Lunch Break with Somsack Sikhounmuong at Il Buco

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit consideryourselfcultured.substack.com

Welcome to Lunch Break, my exciting interview series where I chat with fascinating people over lunch!

There have been some exciting developments, thanks to my discovery of new features on Substack! I'm thrilled to announce that everyone can now listen to the podcast (yes, we can officially call it a podcast now, haha!). Paid subscribers will enjoy the full interview, while free subscribers will receive a portion of it.

Additionally, I’ve taken steps to enhance your experience by providing a complete transcript of each interview. Within the transcript, you'll find embedded links and photos related to the discussion. Paid subscribers will gain access to even more exclusive links and photos! By popular demand, “Lunch Break” will now arrive in your inbox every other Thursday at noon, perfectly timed for your lunch break.

Now, enough with the logistics—let’s dive into today’s guest!

I won't dive too much into somsack sikhounmuong ‘s background, as we explore that in-depth in today’s episode. However, I will mention that he is currently the Creative Director of Alex Mill and previously served as the Chief Design Director at J.Crew, and when he is not at work he is at the ceramic studio, and when he’s not there you can find him working on his Substack "Somstack.”

Somsack is so eloquent and inquisitive, that at one point during the interview it felt as if we had switch roles of “interviewer” and “interviewee!” ( Oh, and I should mention that this interview took place on my last day at Saks, and paid subscribers will hear a bit more about that.) Somsack’s curiosity extends beyond his expertise, and I could have easily talked with him for hours but lunch breaks are only so long. Still, within that hour, I left feeling truly inspired.

I hope you all enjoy the episode. Please let me know your thoughts—the response to “Lunch Break” has been fantastic, and I want to ensure it remains the best it can be. Leave your comments and DM me with suggestions for improvement and guest recommendations.

(And if you or someone you know has audio expertise, please reach out—I have some questions, haha!)

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Jalil Johnson: Thank you so much, Somsack, for joining me. Are you ready to get started?

Somsack Sikhounmoung: I'm ready, yeah. I'm all ready. Yeah.

JJ :Thank you so much for joining me for lunch break.

SS:Of course.

JJ:So we're at il Buco.

SS:Yes.

JJ: Why are we at il Buco?

SS: I'm a huge fan of il Buco. I guess the main restaurant is on... Are we on Bond Street or Great Jones?

JJ: We're on Great Jones.

Shop my At Present array.

SS: Great Jones. So the original one is on Bond Street, and I just love going there. This is the sister one, and I just love how... I love the food, obviously. But I come here for lunch because it's just a little more casual, pop in, pop out, the dish or the menu is a little more concise and edited, which I always love.

JJ: Yeah.

SS: Yeah. So it's just great food, easy, casual, and quick.

JJ: Great. Well, I'm really excited to do this with you because one of your posts is all about food and then Rose [Anderson] has told me too, that you love to eat. So I was really anxious... Not anxious, that's the wrong word. But I was really excited to see where you picked, because I really trust your food picks.

So I'm going to say the