Watch Ad-Rock Talk Food, Make New Sandwich for Charity
Years after Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz rhymed about “mean muggin’ with a Blimpie Bluffin,” the former Beastie Boy is stepping up his culinary game with a new sandwich he designed with New York bánh mì hotspot, Num Pang.
Horovitz and Num Pang co-founders Ratha Chaupoly and Ben Daitz offered Rolling Stone an exclusive look at the making of the “Ad-Rock Pang,” which boasts pastrami from vaunted eatery Mile End Deli, pickled carrots with toasted caraway, cucumbers, cilantro and a chili Russian dressing. It’s a better alternative to Horovitz’s initial suggestion of a “spaghetti and meatballs sandwich,” which Daitz promptly dismissed.
Daitz and Horovitz also discussed their interweaving history, which began in 1986 when Daitz, living with his family in Paris, snuck out of his house to catch Beastie Boys and Run-D.M.C. at a concert that ended with fans flipping a tour bus and trying to snatch Jam Master Jay’s chains. Decades later, the pair struck up a friendship after Daitz approached Horovitz at a New York dog park and recalled this formidable experience.
Noting their friendship was formed over a love of dogs, both Horovitz and the Num Pang founders are donating all proceeds from the “Ad-Rock Pang” to the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition and Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue.
Along with his culinary exploits, Horovitz has slowly begun to carve out a future for himself after the Beastie Boys disbanded following the 2012 death of Adam “MCA” Yauch. He hasn’t given up music completely, playing bass in comedian-singer Bridget Everett’s band and scoring films like the romance, Truth About Lies, and No No: A Dockumentary about baseball player Dock Ellis. The rapper will co-star alongside Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts in Noah Baumbach’s new film, While We’re Young.
Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond have also been co-writing a memoir about their time in the Beastie Boys, though the former told Rolling Stone the book likely won’t see release for another few years. “I write a bunch of stuff and I send it to Mike, and Mike writes a bunch of stuff and he sends it to me. We just comment and have arguments on what we wrote,” Horovitz said of their writing process. “It’s more difficult to remember than it is emotionally. It’s fun. I’m remembering the fun things; not the depressing things. It’s going to be a weird book. [Publisher Spiegel & Grau] are giving us the freedom and leeway to do whatever we want.”