In this 7-minute editorial, our first standalone statement of its kind, we encourage all listeners to vote, share a little information on how to do it, and take what we feel is an important stand. (There's no interview included, so if any of this will displease you, we've made it easy to opt out.) To learn more about how and where to vote anywhere in the United States, visit iwillvote.com . Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page –pledge $10 or more per month and ga...
Nov 03, 2020•8 min
Dubbed "the Champagne Empress of Greenwich Village" by The New York Times , Ariel Arce presides over a quartet of downtown Manhattan, Champagne- and wine-themed establishments including Air's Champagne Parlor , Tokyo Record Bar , Niche Niche , and Special Club. She also just authored her own book (due out November 3), Better with Bubbles . Ariel recently sat down with Andrew to talk about her childhood as a theater kid, getting turned on to hospitality at The Office in Chicago, and her circuitou...
Nov 02, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 135
From a childhood in Israel, to life as a street seller in Germany, to jobs in top New York City kitchens to success as chef-owner of Taim, Balaboosta, and Kish Kash, chef Einat Admony is an open book. On this episode, she opens up to Andrew about how being a middle child set the tone for her life; why she loves cooking; what it was like to serve in the Israeli military; and the twist of fate that led her to her husband and business partner. Oh, and she's also an amateur stand-up comic. All that ...
Oct 27, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 134
Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli (aka "The Franks") have been operating a collection of restaurants in Brooklyn, NY, for many years now, starting with their Frankies Spuntino and including past classics such as Prime Meats and current joints like Frank's Wine Bar, Frankies Pantry & Bottle Shop, and F & F Pizzeria, all on the same block in Carroll Gardens . The Franks are also participating in S.Pellegrino's (our promotional partner) inaugural Destination Dining series, in which pair...
Oct 22, 2020•49 min•Ep. 133
Barbara Sibley came to New York City from Mexico in the early 1980s and fell in love with the restaurant industry thanks to time working at the storied La Tulipe in Greenwich Village. Today, she owns and operates La Palapa, an authentic Mexican restaurant, and is creative director of Holiday Cocktail Lounge, in the East Village. Barbara and Andrew caught up recently in the garden behind Holiday Cocktail Lounge and discussed a wide range of industry, and non-industry, subjects. Please consider su...
Oct 20, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 132
For our money, there's no better writer in the food realm today than John Birdsall. In his new book The Man Who Ate Too Much , a biography of James Beard that commingles the icon's life story with a history of both America's relationship with food and queer life in the United States. John spent five years researching and writing the book, producing a brilliant and moving work. We invited John on the pod to discuss the life of this little understood figure, John's writing process, and topics rela...
Oct 16, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 131
David Kinch and his Manresa restaurant team are at the center of the new documentary "A Chef's Voyage," about the time they spent in France, collaborating on meals with the chefs and kitchens of three venerated restaurants. David discusses the movie and some topics it raises, and reflects on the loss of Pierre Troisgros, who died last week. And Matt Sartwell, managing partner of the fabled Kitchen Arts & Letters bookshop in New York City, takes us inside their decision to launch a GoFundMe c...
Sep 29, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 130
Akhtar Nawab grew up in one of a handful of Indian families in Louisville, Kentucky, before setting his sights on the pro kitchen and New York City. After thriving in kitchens such as Gramercy Tavern, he made a name for himself as a chef in his own right, eventually opening his Alta Calidad in Brooklyn, among other restaurants. Akhtar recently saw his first cookbook, Good For You: Bold Flavors with Benefits --published so we asked him on the pod to talk about his book, career, and life as a chef...
Sep 22, 2020•57 min•Ep. 129
Friend of the pod David Nayfeld, one of our favorite recurring guests, has launched his own podcast, The Main Ingredient with David Nayfeld , cohosted and produced by Manny Jimenez (aka Manny J) . David checks in from San Francisco to talk about his new show, why he launched, it some of his first guests (including Dominique Crenn and Gwyneth Paltrow). And, of course, he and Andrew can't help a little shop talk along the way. If you enjoy this episode of the show, check out our earlier conversati...
Sep 18, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 128
We are delighted to share our first-ever guest-hosted and curated episodes of the pod. In a 2-episode special report, educator and former chef Scott Alves Barton moderates 4 conversations among Black professionals in food. Two of the panels comprise Black chefs, one features four writers and editors, and one features two chef-farmers. Our hope is that taken together, this report helps foster a greater understanding of, in Scott's words, "what it means to be Black and professional in food." For o...
Sep 17, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 127
We are delighted to share our first-ever guest-hosted and curated episodes of the pod. In a 2-episode special report, educator and former chef Scott Alves Barton moderates 4 conversations among Black professionals in food. Two of the panels comprise Black chefs, one features four writers and editors, and one features two chef-farmers. Our hope is that taken together, this report helps foster a greater understanding of, in Scott's words, "what it means to be Black and professional in food." For o...
Sep 16, 2020•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 126
The coastal town of Mystic, Connecticut, boasts an emerging culinary scene, and chef James Wayman is at its center, helming Oyster Club , as well as the hybrid butcher shop-restaurant Grass & Bone and Engine Room , a bar--all in partnership with proprietor and fellow cook Dan Meiser. Andrew and James recently sat down for our first in-person interview since the lockdown began in March, and it was a total joy. Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page –pledge $10 o...
Sep 10, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 125
Friend of the pod Kelly Fields, whose desserts at Willa Jean restaurant in New Orleans have captured the national imagination, just launched her first cookbook, The Good Book of Southern Baking . Kelly joins Andrew to talk about the book's mix of classic and idiosyncratic recipes; Kelly's philosophy that savory cooking and baking aren't as different as many believe them to be; and some favorite dishes in the book (in addition to her legendary chocolate chip cookie). For more about Kelly, listen ...
Sep 09, 2020•32 min•Ep. 124
In culinary circles, chef Mark Ladner is widely admired for his versatility in the realm of Italian food: He created the very distinct menus for restaurants ranging from Lupa to Otto to Del Posto to the fast-casual Pasta Flyer. Currently, he's culinary director of Moby's restaurant in East Hampton, NY. Andrew drove out to Moby's to catch up with Mark on the day he staged a one-night-only Italian barbecue--a special event created in partnership with our own promotional partner S.Pellegrino. As al...
Sep 08, 2020•43 min•Ep. 123
Friend of the show (and of Andrew personally) chef Erick Williams of Chicago's Virtue restaurant recently asked us to host a conversation between him and his father, Ricardo Isom, about an unfortunate American tradition known as "The Talk," in which Black parents tell their children how to behave in interactions with the police. Sparked by the murder of George Floyd and the protests it inspired, and shared on the week Jacob Blake was shot in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, this convers...
Aug 29, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 122
Esquire 's Culture and Style Director Kevin Sintumuang discusses this year's America's Best Bars list , an eclectic class of new and classic bastions of beer, wine, cocktails, and myriad foods. Join us for this fun, energetic celebration of the distinct pleasures bars offer and a look at how the magazine creates the list, as well as some of this year's selections. Yes, we're in a pandemic, but many of these bars are offering takeaway or outdoor service, and they and other bars need your support....
Aug 18, 2020•58 min•Ep. 121
Author Bill Buford recently debuted his new book Dirt , about his adventures in Lyon, France, training to be a professional cook and chef. That might sound like a stunt, but Buford--who also wrote the bestselling Heat , among many other literary accomplishments--actually went to cooking school and put in the hard yards in prep kitchens, and on the line. He and Andrew discuss key moments from the book and compare notes on pro kitchens, France, and some iconic figures. Please consider supporting A...
Jul 30, 2020•44 min•Ep. 120
Food and drinks writer and recipe developer Alicia Kennedy and Plate magazine editor in-chief (and former pro cook) Chandra Ram discuss two subjects that have been in the news recently: Recipe credit in restaurants and the media's role in creating and expunging bad kitchen behavior. This episode was occasioned by the articles "There's No I in Jam: Sqirl Wrestles with the Sticky Question of Who Really Owns a Recipe" and "How Food Media Created Monsters in the Kitchen." Please consider supporting ...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 119
Allison and Matt Robicelli are back for a new Shelter en Place discussion of the food & drink of Quentin Tarantino's classic Pulp Fiction . What's with all the coffee? The fast food? Why does Mia Wallace take Vincent Vega to the wacky Jack Rabbit Slim's for their (not a) date? We get into all that and more in this free-range conversation about one of everybody's favorite movies. Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page –pledge $10 or more per month and gain acces...
Jul 24, 2020•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 118
The LEE Initiative has been working to improve the restaurant industry for several years, with programs like a women's chef mentorship program. When COVID-19 swept across the United States, shuttering restaurants and leaving millions of industry employees out of work, founders Edward Lee , Lindsey Ofcacek, and their team instituted a number of new programs to help workers, farms, and other industry constituents across the United States. On this episode, Edward and Lindsey take time out from thei...
Jul 15, 2020•36 min•Ep. 117
Just before New York City went into lockdown mid-March, Russell Jackson--chef/owner of Harlem's tasting menu restaurant Reverence --sat down with Andrew for an in-depth interview covering his Southern California upbringing, his training in a handful of legendary restaurants in LA and San Francisco, why he came to New York, as well as such tangential subjects as Star Wars, Bruce Lee, social media, and being present. It's an action-packed hour and a bittersweet evocation of a pre-pandemic feeling....
Jul 07, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 116
A blast of normalcy in a longform biographical interview recorded pre-pandemic! In late January, before COVID-19 hit US shores and we shifted to nightly special reports, Andrew had the chance to sit down with Douglass Williams, who's had an amazing young life so far. Raised in Atlantic City, knocked off his path to track stardom by Crohn's disease as a teenager, and a graduate of Michelin-starred kitchens, Douglass has made a name for himself at Boston's Mida restaurant , where he was recently n...
Jun 23, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 115
On our last nightly special report, Daniel Boulud discusses the shutdown, the road to reopening, and the pain of being away from his team, as well as charitable efforts during the pandemic and his forecast for government support of the industry. Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible. Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page –pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. A...
May 29, 2020•43 min
Ryan King, editor in chief of the online magazine Fine Dining Lovers , takes us inside the numbers of two recent surveys conducted by the site, one with 8,000 diners and one with more than 2,500 hospitality professionals . He also discusses the online forum Turning the Tables , hosted by Fine Dining Lovers this week, that gathered industry thought leaders from around the world to discuss what a post-pandemic dining landscape might look like, Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these spec...
May 29, 2020•40 min
On the week the French Open would have begun, veteran tennis writer Joel Drucker joins fellow tennis-lover Andrew to discuss food rituals and other traditions that he associates with the major tennis tournaments, the global community of tennis scribes, and what it's like to chase summer around the globe during a normal tennis season. (Follow Joel's Twitter feed here .) Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible. Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via...
May 26, 2020•31 min
Our quest for great chef- and food-focused entertainment continues, as it does every Friday, as our favorite guest critics Allison and Matt Robicelli join Andrew to discuss the lamentable 2018 rom-com "Little Italy" starring Hayden Christensen and Emma Roberts. How can we possibly explain (or forgive) the cultural stereotypes on display? Does anybody, anywhere actually talk like the people in this movie? What's with all the octogenarian love-making in this thing? And where does the name Robicell...
May 22, 2020•34 min
In our first-ever crossover episode, Rob Petrone--producer and host of the Hot Takes on a Plate podcast--joins Andrew to discuss the prospects of restaurants in a post-pandemic America, and Andrew joins Rob on his podcast to share his thoughts on the politics of the moment. Please enjoy this conversation, and then check out Rob's podcast ! Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible. Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page –pledge $10 ...
May 21, 2020•38 min
Lynn Buono and Skip Schwarzman of Philadelphia's Feast Your Eyes catering join Andrew to discuss the unique short- and long-term challenges faced by their industry during the COVID-19 era. Lynn and Skip share the adjustments they've made, from creating service-free meals to be served at events that are proceeding as scheduled, to adjusting contracts and commitments as ever-shifting government mandates dictate, to the special services they've created for clients' at-home dining needs and desires ...
May 20, 2020•36 min
Jesse Cool has been operating her Flea Street Cafe in Menlo Park, California, for 40 years, and has seen it all during that time. Except for a pandemic. She's used this opportunity for reflection and reevaluation to start developing a program she calls "Heart of House," eliminating front- and back-of-house designations in favor of a model where everyone pitches in on all fronts, and all employees share equally in supplemental "gratitude" contributions from customers. (Note: This episode was orig...
May 19, 2020•32 min
Our quest for great chef- and food-focused entertainment continues, as it does every Friday, with a look back at the Albert Brooks comedy and stealth food film Defending Your Life . Allison and Matt Robicelli join Andrew to discuss the prospect of guilt-free, consequence-free dining; why Heaven reminds us of Vegas ... or is it Disney World?; and Allison reveals a secret of The Simpsons that the world needs to know about. Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible....
May 15, 2020•38 min
