Podcast Summary: Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster

Episode: Best of 2025: Part 2

Date: December 30, 2025
Podcast Hosts: Ed Gamble & James Acaster
Producer: Plosive

Episode Overview

This is the second part of Off Menu’s “Best Of 2025,” gathering the most memorable moments from a year packed with celebrity guests, wild anecdotes, and the classic Dream Restaurant menu shenanigans. Ed and James bring back stories from actors, musicians, comedians, and authors, showcasing offbeat foodie chat, behind-the-scenes chaos, heartfelt reminiscences, and, as always, plenty of nonsense.

Key Discussion Points and Highlights

1. Dream Restaurant Highlights: Food, Fame, and Starstruck Moments

• New York Water: Celebrity Secrets

  • Elle Fanning and the hosts joke about people flying in New York tap water for hair and bagels (03:20).
  • “I’ve heard that in other states there are some bagel places that get the water transported to their bagel shops to make the bagels. Because the water, that's what makes it so good in New York.” —Elle Fanning (04:31)
  • Theorizing about Brad Pitt, Clooney, and DiCaprio importing NY water.

• Starstruck at the Met Ball (06:55)

  • Elle Fanning recounts meeting Alexa Chung (“all I wanted to do was meet Alexa Chung...she was a fashion icon for me at 13”) and Beyoncé (“you’re in the presence of a goddess”) as a young teen.
  • Accidentally slipping in front of Billie Eilish and Cardi B at a later Met Ball.

• Working with Hollywood Icons (10:45)

  • Guests (notably Harris Dickinson and Carey Mulligan) discuss keeping it professional around acting legends like Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie.
  • “On set, Nicole is just so good at jumping in and trying stuff...she’s really prepared to just go to the most embarrassing place without judgment.” —Harris Dickinson

• Leonardo DiCaprio as a Generous Scene Partner (17:00)

  • “He was almost better when it was my coverage.” —Guest recalling DiCaprio supporting his co-stars

2. Food Nostalgia & Menu Choices

• Dream Meals & the Power of Comfort Food

  • Starter, Main, Side, Dessert, Drink: Each Best Of guest shares their fantasy food.
  • Oysters and Emotional Memory: Kate Winslet tries her first oyster from Paul Newman (28:25).
    • “If I eat this oyster, I’ll always be able to say, Paul Newman gave me my first oyster.” —Kate Winslet
  • The “Hasselback Potatoes” Saga: Meticulously described—“foot-long, crispy, loaded with Kerrygold butter, pink Himalayan salt” (35:10).
    • “Every slice gets butter, every one, thank you.”—Marian Keyes

• Chicken Divan: The Family Recipe Deep Dive (97:40)

  • Elle Fanning details her grandma’s somewhat alarming curry casserole—boiled chicken, cream of mushroom soup, mayonnaise, curry powder, broccoli, and cheese—all over rice.
  • "When I describe it, you're going to think it sounds so gross, but it is made with cream of mushroom, like soup...mayonnaise...curry powder, broccoli...and cheese." —Elle Fanning

• Teletubby Land Cuisine (Joy Crooks, 64:23)

  • Fantasizing about eating “Tubby Toast and Tubby Custard”; what would they actually taste like? The hosts and guest go into detail, matching the weirdness with playful earnestness.

• Food Shaped Like Other Food (86:40)

  • Sharon1 Johi’s love for “desserts that look like savory food,” e.g., spaghetti Bolognese ice cream or fried chicken ice cream, and the psychological brain-hack of eating “two desserts by tricking my silly brain.”

3. Comedy, Nostalgia, and Podcast Anarchy

• Podcast Meta-Narrative & Stand-Out Chaotic Moments

  • Recapping moments when the format—and guests—descend into surreal idiocy (e.g., Jeff Goldblum’s rambling about nuts, Ben Schwartz guessing birthdays by sheer “zapping”).
  • “I love this, I love how you’re initiating these games and then ask us ‘is this what the podcast is?’” —James Acaster to Ben Schwartz (72:04)

• The Chuckle Brothers & Autograph Stories (45:00)

  • DJ Greg James tells of seeing the Chuckle Brothers live and the unusual autograph he received as a child.
  • “All the best for the future. I’ve always remembered it...it’s quite a good starting point for a book.”

• Strictly Come Dancing—Food Intake vs. Physical Trauma (52:09)

  • “I could eat what I wanted...literally it was insane...training eight hours a day, eating like it was Christmas...then my ass is literally sellotaped to my back.” —Dermot O'Leary on Strictly

• The Blazing Bangladeshis (Johnny Pelham, 125:00)

  • Johnny recounts being the only white member of a Bangladeshi school gang and how that shaped his social survival.
  • “I knew how to swear people’s mums in Bangladeshi...I was really, it was a great time.”

4. Legendary Food Rants & Petty Grievances

• Tapas Math: Rage at Odd-Numbered Croquetas (110:00)

  • Ellie Taylor and hosts declare it “should be law” that restaurants provide divisible tapas numbers.
  • “It’s like something the producers of the Traitors would do to turn people against each other.”

• Olive Hate, Dr. Pepper, and Childhood Sweets (119:00)

  • Old school food hatred—“If they come with my Kia Royale, I’ll throw them at the barman.” —Stacey Dooley on olives
  • Dr. Pepper celebrated as the “unexpected treat,” Palmer Violets derided as “little slivers of soap.”
  • Tooth fairy tales gone awry thanks to Wham Bars.

5. X-Rated & Lowbrow Chaos

• Below the Belt: The Wanking Section (129:00)

  • Will Sharpe called out for “lying on his side, tugging himself off like a painting” in a TV series; discussion rapidly devolves.
  • “You should have warned all your friends you were going to tug yourself off in that show, man.” —Self Esteem

• Pubes, Poos, and Unfiltered Honesty

  • Multiple guests and hosts air stories of bathroom woes, kidney stones (“like worse than contractions”—Bridget Christie, 102:38), “poo erections,” and why it’s healthy to normalize these chats.

6. Podcast Running Gags & Classic Moments

Poppadoms or Bread Compilation
— Every episode’s start, shouted with wild gusto, revisited in a mega-montage to close the Best Of.

• Notable moment: “That’s the first time I’ve shouted ‘poppadoms or bread’ and it’s made me fart.” —Ed Gamble (138:15)

Memorable Quotes

• “If I eat this oyster, I’ll always be able to say Paul Newman gave me my first oyster.” —Kate Winslet (28:32)
• “She’s really prepared to just go to the most embarrassing place without fear of judgment...Nicole is such a daring actor.” —Harris Dickinson (12:49)
• “We are making a crisp Ribena. I’m on a Mundet bike, I fall off, scrape my knee—this has got to be a clip!” —Sharon1 Johi (90:01)
• “I just have to flick those switches in your head and try and belt through it, you know? But it is terrifying.” —Dermot O’Leary on Strictly (53:10)
• “I’m regressing, basically. The stuff you loved when you were ten is probably the stuff you like now.” —Greg James (47:09)
• “The two things: Slip disc, and you’re retaining shit. Are you telling me I’m full of shit, Doctor?” —Bridget Christie (102:57)
• “If I was on a date and someone said, ‘how’s it going?’ Well, gee, I’m pretty good I guess...I’d love that.” —Ed (89:55)
• “It’s always embarrassing when you meet a genuine food icon, because you’re so eager and then you think: ‘I’m going to ask the thing about Hasselback potatoes.’” —James (37:45)
• “I don’t know about edamame. Unless it’s salty on the outside and you get some of that sauce as you just pull it up, suck the pods.” —Jeff Goldblum (89:10)

Notable Timestamps

| Timestamp | Highlight | |-----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:00–07:00 | New York water for hair and bagels, Clooney & Nespresso jokes | | 06:55 | Elle Fanning: Met Ball, Alexa Chung & Beyoncé | | 10:45–15:30 | On-set with Nicole Kidman & film set embarrassment | | 17:00 | Leonardo DiCaprio praises | | 28:25 | Kate Winslet, Oysters & Paul Newman | | 35:10 | Hasselback Potatoes description | | 45:00 | Greg James, the Chuckle Brothers autograph | | 52:09 | Dermot O’Leary – Strictly, food and physical trauma | | 63:30 | Joy Crooks, Teletubby food | | 86:40 | Sharon1 Johi, dessert disguised as food & date anecdotes | | 97:40 | Elle Fanning, Chicken Divan | | 102:38 | Bridget Christie: kidney stone, “poo erection” story | | 110:00 | Ellie Taylor rants: divisible croquetas in tapas | | 119:00 | Stacey Dooley & hosts: Dr. Pepper, Palmer Violets, Wham Bar | | 125:00 | Johnny Pelham: Blazing Bangladeshis story | | 129:00 | Will Sharpe: “The wanking section”; self-esteem + Julian Clary | | 138:15 | Poppadoms or Bread Compilation – Ed’s fart revelation |

Tone & Atmosphere

As ever, the episode is brimming with jeering camaraderie, gentle (and not-so-gentle) mockery, bouts of chaos, genuine warmth, and frequent detours into surreal or inappropriate territory. The guest stories—whether about starstruck food memories, family feasts, or toilet disasters—are welcomed in a spirit of communal confession, always keeping the joy of food and laughter at the centre.

The hosts’ language is quick, irreverent, and coloured by the UK’s dry, absurdist sense of humour, never afraid of a bit of filth or schmaltz.

Conclusion

“Best of 2025: Part 2” distils Off Menu’s unique mix: big celebrity stories, childlike food nostalgia, riotous riffs, and a willingness to let the weird and the human sit side by side. It is both comfort-food listening and a raucous dinner party—a must for fans who love food, comedy, and utter chaos.