Portland favorite with Eastern European roots. “I don’t really go for stuff like this normally,” Oakley admitted, “but these are so good. They’re addictive and good. Every time I get a jar, it’s gone within a day.” Whether on pizza, eggs or sandwiches, the peppers hit that perfect balance of tang and heat.
And in Illinois, Oakley celebrated a classic with Marconi Giardiniera, the fourth-generation family brand behind the condiments that define a Chicago dog. Its giardiniera and neon green relish aren’t just toppings. They are an identity. “Your Chicago dog is not a Chicago dog unless it has the neon green relish,” Oakley said.
For Oakley, these finds aren’t just trivia from a trade show floor. They are proof that American food culture is deeper than fast food chains or national brands. It is why he now hosts dinner events across the country, serving dishes like Akron sauerkraut balls, Rhode Island clam chowder and Altoona-style pizza, the kinds of regional specialties you would never stumble across unless someone brought them to you.
Oakley’s American Culinary Curiosity Dinner series is a multi-course dining experience showcasing unusual and hard-to-find regional dishes from across the United States. Each event blends playful culinary commentary, amusing anecdotes and a multimedia presentation that highlights the quirky side of American food culture. The dinners are staged in collaboration with local chefs and restaurants in the host city, making every edition distinct to its setting.
By the time the tour wrapped up its summer 2025 run, Oakley had shown that eating 200 samples in a day isn’t just a stunt. It is a way of giving the spotlight to small producers and making sure regional foods get the attention they deserve.
Related: He Turned Failure Into a Massive Food Truck and Restaurant Operation. Here’s How.
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Key Takeaways
- From Arkansas rabbit to Buffalo’s Crunch Rolls, Oakley proves that the best stories are often served at the local level.
- After sampling nearly 200 foods in a single day, Oakley shares what truly stood out.
- Beyond the trade show, Oakley uses dinner events and social content to bring regional favorites like Triple XXX Root Beer and Mama Lil’s Peppers to bigger audiences.
Two hundred food samples in just 24 hours.
That was Bill Oakley’s scorecard at the National Restaurant Association Show, where rabbit, hot sauce and even world-famous neon green relish ended up on the menu. The former Simpsons writer and executive producer turned food obsessive wasn’t just grazing. He had already scouted the floor on his own, then circled back with Restaurant Influencers host Shawn Walchef to show off the finds that stuck in his head.
It has become their yearly tradition to walk the floor together at the National Restaurant Association Show and explore the bounty of free food and drinks.
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