Rising Stars: Meet Kyle Montplaisir of Palms, Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Montplaisir

Hi Kyle, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve loved being on camera and eating crazy foods for as long as I can remember.

My mom tells this great story about when I was a kid and would never stop talking, so she offered me $5 once if I could stay quiet for ONE song. And I couldn’t do it. Certified yapper since 1991.

And on the food front, I was a super picky eater as a kid and that surprisingly hasn’t changed at all. One of my friends always comments “you’ll eat this and not onions?!” when I post videos of me trying Flamin’ Hot Mountain Dew or Pumpkin Spice Cup Noodles or Skyline Chili Ice Cream. But to me, I’d try the most unhinged flavor of ranch or cake or cookies before I’d ever put escargot or beets in my mouth.

So when I first started making food videos 7-8 years ago, it was just a fun creative outlet and excuse to try all the foods I found scouring every aisle of the grocery store. As time went on, I’ve stayed more up to date on new releases and collabs, even waking up at 4am to order Everything Bagel Kraft Mac and Cheese.

But I’ve found some genuinely great foods that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise through all of it. Apple Jacks Pop Tarts being in my top 3 flavors?! Never would’ve seen that coming. A Raising Cane’s sauce dupe from Walmart? A new staple in our fridge. Craving a Blizzard? Now I know how to make one at home.

And I’ve made incredible friends! One of my favorite local bakeries, The Very Best Cookie in the Whole Wide World, makes some of my favorite sweet treats. And through making food content, I’ve gotten to be friends with the owner and connected her with my other friend who makes Sweet Cute Ice Cream, which she now sells at her shop! I never would’ve been able to do that without @kyleatethat and that’s what I’m really most grateful for.

Loqui, Petramale Pizza, Daniel’s Bagels, Fleurs et Sel, and Lei’d Cookies have all been instrumental in helping to build my portfolio too and just being the best people. Small businesses are so so worthy of our support and have been the backbone of my most popular content.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s this misconception that creating content is easy and it’s anything but that! Maintaining consistency even when you’re not getting the views or likes that you hoped for is incredibly difficult. I’m lucky enough to have a full-time job and another channel @carpoolkyleoke to support me but I’ve definitely gone through waves of feeling inspired and feeling uninspired and that has impacted my content. I love what I do but being constantly creative is tough to keep up for the long haul.

Also, in 2022, I realized that I didn’t have the healthiest relationship with food and needed to be more intentional about what I ate. That year, I lost 30 pounds in about four months by joining Noom and it honestly changed my life and my perspective on eating. I can still have all the treats and crazy food that I’ve always loved, but I understand better how to do that in moderation and how to have the other foods that I eat (which is 95% of what I eat) be more nourishing to my body. I have loved being more comfortable in my skin and feeling healthier, while also doing what I love!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a food and TV content creator! I have two different accounts, @kyleatethat and @carpoolkyleoke, where I post anything from reviewing new foods and drinks to recaps of popular reality TV shows. But what has really set me apart is trying crazy foods and figuring out the true identities behind the contestants on The Masked Singer and Claim to Fame!

I am most proud of being consistent in my posting and, for @carpoolkyleoke, being the go-to person that people look to to crack the case on The Masked Singer! I also hit 10 million views on a video, which was a huge accomplishment for me.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Los Angeles is a city full of dreamers and doers. No one gets here by chance. If you want to live in LA, you have to have the passion and drive to do it because it’s not cheap and it’s not easy, it’s not convenient and it can be extremely lonely because it’s such a transient city. But the result of that is a city full of people who live life to the fullest, dream big, and love hard. Once you’ve found your place here, it’s hard to imagine living anywhere else.

What I like the least is the driving, so I try to avoid that as much as possible. Do I want to try all the amazing food in SGV? Of course! But do I want to drive there ever? No. So because of that, most of my content is centered around the Westside.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyleatethat
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@kyleatethat
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kyleatethat