There can be no doubt that Bronwen Percival has found her calling, and her passion for cheese is downright infectious. The reach of cheese is massive: historical, scientific, cultural, economical, agricultural. We talk about all these aspects of cheese, and more. Bronwen is the co-author of the book "Reinventing the Wheel: Milk, Microbes and the Fight for Real Cheese." She gives us her top tips for getting your hands on real cheese and how to nudge the industry in the right direction. I also tal...
May 31, 2018•38 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Venetia Falconer is the host of the podcast Talking Tastebuds, where she talks with people about their relationship with food. Venetia is also a presenter and producer. In this episode, we talk about her journey with food and when the significant shifts have happened in her life; from having a disordered relationship with food to having it be something she enjoys most in life. She also talks about her decision to be vegan and how she handles the potentially awkward social elements of that, as we...
May 23, 2018•34 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This episode is all about audio. “The idea that you can have something completely conjured by just closing your eyes is really special," Hester Cant told me as we talked about why she chose her career path. Hester and I talk about the intersection of food, culture and audio storytelling, and how what you wanted to do when you were 12 years old says a lot about what you should be doing with your life. I also talk with my brother an incredibly talented & successful professional musician, who j...
May 16, 2018•32 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Niki Kopcke is the founder of Mazí Mas, a catering company and roaming restaurant in London that employs and trains migrant and refugee women. Mazí Mas is all about bringing the most unique part of a culture's cuisine to you while transforming the misperception of migrant and refugee women. Niki's work at the moment is focused on getting people to see migrant and refugee women as skilled professionals (which is exactly what they are). Niki is both a passionate creative -- she loves food and cook...
May 09, 2018•37 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode I talk with Milly Kenny-Ryder about how and why she launched the beautiful design-inspired indie travel guidebooks Weekend Journals, and the steep learning curve she and her partners faced in bringing all the various aspects together (choosing the paper stock, how to get a barcode, deciding which venues made it in the book). Where there’s a will, there a way... Milly explains why they published without any investors in order to maintain creative control (they got a bank loan). We...
May 02, 2018•32 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In this episode I talk to Adam Vanni, director and co-founder of Jarr Kombucha. He gives me a tour of Jarr's production facilities in East London and we talk about how they launched this product in a market where people didn’t understand what kombucha was. We consider how much luck may have to do with beginning a company from scratch, and the importance of community to make an idea reality. We talk a bit about the science behind kombucha and we touch on the health benefits, as well as how it get...
Apr 25, 2018•35 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Ed Levine is the founder of the popular website Serious Eats, a food site that now has over 10 million unique visits a month. Prior to founding Serious Eats, he had written about food for the New York Times, had written some books, and he wanted to create "a place online that was like a clubhouse for food enthusiasts -- for people who wanted to share their passion." That's exactly what he's done with Serious Eats and the SE community. In this episode, we talk about how he founded his company (an...
Apr 18, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 8
This episode is with Henrietta Inman, pastry chef and cookbook author, talks with me about WHY she loves using untraditional baking ingredients (it's not just to be "healthy") and she also talks me through how her love of gardening and hosting people at her home has influenced her career. I learn the term "eaty-talky," she makes Zoolander references and we agree that social media somehow seems even more of a double-edged sword when you're self-employed. She talks us through her experiences writi...
Apr 11, 2018•34 min•Season 1Ep. 7
"We have a lot more in common than we think we do." This is one of my favorite quotes from this episode, and it gets at the heart of why I create this podcast and also why Graham began Bring Your Own Story (BYOS), a supper club that puts the emphasis on human connection around the table rather than the food on the table. Highlights of this episode include Graham describing how he forms community, both in his business and in his personal life, how he gets out of his own head when he hits a creati...
Apr 04, 2018•35 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Chef Philip Juma is a self-trained chef in London. Born to an Iraqi dad and Irish mom, he worked in finance until he had the realization that "doing what you love is more important than any paycheck." Fast-forward a little less than a decade later, Phil owns a business that does popups and catering called Juma Kitchen, he writes a regular column on Iraqi cuisine for the London Evening Standard, and he does food demos at locations like London's iconic Borough Market. Always a fan of London's food...
Mar 28, 2018•37 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Australian-born Maxine Thompson attended culinary school in NYC and launched a business in London. Talk about a worldly woman! She has grown Polka Pants, her business of bespoke chef's trousers for women, into a recognized brand that's getting much deserved attention. I begin this episode with an introduction to March being Women's History Month and give a hat-tip to just a few of the many amazing women in my life. Maxine is perfect to have on this episode acknowledging women because she's a roc...
Mar 21, 2018•29 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Edd Kimber is a professional baker -- he was the first winner of the Great British Bake Off! He's also a food photographer, food writer, podcaster and YouTuber. When it comes to running a cohesive brand, Edd does it all. In this episode of Keep It Quirky, Edd tells me about his journey from a dead-end, unsatisfying job to finding fulfilling work that he loves to do every day. He talks about balancing passion projects with projects that pay well, and he also gives us an inside look behind the sce...
Mar 14, 2018•33 min•Season 1Ep. 3
This week I'm excited to have Oneika Raymond on the show. She is the woman behind Oneika the Traveller, a blog & Instagram platform that tackles issues of travel, race, gender and all the cross-sections of those topics. She's also a video host personality, and I snagged some time with her for this interview amid a video shoot I was co-hosting with her for the Travel Channel. In this episode, we talk about traveling alone as a woman, and further, as a woman of color. She opens up about why sh...
Mar 07, 2018•33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Melissa Hemsley is a cookbook author who has helped to revolutionize modern healthy home cooking, along with her sister Jasmine. Melissa has had a TV show on BBC Radio Four, she hosts a podcast called Life.Live.Better, and she just released a new cookbook called "Eat Happy: 30 minute feel good food." Melissa talks with us about her interest in what makes people tick and her passion for helping anyone get "kitchen confident." We're also joined by a pop-in guest, Venetia Falconer, of the Talking T...
Feb 28, 2018•32 min•Season 1Ep. 1
This is the pilot episode for the Keep It Quirky podcast! Julie Nolke, the personality of the Feeling Peckish YouTube channel, shares her creative process, what makes her tick and the struggles of being a multi-hyphenated career woman in the entertainment space. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 16, 2018•34 min
