Luke and Naomi On Air

A random night scrolling on Facebook led to learning about a once-in-a-lifetime event coming to Carolina Beach. We got to experience this amazing culinary presentation, and you could, too!

The name Bill Oakley sounds familar, doesn’t it? It should! Those of you who have been following us (Luke and Naomi On-Air), know how BIG of a Simpsons fan Luke is. You know that a lot of our references on our Podcast relate to The Simpsons and Futurama, and those who have listened to us while we were on-air in New Mexico have probably heard a lot of those references, as well. Bill Oakley is a creative writer who is known for MANY episodes of The Simpsons, especially in seasons seven and eight and was an executive producer for many years. Some of these episodes include “Who Shot Mr. Burns,” Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy,” “22 Short Films About Springfield,” and one of our favorites “$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling).”

Bill Oakley is also famous for the joke in “22 Short Films About Springfield” about “steamed hams” and the food being a regional dish to upstate New York. The gag is Principal Skinner had Superintendent Chalmers over for dinner, but he burned dinner. So he does what any sane person does – sneaks out the window to Krusty Burger and tries to pull off the fast food burgers as his own home cooking. It starts with Superintendent Chalmers believing they are having steamed clams, but when Skinner brings out the tray of burgers, Skinner says, “No, steamed hams.” That’s what they call hamburgers in Upstate New York. Superintendent Chalmers states he’s from Utica and has never heard of such a thing.

This joke is pretty popular in our household – Especially with Luke being from the Utica area and for us spending five years together in that region, but it’s also a hit EVERYWHERE! Not only does it showcase fantastic humor, but it brings us back to some of the best years of The Simpsons. The fact that the “steamed hams” meme makes its way around the internet every couple of years helps, too.

And we have Bill Oakley to thank for that! Not only has he done some amazing writing for The Simpsons, Futurama, and the Adult Swim show “Misson Hill,” but he has also appeared on the History Channel’s series “The Food That Built America.” And speaking of food, Bill has made a(nother) name for himself as a food enthusiast, a food influencer, and a food critic.

And these two worlds collided – The Simpsons and Food – at “Bill Oakley Presents: An American Culinary Curiosity Dinner.”

What an event it was!

We arrived at Kindred Weddings, a beautiful venue right off the main drag in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. While waiting for the meet and greet portion of the event to start, we mingled with a couple of other fans and had delicious “Mr. Burns’ Old Fashioned,” drinks, which happened to be a little on the sweeter side (just the way I like it).

Then Bill Oakley made his way to our table where myself, Luke, and our new acquaintance, Dallas, were casually chatting. It was unreal getting the chance to speak with Bill Oakley. We got to share Simpsons references, we talked about how we heard about the event (Facebook ads work, I’m tellin’ ya!), and Luke even got to show off his Simpsons tattoo. Afterwards, he signed some posters and the dvd from one of Luke’s favorite seasons (and favorite episodes) of the Simpsons.

Alright, now I know you’ve been dying to hear more about this part – The dinner! The Culinary Curiosity Dinner! What kind of food are we talking about? What made this unique compared to any other dinner?

Don’t worry, I’ll get there.

We made our way into the back dining room area. A handful of tables were set up with a screen on the front wall for the presentation that would accompany our food. At the table we met some other big Simpsons fans and bonded over our love of the show and our love of food. We were all very excited for what we getting ourselves into. Shoutout to Paige, Melanie, Wally (the smartest Simpsons superfan we’ve ever met!), Adam and his friend (I’m so sorry we didn’t get your name – You were so sweet, and so funny!), and of course, Dallas, who we had been chatting with since the night began.

Bill Oakley Presents: An American Culinary Curiosity Dinner is a seven course meal that features unique regional dishes that you most likely have never heard of, and won’t see in your area. Our dinner consisted of four appetizers, a palate-cleanser, our entree, and a dessert. Before we dived into each course, Bill would present a city or an area, and tell a story leading up to the reveal of our food as the dishes would be brought out. In between our food journey, Bill would share stories from the Simpsons and from writing.

Course One: Louisiana Mayhaw Jelly

Like almost every other food we experienced during this dinner, we had never heard of “Mayhaw Jelly.” Bill Oakley started this course by explaining what Mayhaw berries were, what area they grow in, and how they are most commonly eaten – Mayhaw Jelly.

The jelly was sweet, but not too sweet, and the biscuits were nice, thick, and filling. It was a great first course, and we were off and running.

Course Three: Rhode Island Clam Chowder

One of my favorite courses of the night, this part of the dinner began with going over the two famous clam chowders – New England Clam Chowder and Manhattan Clam Chowder. Apparently, there is a third, lesser-known version, Rhode Island Clam Chowder.

The soup was thick and very flavorful. Chunks of potatoes, clams that you could actually taste, and cheesy-goodness completed this appetizer. I could have had this dish as the main course it was SO good. And I will say, it was the best clam chowder I have ever had.

***You may have also noticed I skipped “Course Two.” That was done on purpose. Even though this dinner travels all over the country and offers different foods at each event, I’m not giving away ALL the details. This is something you definitely need to experience for yourself.

Course Four: Nashville Hot Testicles

Did we really eat testicles?!?!?!

Ask us in person one day. We’ll tell you the story.

Course Four: Altoona Style Pizza

Okay pizza snobs, you are NOT going to like this one. Altoona is a town in Pennsylvania that specializes in this very unique way of doing pizza. It has all your classic ingredients of pizza – dough, sauce, salami, green pepper, and cheese, but… It’s different. Altoona Style Pizza doesn’t use your typical mozzarella cheese. It uses American cheese. Like a nice Kraft single thrown right on top!

Looks like something someone might make after a night out at the bar. I’ll probably get a lot of hate from this (especially from our Upstate New York fans), and I will specify, these next words are coming from Naomi, not Luke, but… I didn’t mind it! It was definitely different. I probably wouldn’t pay for this at a restaurant. But something about this meal, brought back memories. It was nostalgic…

It was probably the cheese.

Again, I don’t want to ruin all the fun. I’m not going to post details about all the food we got to try, but here’s a couple more pictures from the night:

As for the rest of the dinner, ask us about it sometime! We will definitely share all the details – In person! And we’ll tell you now (and in person), this is something you should consider checking out. Get outside your comfort zone a little bit and explore some unique dishes from all over the country. You may be surprised what you find. You may be surprised how much you like it!

The next Bill Oakley Presents: An American Culinary Curiosity Dinner happens in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, November 11th. Tickets and more details can be found here.

You can also keep up-to-date with more Curiosity Dinner dates, other food happenings, and more from Bill Oakley by visiting his socials:

Bill Oakley on X: @thatbilloakley

Bill Oakley on Instagram: @thatbilloakley

BillOakley.com

And check out his Eat-A-Rama newsletter here.

If you do end up going to the next (or a future) curiosity dinner, please share your stories and pictures with us. I’m sure you will have just as good of a time as we did!

Original Event Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025