Wheeler Street Kitchen specializes in soup, but on the website, you say the space was too big to be exclusively a soup shop. Is this because of the size of the kitchen, or would you say some rooms are just too big to eat soup in?

It has more to do with being in Magnolia. We really like this location, but there's not enough traffic here to do just soup.

Do you think people named Campbell are drawn irresistibly to soup the way people named Galvin are drawn irresistibly to prostitutes?

No, though I'm a little disappointed we can't use the name "Campbell's Soups." There would be a lawyer here in 10 minutes.

What's in your ropa vieja chili?

We don't use ground beef—we cook whole meat until it breaks down. It's good to have a name that's a conversation starter so we can tell people about the cooking process.

Your decor includes metal panels studded with pressed sunflower seeds. Is it possible to order pre-seed-studded metal, or did you have to do that yourself?

We had a friend of mine do it. He's a stainless steel guy—his company's called Metal Masters. He really helped out a lot.

If you had to eat canned soup for some reason—let's say black bean—what's the first thing you would do to make it a more pleasant experience?

Put bacon in it.