Lake Vermillion with Luke Gulbranson - Lunch With Levi EP 2

Levi: What's up everyone! Lake Vermilion, Minnesota is where adventure has brought us today. Word is there's a very large, very good pizza spot right on the snowmobile trails, and I just have to check it out. We also have a guest today who is no stranger to snowmobiling. While he's been acting on TV shows from New York to Los Angeles, he still loves coming back to his hometown in Minnesota for a snowmobile ride. I'm excited to kick it up a notch on this next episode of Lunch with Levi.

 

Levi: Riding my snowmobile professionally for 20 plus years has taken me and my family around the world, but it's time for me to get back to my roots. Time to trail ride to iconic places with great people, and oh yeah, I also want to show you guys the best places to eat along the way. So join me for sleds, food, and friends on Lunch with Levi.

 

Levi: I have the honor of having a guest who has his own maple syrup brand, Luke Gold. Bronson, how are you, man?

 

Bronson: I'm doing great, brother. I'm glad to be here. You know, it's nice to be here and be away from New York for a little while. It's like therapeutic to be up here in God's country.

 

Levi: Well, you said New York. Now, I've seen you on TV, so everyone wants to hear the story. Tell us.

 

Bronson: So, you know, I'm in New York because I work in TV and film, both scripted and unscripted. Some people know me from a show called Summer House and another show called Winter House, which seems fitting because I'm from Northern Minnesota. You might have seen me in The Flight Attendant on HBO, and I have a movie out that just came out on Apple TV and Amazon called Love Reconsidered. It's an independent romcom, one of those little romcom darling films. It was a lot of fun to make and a lot of fun to do. So, yeah, man, that's where people know me from. And then, if they ever have maple syrup, they might know me from my dog and I own my maple syrup brand.

 

Levi: That is awesome. So we're here in Lake Vermilion. I know this area is special to you. Explain to people why this area is so significant.

 

Bronson: Yeah, you know, being from Eveleth originally, my family has a cabin up here in Lake Vermilion. I spent a lot of time up on Lake Vermilion fishing and coming up here in the winter to go snowmobiling. It's just a really great place. The people are nice, you know, it's like mom-and-pop shops where you can get some great food. Honestly, my roots are grounded in northern Minnesota, and even though I live in New York, I'm really proud of where I'm from. I love the people here. It's just a really great place. I'm glad I'm from here.

 

Levi: Well, it's awesome that we're able to bring you back here for a little snowmobiling. I know you're a big hockey player as well, but the fun thing is we've got a big day ahead of us. We're riding snowmobiles to a place that has huge pizzas. Everyone loves pizza. We're going to go there, have some pizza, and it's right off the snowmobile trail, so it's super convenient. I've never been there, so I'm excited to do it. What do you think of that?

 

Bronson: I think it sounds great. I think what sounds even better than the pizza, honestly, is I get to ride with you. So I'm going to be picking your brain, trying to pick up some pointers on how to be better on a snowmobile here. I mean, you're the pro, and you're a legend in your sport. You said it was an honor to have me, but I'm really honored to be able to ride with you. I'm excited to see how you ride. I think that'll be really cool and valuable to me and my craft. If I ever have to do a movie and I have to be on a snowmobile, I'll be like, "Levi, I need help, man. You got to talk to me."

 

Levi: We're going to get the sleds fired up and head over because I'm getting a little hungry, and that pizza sounds pretty good. I also just want to get on these machines and try them out. I'm excited.

 

Bronson: Heck yeah, let's get to it!

 

Levi: Man, don't cry. I'm honestly just starting to get used to the suspension. I'll show you quickly. Up here, it's in comfort, which is the softest. Then you hit it twice, and it'll go to rally.

 

Bronson: Hit it again, and it goes to extreme. Extreme makes it the stiffest, but rally is a good one to kind of be in.

 

Levi: Trying to keep up in Eveleth, all the valley, snow cross legend, baby. How cool is this?

 

Levi: All right, we made it. Wow, man, that was awesome. Time for some big pizza. I'm starving. I can't wait to eat. I'm so hungry.

 

Bronson: I know, that was a good ride though. I just mimic what you do. I know to shift weight, but I'm like, "Wow, he's really over there, so now I need to get really over there."

 

Levi: It's hard to mimic me. You're about a foot taller. How about that ride? Wasn't that awesome?

 

Bronson: It was great, man. It was so cool. Just going down the trail, it's like this tunnel of beauty. You've got pine trees on the side, fresh air, cold fresh air. It was great, man. Honestly, watching you and the lines that you take, how you were leaning and navigating down the trail, was cool. I was trying to mimic you and see what you were doing. I thought it was really cool, man. I was getting a workout here. How's he feeling? My forearms are getting burned a little bit. It was great.

 

Levi: Well, I jumped in behind you and rode a little bit. I was watching you ride, and you said, "If you have any pointers, let me know." I'm watching you ride, and I'm like, "Well, you're doing everything right." Like I said, you don't need any pointers from me. I thought you were ripping out there, which was pretty cool to see.

 

Bronson: It was fun, man. It was a lot of fun. You know, it's crazy because you compare New York to Minnesota, right? And when I escape here, it's like my therapy, my get-fresh-air moment. You don't get to rip down a trail in Manhattan, although that's something you should do sometime. You got to see if you can work with Polaris and set something up where, when you get dumped on with snow, you can rip around Manhattan on a snowmobile. That would be a riot. That would be super fun.

 

Levi: You know, the fun thing about snowmobiling is getting out there. The thing I always think about is that release. It's getting away from your issues or whatever things are on your mind. Your mind is just focused on what you're doing, and I love that kind of getaway. It's like this little vacation while you ride. When you're surrounded by people and the sirens and the hustle and bustle and the things that are happening in my life on the East Coast, being able to come here and just focus on one thing—the trail—yeah, that's my task. Just enjoy my ride and focus on the trail, and you forget about everything else that's going on in your life.

 

Bronson: I imagine with you, you got a lot going on. You have a family, right? You're traveling a lot, lots of business things going on. So for you, it's the same thing, I imagine. You're focused on what you're doing and just enjoying it, and it's kind of like that release. Next thing you know, you're like, "Wow, the day's gone by already," you know what I mean? It's a great release, man.

 

Levi: All right, look at that. There are some menus, guys.

 

Bronson: Oh wow, welcome to the Vermilion Club.

 

Levi: Yeah, so tell me about the Vermilion Club.

 

Bronson: It's been here for a billion years. I mean, I think since 1926.

 

Levi: No way.

 

Bronson: Yeah, it's changed owners throughout the years. The current one has had it for 26 years. When he bought the place, he owned the Port Gary's Pizza recipe, so he added in the pizza shop, and it's been a success.

 

Levi: So the story I literally heard from snowmobilers while we were coming—they're like, "The big pizza, yep, you're going to the big pizza place." You got to come here and get it. It's 24 inches, as big as this table. You can do it in four different sections, so you don't all have to agree on the same kind of pizza. You can mix it up and have a little selection. We say it feeds six to nine adults.

 

Bronson: I love it. There's two of us, but I think we can take it down, man.

 

Levi: I think so. If you eat it by yourself, it's free, so there's something you can strive for.

 

Bronson: Well, I tell you what, we've been riding all morning, and I am so ready to eat.

 

Levi: Perfect, let's do this pizza thing. You want to go make some?

 

Bronson: I would love to make some. Let's go.

 

Levi: Yeah, I had it like a mohawk. Do it right. You guys look like pros.

 

Chris: How we doing? I'm Chris. We got all suited up, right? You're going to guide us to pizza, right?

 

Levi: Yeah, so we're going to go over here. This will be our prep table. Got all our toppings in here. Whatever you guys want to do, just let me know.

 

Bronson: Holy... So I have one for you, one for you. How cool is this? And I'm going to do one. That's awesome, man.

 

Levi: All right, I want this set up at my house. I mean, I don't know if I would put pineapple in this thing, but maybe...

 

Bronson: We're on the wrong side. I should get over there. I'll eat that pineapple on my pizza.

 

Levi: You really?

 

Bronson: Oh yeah.

 

Levi: Oh, you can put the pineapple on yours. I think we have a taste test at the end of this, and we'll see.

 

Bronson: I'm in, I'm in for sure. I've got a top-secret sauce that I use.

 

Levi: Really?

 

Bronson: Yeah.

 

Levi: Okay, we'll get to it. I'm not going to give it up. I don't want you to know about it.

 

Bronson: Well, you don't want to give me any pointers, man, because it's like a little competition here.

 

Levi: This is a competition, okay.

 

Chris: We're just stretching it out a little bit.

 

Levi: Wow, so you want it to go over the edges of that pan a little bit, all the way over the edge. He doesn't know that I'm an experienced pizza guy.

 

Bronson: Okay, so what does that do when you're doing that?

 

Chris: So it's going to compress it so it doesn't build up with air. If you don't do that, it turns into a big bubble.

 

Levi: Oh, I got you. We don't want that.

 

Chris: All right, you run it deep, do you?

 

Levi: Just enough to crimp the dough. You don't want holes running through it because otherwise, you get the sauce in there, and then it'll stick to the screen.

 

Bronson: I might have got some right around. Wow, just like that. This just got good. You make it look a little easy.

 

Levi: And then, now remember, Luke, he said push till you get holes in it.

 

Bronson: Oh, okay, okay, okay. Push hard. I think I got some holes in there.

 

Levi: Just lay it flat and just twirl away.

 

Bronson: Okay, well, I like a lot. I want a lot of sauce on this.

 

Levi: The secret to a good pizza is extra cheese, extra sauce. Keep the extra everything, right? The more saucy, the more salty, the more greasy, the more unhealthy, the better. It's just like adding butter to anything. The more butter you have in food, the better it is. I mean, and right now, I'm about to grab some sauerkraut and put some sauerkraut on there because I love sauerkraut.

 

Bronson: Speaking my language. See, and I'm talking out loud, and you're stealing everything I want to do.

 

Levi: All right, so what I did is I went with more of a Canadian approach because we're close to Canada. So I used the Canadian bacon, and then I don't know if we're supposed to do this for eating the food, but I'm in it.

 

Bronson: That is absolutely not. You're welcome. You are so going to love this. I can't wait. When I take the W and you got to eat...

 

Levi: I don't want to go too deep with them. I don't want to take too much away from my secret sauce. I think I'm going with more of a kid's approach. This is what I'm going to do. Not too much. You don't want to go too far. And what I'm doing is I'm hiding the pineapple so he doesn't know it's there.

 

Bronson: I mean, for real, this thing is going to be called extra cheese, baby. Mountain of cheese.

 

Levi: I mean, this is probably just going to be the big bacon bits. If you guys like bacon bits...

 

Bronson: What are you doing over there, man?

 

Levi: Nothing. What's going on over there?

 

Bronson: There we go. It's all about presentation.

 

Levi: All right, I'm ready.

 

Bronson: Oh man.

 

Levi: Okay, feel another technique I use. I see if the first one in there, first pizza to get eaten when people are hungry.

 

Bronson: Oh come on, you're doing faces and stuff. It's presentation.

 

Levi: Presentation. I think that's cheating.

 

Bronson: You know what? I'm feeling good. I'm feeling really good. My pizza went in the oven with a smile on its face. I think it's going to come out with a smile on its face.

 

Levi: I mean, I have to say, it went in smiling, it came out smiling. So for real, you might as well call it Frosty.

 

Levi: Overall, for presentation, because of the way I make my pizzas, I like them smaller like this, more attractive with fewer toppings. I don't like them stacked like this. If you want to go for creativity, I would definitely have to go for this pizza because, I mean, who thinks of a smiley face on a pizza? I mean, it's pretty good creativity, I have to say. So I'd have to say we're tied right now. We're tied, so it comes down to taste.

 

Chris: Yeah, and one thing I will say, I do like banana peppers.

 

Levi: Yes, Chris, that's what's up, man. Come on, Chris, but this is sloppy.

 

Bronson: Oh, sloppy. Is that maple syrup?

 

Levi: It's the secret sauce.

 

Bronson: Okay, it's good, isn't it?

 

Levi: It's good, but it's a little dry.

 

Bronson: Wow, even with the sauce. Don't burn yourself.

 

Levi: All right, you got your decision?

 

Chris: I do. I can tell you definitely who I like better, and I'm sorry.

 

Levi: All right, here.

 

Chris: I definitely like banana peppers, and I like that sauce, so I got to go for the winner.

 

Levi: Whoa, yeah. Wait, even with the secret sauce?

 

Chris: I'm not a breakfast guy, really, so I got to say both good pizzas. See, I like the banana pepper and the sauerkraut and the mushroom. I got to say, yeah, it had a bigger flavor.

 

Levi: Well, I appreciate it, even though...

 

Bronson: Yeah, thanks for all the help, man. This was a lot of fun.

 

Levi: Man, it was great. I'm a little bit down, a little bit bummed, but I mean, what can I say?

 

Bronson: How are you down? He chose the pizza that didn't have my syrup on it.

 

Levi: All right, Luke, you beat me at pizza, you beat me at acting. Is there anything else you want to beat me at?

 

Bronson: No, man, I had to try and win something because you beat me all over the trails when we were out there riding. But this was an awesome day. I appreciate you coming out. So much fun. Thank you guys so much. Thank you, Vermilion Club. Thank you, Luke, for coming out. Awesome time on Lunch with Levi. I can't wait for the next one.