Behind The Kitchen
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Introduction
Wait! Don't tell me! I can see it in your eyes. You are looking for a place where you can discuss the downsides of peanut butter, talk about what you like so much about pizza, or even share Gordon Ramsay memes. Well, luckily, there is this room called Cafe Le Wow, and that's where you are allowed to discuss all your food-related topics! Cafe Le Wow is a room that has been around for quite a while now and has accumulated quite a dedicated userbase. With several room-specific activities and friendly people, this room's atmosphere might be what you are looking for. But what is there to do, you might ask. I shall take you through a small text-based tour to show you all the cool things we do in this room!
Room Activities
Now you might be wondering, "What is there to do in Cafe Le Wow?" Just like a lot of rooms on Pokémon Showdown!, Cafe Le Wow has its own set of minigames and fun chat activities you could participate in, which range from hangmen to a food-related tournament format. I shall explain to you how these activities work and a description of how to participate.
Foodmons
Let's get started with Foodmons. Foodmons is probably the main feature of this room. Foodmons is essentially a tournament-based event that still manages to centralize around food. You probably have noticed that a lot of Pokémon have food characteristics or flat out resemble food. That's what this format takes advantage of. Foodmons uses the standard clauses Smogon has.
I shall now explain the way this is played. This works like basically all the other scripted tournaments. However, Foodmons needs a bit more preparation when it comes to creating the tournament. This is what you can expect to happen:
The room auth will create a tournament and rename it to "Foodmons [tier]" to avoid confusion to people that are not familiar with the room-exclusive tournament format. Typically, this is done by creating a tournament in a lower tier. The room auth shall then unban all the Pokémon that are eligible for Foodmons.
The participants can only pick Pokémon that relate to food in any way. A list of these Pokémon are included in this link. Even if you're hesitant to test out this format, because you might think you're not experienced enough to try it out, there will be viability rankings, sample teams, a role compendium, and even a threat list. It's a new idea that the room had worked on, and we are trying to improve it in any way we can. In our roomintro, there is a link to the current version of this project. If this idea interests you or if you want to help us improve it, feel free to join the room!
GTP (Guess The Product)
GTP or Guess The Product, whichever you prefer to call it, is a minigame that takes advantage of the Room Owners' ability to use the command !showimage. This command displays a picture in the room for everyone to see. The picture would be a food-related product of some sort and the users in the room have to guess what product it is. The host tends to track score for the game and the winners will be announced at the end of it. Currently, there are no prizes for the winners, but that could be a project for the near future.
Zoom
Zoom is a minigame that is very similar to GTP, with a little twist added on to it: the product would be zoomed in on, making it harder to identify what is being shown. Other than that, it is pretty much identical to GTP. The points will be tracked, and at the end of the game the leaderboard will be displayed.
Showimage
Showimage is not an actual room activity, but it is what we do relatively often. The Room Owners will display an image that is related to food, in the room for us to drool at! Users also have the ability to submit a picture of their foods for the Room Owners to show. How is that not amazing?
Hangman
Even though Hangman is not exclusive to Cafe Le Wow, we do play it on a daily basis. It's a chat-based game that is based off of the actual Hangman you used to play at school with a pen and paper. The Hangmans in the room will always be about foods or drinks, since that's the main topic of the room. Usually, if the Hangman is guessed correctly, the host of the Hangman will share a picture or recipe of whatever was guessed. This way, not only is it fun to play the game, but you can also observe some nice-looking dishes and products!
Polls
Just like Hangman, polls are not exclusive to Cafe Le Wow. However, we do try to keep one going at any time. Polls allow us to gain intel on how people think of a certain query. Users from the room are also able to submit their own poll suggestion to the room staff and they will put it up if they approve it.
Meet the Room Owners
biggie
Let's get started with biggie, shall we? biggie holds the position of Global Moderator on the simulator. He knows when something crosses the line and knows your background. He is a very friendly user who is also passionate about food. Together with his partner, he used to own a restaurant where he did the finances and investing. His partner was the cook and introduced him to new recipes he might not have known about, which biggie then shared with us. biggie had plans to buy a bar or restaurant with his friends, but sadly, that didn't go according to plan. He now focuses on his career as an accountant. Whenever biggie joins the room, you can expect to be spammed with the !showimage command of foods he likes or discovered. I think it's time to get to know him a bit more, so let's do an interview!
Amaluna
To start off, who / what got you in to the room?
Biggie
Well when rooms started becoming a thing on PS, Steamroll had the idea of creating a food room to discuss different cuisine, cooking methods, etc. Osiris and I did that quite frequently between ourselves, so we thought it was a good idea. We jumped on board and pushed to help make Cafe Le Wow happen.
Amaluna
What do you like the most about the room?
Biggie
I've become a big fan of the poll feature actually in CLW. It's a good way to generate discussion and see peoples' varying opinions on food-related topics. Being a global site, we get people from all across the world and it's interesting to see how people from different areas or walks of life view varying foods.
Amaluna
What would you like to see different?
Biggie
Less talk about pineapple on damn pizza.
Amaluna
Why do you think users should join the room?
Biggie
Users should join the room if they have a vested interest in discussing or learning more about food and various cuisines. We show off various recipes and pictures of food and sometimes convince people to try something new that they really end up enjoying. Plus, we're a pretty laid-back and fun group of people. :)
Amaluna
Where do you see the room in two years?
Biggie
Hopefully still having fun, still being a place were people can come together, share, and bond over their love of food I'd like to see us grow our presence; maybe have user-made content that we promote such as cooking videos or food reviews. I think there's definite room for growth, and the more people around to participate the better.
Amaluna
Who / what inspired you to get into cooking?
Biggie
My mom has always been my cooking inspiration. No matter the ethnicity or complexity of the dish, she's willing and able to take any food item, put her spin on it, and turn it into something delicious. If i can turn out to be half the cook that she is, I'll consider myself successful in that endeavor.
Amaluna
What do you enjoy the most about being Room Owner in Cafe Le Wow?
Biggie
Probably being able to broadcast images of tasty food either that I find online or that my partner makes in our restaurant. It gets people talking, and most importantly, very hungry.
Amaluna
Do you have any advice for people that are new to cooking or the room?
Biggie
Don't be afraid to try new things and don't be afraid to fail in the kitchen. Failure brings knowledge and creativity to your next effort. Without failure, we never really can succeed.
Amaluna
And to close off this interview, what would you like to tell the people that read this?
Biggie
Don't ever put pineapples on your pizza or ketchup on your eggs!
Amaluna
That is some advice to live by! Thanks for letting me interview you and I wish you the best of luck in your kitchen!
Biggie
Thank you!
Imagi
Imagi is a 20-year-old young guy who lives in America. He has been in the room for a long time. Imagi is a very playful but serious person and staff member in the room. He is always up for a laugh or a joke but knows where to draw the line.
Imagi is currently one of those people who always spark discussion and share food using the !showimage command. Besides his love for swimming and playing the French horn, he is very interested in food. He caught the eye of the Room Owners, and they decided to place a hashtag next to his name as well. Imagi still joins on a daily basis and makes sure the room keeps rolling. Do not hesitate to greet him, as he is one of the nicer and more active people you shall meet on the simulator!
Osiris
Osiris is a 23-year-old young guy from New York. He has been with the room since the beginning and is one of the original room auth. He is also a very friendly and funny guy who is passionate about his foods. As a Global Moderator, he is fully aware of all policies in and around the room. Evildoers have no chance with this tyrant around! As a Room Owner, he decides promotions and demotions and ultimately even promotes the people himself. He is also known to use the !showimage command with way-too-big dimensions. But he is the least of your concerns. He might look tough, but he has a heart of gold! Let's have a little interview with this wonderful human being, shall we?
Amaluna
Who / what got you in to the room?
Osiris
I was very hungry and I liked food. I thought it would be a great idea cause I'd always start food conversations in the lobby.
Amaluna
What do you like the most about the room?
Osiris
There are so many things to talk about. You learn so many new things every day. There are always new people to meet. Even old concepts can be new and fresh.
Amaluna
What would you like to see different, if anything at all?
Osiris
If you had asked me this question a year ago, I'd say a bigger userbase, but I'm actually pretty content with our little group and I wouldn't change any of that for the world. All of them are like my family.
Amaluna
That kind of answers my second question, but does the room hit the userbase you wished for? If not, why do you think more people should check out the room?
Osiris
To be honest, I had no clue what we were looking for. I just wanted the room to stay active.
Amaluna
Where do you see the room in two years?
Osiris
I don't see much of a change happening; I know some people grow older and leave our website and we'll get some new faces. I'm just excited for the food!
Amaluna
Who / what inspired you to get into cooking?
Osiris
I grew up in a restaurant. It's been something that was a part of me my whole life really. Cooking is a major thing in my family.
Amaluna
What do you enjoy the most about being Room Owner in Cafe Le Wow?
Osiris
Posting pictures of food for everyone to see. There's nothing better than the excitement of multiple people seeing something that looks so incredible.
Amaluna
Do you have any advice for people that are new to cooking or the room?
Osiris
Practice!! Practice cooking. The only way to learn is to try. I used to love experimenting with food. Testing what flavors worked with what. New people in the room, watch out for that Imagi guy...he's pretty dangerous.
Amaluna
Is there anything you would like to tell the people that read this interview?
Osiris
Idk.. Cooking is cool I guess. :)
Amaluna
Thanks for having this interview with me, looking forward to the showimages that are always way too big!
Conclusion
So, now that you know a tiny bit of background of the room, have introduced to the room-specific events, know what we talk about, and have exposed to the big names of the scene, you probably have gone to the simulator again and joined the room immediately. Whether you like to eat McDonalds for whatever reason, discuss why you think strawberries are the best fruit, or tell people how bad pineapple on a pizza or ketchup on an egg is, this is the place to go to. The activity has increased drastically since the room was first created and we hope to expand that even further. The dedicated userbase, chat activities, relaxing and accepting atmosphere, and wonderful people within the room should be reason enough for you to click this button and join the room! See you there!| « Previous Article | Next Article » |