There are no hotter restaurants in New York City right now than Cote and Frenchette , and on this week's episode, we've got the chefs behind both of them: David Shim, the soft-spoken but intensely exacting chef of Cote tells Andrew how and why he gave up aspirations of professional soccer to pursue a pro cooking career, and how he went about designing the food for Cote's unique, modern take on a Korean steakhouse. Then, Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, the dynamic duo who brought their culinary vision ...
Jul 10, 2019•3 hr 25 min•Ep. 91
The wonderfully creative soul behind Dana's Bakery , Dana Pollack, left a successful career as a photo editor in pursuit of something more fulfilling. She attended culinary school, decided restaurant kitchens weren't for her, and began fashioning unconventional macaroons and other baked goods that have made her (mostly mail order) company a rousing success. Her story is one of career changing and finding an unconventional path in an ever-more-challenging industry. She and Andrew discuss what ins...
Jul 03, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 90
Our 2nd LIVE show took place last week at San Francisco Cooking School and it was a blast: Oakland-based chef Preeti Mistry joined Andrew to talk about everything from how one's identity is inevitably reflected in their food to the politics of the modern restaurant scene to her early tendencies toward the theatrical. In the second segment, a quintet of current and former Zuni Cafe chefs (Nate Norris, Quang Nguyen, Gail Pirie, John Clark, and Brandon Jew) discuss the legacy of the late Judy Rodge...
Jun 26, 2019•2 hr 18 min•Ep. 89
An intersection of the classic and contemporary defines today's episode: First up: Last week, Andrew made a pilgrimage to the legendary, three-Michelin-star Inn at Little Washington where the singular visionary Patrick O'Connell has been lording over his dream restaurant, inn, and other properties since 1978. While there, the two sat down for a revelatory conversation that has had Andrew's head spinning in all the best ways ever since. Then, we turn our attention to Los Angeles, and Lincoln Cars...
Jun 19, 2019•2 hr 41 min•Ep. 88
Two titans of the food world are the focus of this week's episode. First up, an Open Kitchen (non-chef) interview with Ed Levine, founder of Serious Eats and author of the new book Serious Eater: A Food Lover's Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption . And, from the Chef's Roll Anti-Convention in April, we are thrilled to present a tribute to legendary chef Jeremiah Tower , subject of the recent documentary The Last Magnificent, and creator of Stars and other restaurants. In addition to catching...
Jun 12, 2019•2 hr 49 min•Ep. 87
A never-before-aired, recently rediscovered interview with Anthony Bourdain , whom we lost a year ago this week. On April 29, 2014, Tony was kind and generous enough to sit down over lunch with Andrew for a two-part conversation, covering everything from his early days as a cook to his transition to a writer and television icon, to coping with fame, meeting his idols, how the industry has changed over the years, and speaking his mind. Originally recorded for print use in a busy restaurant, the a...
Jun 05, 2019•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 86
Four interviews, all recorded outdoors in the splendor of Santa Monica at the recent Los Angeles Chef Conference : Spago's Della Gossett; Providence's Michael Cimarusti; Laura Avery and Meredith Bell on the legendary Santa Monica Farmer's Market ; and Brooke Williamson of Playa Provisions , The Tripel, Hudson House Bar, and TV's Top Chef. Plus a conversation on the origins of the festival and the world of chef recruiting with festival founder Brad Metzer. This will be our last anthology episode ...
May 30, 2019•2 hr 54 min•Ep. 85
As Bâtard (his collaboration with John Winterman and Drew Nieporent) turns 5-years old, and he settles into a new phase of shepherding two restaurants (he's also executive chef of Keith McNaly's Augustine), Markus Glocker sits down with Andrew to discuss his old-school European training, how he takes flavor to the brink even in traditional recipes, and his time working for such legends as Gordon Ramsay and the late Charlie Trotter. Hear how this self-described classicist makes his preferred styl...
May 22, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 84
*** This episode originally aired on our former host network; Andrew Talks to Chefs is now an independent podcast please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.*** Two big winners at last week's James Beard Foundation Awards join Andrew on this week's show: Kwame Onwuachi of Kith and Kin in Washington, DC, and author of the new book Notes from a Young Black Chef , who was named Rising Star Chef; and Kell...
May 15, 2019•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 83
Raised as a "bar baby" by his devoted jazz musician father and just-as-loving mother, it might have seemed that Milton Abel II was destined for a life onstage himself. But after a period of self-discovery, this Kansas City native found his way to the professional kitchen, eventually settling on pastry and rising to the top of such world-renowned kitchens as The French Laundry , Per Se , and Noma. Today, he's a partner in the Copenhagen bakery and coffee roastery Andersen and Maillard and the sub...
May 08, 2019•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 82
Andrew took his podcasting gear on the road again (this is getting to be a habit) and recorded interviews with 5 participating chefs at the recent Chef’s Roll Anti-Convention in San Diego, California, earlier this month. This 3-hour episode should keep you entertained through our between-season break: Listen at your leisure to intimate conversations with LA’s Nyesha Arrington ; Boston’s Barbara Lynch ; Napa’s Ken Frank ; San Diego’s own Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins ; and Modernist Cuisine’s Francisc...
Apr 24, 2019•2 hr 57 min•Ep. 81
A rare food-focused episode of the pod, featuring two of the preeminent pizza specialists working in the United States today: US-born Dan Richer of Jersey City's Razza and Italian-born Daniele Uditi of Brentwood's Pizzana . While Daniele was on the East Coast to collaborate on a special dinner with Dan, the two took time out from their preparations to sit down with Andrew and talk about how they found their way to pizza-making, what makes their individual approaches distinct, and the obsessivene...
Apr 17, 2019•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 80
Not many people can lay claim to having shaped the restaurant world that we dine in today, but Michael McCarty is surely one of them. As his masterpiece, Michael's Santa Monica , prepares to celebrate its 40th Anniversary with a special dinner later this month, Andrew sat down with this visionary (featured on the cover of Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll) to discuss his original vision for the restaurant, the innovations he introduced there (nightly staff meetings!); how American food moves for...
Apr 10, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 79
Pull up a chair at the table in the window and join Andrew as he gets to know Clare de Boer and Jess Shadbolt , the British-born team behind the ever-changing menu at downtown Manhattan's wonderfully received Kings restaurant . The kitchen collaborators share their approach to honing the restaurant's culinary style, how they've managed growth and evolution, and the highs and lows of their first years in business. A casual, open hour of shop talk with two of the more successful young cooks (their...
Apr 03, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 78
A great many professional cooks and chefs shifted to the kitchen after one or more earlier careers. On this episode, we speak to two women whose stories exemplify the possibilities available if you can muster the courage to make a change: Alycia Matthews is a New Jersey-based engineer whose love of cooking was so persistent that after years of wrestling with the impulse, she began attending culinary school in her late 30s, and will graduate the Institute of Culinary Education this May. (Her stor...
Mar 27, 2019•2 hr 32 min•Ep. 77
We're not sure what the odds are of two Nashville chefs turning up in New York City on the same day, but somehow they did, and we were lucky to book them both for back-to-back interview sessions. First up: Chopped judge and prolific chef and restaurateur Maneet Chauhan takes us through her life and career, from her Indian childhood to her culinary training at the Culinary Institute of America to chef gigs in Chicago and the Tri-State area and ultimately to a home and success in Nashville. Then A...
Mar 20, 2019•2 hr 29 min•Ep. 76
Last weekend, an international who's who of chefs gathered in the City of Brotherly Love for the 6th Annual Philly Chef Conference . In between speaking gigs, Andrew was fortunate to sit down with some of the chefs who are making huge dents in the culinary universe right now. They are (in alphabetical order): Mashama Bailey of the Grey in Savannah, GA (recently the subject of a Chef's Table profile); Katie Button of Cúrate and Button & Co in Asheville, NC; Genevieve Gergis, co-owner & pa...
Mar 13, 2019•3 hr 25 min•Ep. 75
After honing his style in pop-ups for three years, Chef Nico Russell opened his Oxalis restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, about 12 weeks ago. On the day after he was inducted into Star Chefs' Rising Stars for New York, Class of 2019, we are delighted to run this conversation with a talent Andrew agrees is one to watch in the coming weeks and months. They get into how Nico's family kitchen--blending Mexican and Filipino influences--growing up influenced his palate, why he's attracted to French cui...
Feb 20, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 74
While in New York City to collaborate on a special dinner with her pal Sara Jenkins at Porsena , Cathy Whims made some time to visit with us, and man are we glad she did. This modest chef from Portland, Oregon (originally from North Carolina where she initially wanted to be a dancer) has been honing her touch with traditional Italian food there since the early 1980s. Her personal story and point of view compel, as do her recollections of the American chef revolution during her formative years. T...
Feb 13, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 73
In the quiet town of Chester, Connecticut, in a former bank building on Main Street, Chef-Owner Joel Gargano --who trained under Jonathan Benno at Lincoln Ristorante in New York City--is turning out sublime and refined spins on classic Italian cuisine at his Grano Arso . Andrew recently (and accidentally) braved a ""snow squall"" to dine at the restaurant and interview Joel. The chef has a compelling story--the son of a baker who found his calling in the pro kitchen and developed his skills and ...
Feb 13, 2019•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 72
Angela Dimayuga's gift for weaving art, culture, politics, and locality into restaurant food & spaces inspired Standard International to create a new position for her in 2018. As the company's Creative Director of Food & Culture, Dimayuga--who first drew attention as Executive Chef of Mission Chinese Food in New York City--is taking a fresh look at all aspects of existing Standard restaurants and food programs, and helping shape them in upcoming projects such as a planned hotel in London...
Jan 30, 2019•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 71
Good day, from the 11th Annual Cayman Cookout . In this star-studded, revelation-packed, 4-interview compilation recorded at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, some of the most celebrated chefs on the planet join Andrew for intimate conversations: Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert talks about how practicing Buddhism and living in New York City have affected him as a chef; Dominique Crenn shares details of her tomboy youth, including her willingness to take on bullies, by force when necessary; Emeril Lagass...
Jan 23, 2019•2 hr 25 min•Ep. 70
Season 5 of Andrew Talks to Chefs kicks off with our action-packed, first-ever LIVE production from the Brooklyn Podcast Festival ! Tom Colicchio joins Andrew on stage for a one-on-one conversation covering everything from his culinary point of view to the origins of Craft restaurants and Top Chef to his social advocacy and political outspokenness to why he doesn't dig sous vide. Then chefs Greg Baxtrom (Olmsted), Alan Harding (Gowanus Yacht Club, et al), and Alex Raij (La Vara, Saint Julivert) ...
Jan 16, 2019•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 69
Pastry chef Bill Yosses has found more gears in his career than most chefs could imagine. From his early days at the four-star Bouley in New York City, to gigs at such landmarks as Tavern on the Green, to his years at the White House to his current role as pastry chef of The Four Seasons and chef of the much-lauded Broadway production of Network. Andrew and Bill sat down on a rainy Sunday in New York to go through it all—enjoy our last show of the year, with this great conversationalist and tale...
Dec 29, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 68
After spending about 20 years in New York City, and making a name for himself at his Brooklyn restaurants Seersucker, Nightingale 9, and Wilma Jean (among others), Arkansas native Rob Newton returned to the South and took over the kitchen at Gray & Dudley in Nashville, Tennessee. While back in town for Heritage’s annual holiday gala, Rob made time to join Andrew for lunch and an interview. They discuss modern Southern food, how it feels to return to the South after so long in New York, and t...
Dec 26, 2018•55 min•Ep. 67
How did a British-born chef, who spent most of his career in the United States, end up cooking his own distinct take on the food of Oaxaca in Washington, DC? To find out, Andrew sat down with Robert Aikens while he was in New York City to cook a James Beard House dinner. Robert took us through his fascinating beginnings (his twin brother Tom is also a chef), his move the the States, and the wide variety of jobs he’s held here, from private chef to cheffing for exclusive private clubs, to a brief...
Dec 26, 2018•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 66
In this time of giving, Andrew sits down with Alex Harris, the executive chef of Emma’s Torch, a not-for-profit Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, restaurant and school that teaches refugees English language and culinary skills in a fully functioning restaurant, then helps place them in jobs. It turns out that Alex’s life and career—he went to engineering school and was once on a lucrative career path in the pharmaceutical industry before working for companies like Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality...
Dec 22, 2018•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 65
A former model and corporate executive, driven to introspection after a natural disaster, resolves to move from her native Thailand to New York City and become a chef. That’s the improbable, and improbably successful, journey of Chef Hong Thaimee, who now presides over a number of Thai restaurants in New York City, with dreams of conquering the world “one pad Thai at a time.” Hong shares her story with Andrew, painting us a verbal picture of her Chiang Mai childhood, first days in New York City,...
Dec 19, 2018•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 64
Take a break from the madness of the holiday season, throw on a life vest, and join Andrew and Chef Kerry Heffernan as they chat on board Grand Banks, a restaurant situated on a converted boat docked off lower Manhattan. Kerry takes us through his career, from his days as a New York City line cook working for such legends as David Bouley, to his time in France with a fellow, then-unknown whisk named Tom Colicchio (who turned him on to fishing) to becoming a chef in his own right. Along the way, ...
Dec 15, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 63
From a retrofitted train car in San Antonio, Texas, chef/owners Diego Galicia and Rico Torres turn out some of the most exciting, constantly changing Mexican food in the United States today. While in New York City to cook their third James Beard House dinner, the pair sat down with Andrew to discuss how they met and became co-chefs and business partners, their approach to menu development and collaboration, and their next project. Here's a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your che...
Dec 12, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 62
