The art world visits the food world on Lunch Therapy today with our patient, Simon Haas. Simon comes from a super talented family -- his mother's an opera singer, his father's a stone carver, and his older brother, Lucas, is an actor who you may remember from Mars Attacks and Witness -- and then there's Simon and his twin brother, Nikolai, aka: the Haas brothers, movers and shakers in the art world with pieces featured at the Smithsonian, LACMA, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In today's ses...
Jan 03, 2022•58 min
Lukas Volger is the author of five -- that's right, FIVE -- cookbooks, including Bowl: Vegetarian Recipes for Ramen, Pho, Bibimbap, Dumplings, and Other One-Dish Meals and Start Simple: Eleven Everyday Ingredients for Countless Weeknight Meals. He's also the co-founder of the influential queer magazine Jarry, which won a James Beard award in 2016 for John Birdsall's essay, Straight-Up Passing. In today's session, Lukas talks about the diet he's currently on, how he approaches recipe-writing, the...
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Stand-up comedian, Cobra Kai actor, and podcast host Dan Ahdoot (@standupdan on social media) and I met each other year's ago at a coffee shop in the West Village, and now I'm a professional lunch therapist and he's the host of a brand new Food Network show called Raid the Fridge (premiering December 28th at 10 PM). In today's session we talk all about seeking out the best restaurants when he travels, telling his parents that he wanted to be a comedian, arranged marriages, his mother's cooking, ...
Dec 06, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Eric Kim is so accomplished at such a young age, I need my own lunch therapist to talk about it. A former senior editor at Food52, he's now a staff writer for The New York Times food section, a monthly columnist for The NYT Magazine, and the author of the upcoming cookbook: Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home. In today's session, we talk all about Eric's indirect path into the food world, the cookbooks that inspire him the most, creating recipes, whether food writing can be taught, and t...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 1 min
The first rule of lunch therapy is "never cook for your patient," but I break that rule today with director Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins, Alex Strangelove) for a very good reason: I'm married to him. In today's very special episode, we go deep on his submissiveness about food, his love for all things gooey, why he feels uncomfortable in formal/fusty dining rooms, and his love for apple pie. We also talk about how we travel together, hosting dinner parties together, grazing on set, forgettin...
Nov 22, 2021•1 hr
My best friend Diana recently moved with her husband and kids back to New York from L.A. (I know, I need my own therapist to deal with this!). As a consequence of being back on the east coast and nearer to family, she's now cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for TWENTY people total. All of her siblings will be their with their spouses and kids, plus her parents, and to make things even more complex several of the guests are vegan and several of the guests have celiac (aka: they're gluten-free). So ho...
Nov 18, 2021•51 min
Today's Lunch Therapy patient, Bill Esparza, is the James Beard Award-winning author of LA Mexicano who's considered by many to be America's leading expert on Mexican food. He's also a renowned saxophonist who's traveled the world playing music with Brian Setzer, Bryan Adams, and Colin Hay. In today's session, Bill explains how to spot a good taco truck, how the pandemic impacted street food, growing up Mexican-American, his grandmother's cooking, and how he didn't learn Spanish until he was in ...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Nervous about Thanksgiving? Lunch Therapy is here to help! NYT cooking guru (and the author of 42 cookbooks... wow) Melissa Clark was kind enough to answer a ton of cooking questions posed to me by my followers on Instagram. What's a foolproof menu for a first time Thanksgiving chef? Do you brine the turkey? Wet or dry? What about spatchcocking? How do you make things in advance and serve everything hot? What's the deal with gravy? Pie crust? Mashed potatoes? Hear all of your Thanksgiving cookin...
Nov 11, 2021•48 min
If you've ever watched a YouTube cooking video, there's a good chance you've encountered Carla Lalli Music, the former Food Director for Bon Appetit, and the author of two NYT bestselling cookbooks: Where Cooking Begins (which won the James Beard Award for Best General Cookbook) and, her latest, That Sounds So Good. In today's session, Carla talks all about growing up with her journalist parents (her mom was a restaurant critic), how she differentiated from them, how she made the decision to go ...
Nov 08, 2021•59 min
Chef Jeremy Salamon has been working in restaurants for years -- Locanda Verde, Buvette, Prune, and The Eddy, to name a few -- and next week he's opening his very own restaurant in Brooklyn called Agi's Counter, named after his Hungarian grandmother. So how do you go from restaurant-as-idea to an actual restaurant that people are going to be eating in this upcoming Monday? Jeremy walks us through it: from the concept to the fundraising to planning the menu to hiring a staff to designing the spac...
Nov 04, 2021•34 min
Laurie Woolever spent the past decade working as Anthony Bourdain's assistant. She's now the author of two books, one the NYT bestselling Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography and the other, co-written with Bourdain before his passing, World Travel: An Irreverent Guide. In today's session, Laurie opens up about her time working with Tony, explains how her voice is present in the biography without giving her own testimonial, and offers up her insight into what happened in his final days. We als...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Halloween's coming up this Sunday and as we all shop for candy to give out (and inevitably eat ourselves), the question arises: which Halloween candy is the best and which is the worst? In today's bonus episode, LA Times cooking columnist Ben Mims joins me to rank our least favorite Halloween candy and our most favorite Halloween candy. Will you agree or disagree? Only one way to find out.... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to di...
Oct 28, 2021•31 min
Hetty McKinnon is one of the most prolific food writers out there. She's the author of four bestselling cookbooks, including her most recent, TO ASIA, WITH LOVE. She also creates recipes for The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Delicious, Food52... the list goes on and on. In today's session, Hetty and I fly right out of the gate with a conversation about "authenticity" as an anachronistic word, how far she feels she can stray from her family's recipes, and how far she can stray from MY concept of w...
Oct 25, 2021•1 hr 2 min
My patient this week, Vallery Lomas, has been through a lot! The winner of the first season of The Great American Baking Show -- and the first black winner of the entire Baking Show franchise -- Vallery never had her victory air on TV because the show got cancelled after one of the judges was accused of sexual harassment. Vallery had the last laugh, though; she sold a baking book, Life Is What You Bake It, that's out now in stores and it's winning raves... Publisher's Weekly called it "an inspir...
Oct 18, 2021•1 hr 1 min
For this week's bonus episode, I asked my Instagram followers to ask me questions that I could answer in a Q&A. How do you cook a duck breast? Does buttermilk really tenderize meat? What's the most overrated food trend right now? And what do I think of this season of The Great British Bake-Off? Find out in this week's episode and if you'd like to submit a question, give me a follow on Instagram (@amateurgourmet) or send a question to lunchtherapist@gmail.com. See acast.com/privacy for privac...
Oct 14, 2021•33 min
One of my all-time favorite cookbooks has always been The Gift of Southern Cooking, co-written by the iconic and legendary Edna Lewis -- who blazed the trail for black chefs everywhere with her cooking and her writing -- and my patient today, her friend and colleague, James Beard award-winning chef, Scott Peacock. It was such a thrill to get to talk to Chef Peacock about his time with Ms. Lewis (as he calls her), to hear how she impacted his life, helped him embrace his Southern roots, and taugh...
Oct 11, 2021•1 hr 13 min
In this very special Thursday episode of Lunch Therapy, my parents -- Heidi and Bradley Roberts -- talk about how they lost sixty pounds each (!!) during the pandemic. Hear all about what they ate, how they exercised, how they stayed the course, how they rewarded themselves on the weekends, and how they got back on the horse when they slipped. I found it inspiring, maybe you will too! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss th...
Oct 07, 2021•35 min
John deBary is the author of DRINK WHAT YOU WANT, a mixology book that demystifies the art of creating cocktails at home, a skillset that John perfected first as a bartender at New York's legendary PDT and then for nine years as bar director for the Momofuku group. In today's session, we talk to John about washing lettuce, serving others. vs himself, being "a courtly bartender," performance anxiety, and studying drinks on flashcards. We also talk about the first successful cocktail that he inven...
Oct 04, 2021•1 hr 2 min
It's apple pie season... but what if you don't know how to make an apple pie? Let me be your apple pie therapist and walk you through it. There are lots of things to think about: butter vs. shortening, food processor vs. fingers, Granny Smith vs. an assortment of apples. In this session, I walk you through the entire process: from keeping your butter cold (I say that a lot), to peeling your apples, to rolling out your pie dough, to getting it beautifully brown in the oven. Take it from me, a for...
Sep 30, 2021•28 min
Chelsea Peretti is a comedian, writer, actress (she played Gina Linetti on Brooklyn 99) and she's our patient this week on Lunch Therapy. in today's session, Chelsea talks about her dad's cooking, whether she's an extrovert or introvert, her issues with fish skin, her mom's tart and tangy salad dressing, and why she loves artichokes. We also talk about looking for something spiritual when hunting for food, an actor she once met who ate a cup of broccoli on their birthday, how she got into stand-...
Sep 27, 2021•1 hr 1 min
In this very special bonus episode of Lunch Therapy, I dig into one of my favorite topics: dinner parties. I've been throwing dinner parties forever and here I walk you through my most recent, a birthday dinner for three of my closest friends. How did I plan the menu? How did I approach the grocery store? When did I start cooking? How did I deal with dishes? How did I know how much food to make? What did I listen to in the kitchen? Hear all of these questions answered, and more, in this solo ses...
Sep 23, 2021•48 min
Zach Schiffman is a 25 year-old stand-up comedian in Brooklyn who's worked for Full Frontal with Sam Bee and currently works for Tooning Out the News. In today's session, we talk about the foods that Gen Z-ers eat, Zach's fear of knives, the Jewy food that his mom makes, and his love for dessert. We also cover the courage it takes to do stand-up comedy, feeling more Jewish than gay, his dad's obsession with pocket knives, and his talk show-themed Bar Mitzvah. See acast.com/privacy for privacy an...
Sep 20, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Bonus episode alert! Recent Lunch Therapy patient Ben Mandelker and I went to dinner together this week at a new L.A. restaurant called Bari and, in this bonus episode, we walk through our meal course by course to render a verdict. We also cover topics such as: restaurant tops and bottoms, breaking the fast, how much to drink at dinner, how to pronounce fagiolini, digestifs, and our true feelings about wax beans. If you'd like to be featured in a future bonus episode, send me a food-related ques...
Sep 17, 2021•31 min
Food blogger and cookbook author Jenny Rosenstrach (Dinner: A Love Story, Dinner: The Playbook, How to Celebrate Everything) has a brand new cookbook out, The Weekday Vegetarians, which just hit #3 on the NYT bestseller list. In today's session, we talk about being a three-day empty nester (her youngest daughter just went off to college), how she goes about writing a cookbook, what she's been eating since her theree kids went to school, and how she and her husband negotiate who cooks what. We al...
Sep 13, 2021•59 min
Today's Lunch Therapy patient is my friend Ben Mandelker, the co-host of one of the most popular podcasts out there: WATCH WHAT CRAPPENS, a pod that dissects nearly every detail of every show that airs on Bravo. In today's session, we talk to Ben about Jill Zarin (my favorite Housewife), how Giada DeLaurentis got him into cooking, the link between eating crappy food and watching crappy TV, and putting pepperoni into pasta. We also cover how being gay makes you want to be the golden child, his in...
Sep 06, 2021•1 hr 2 min
If there were a Mount Rushmore of food bloggers, Molly Wizenberg would definitely be on it. Her food blog, Orangette, was pioneering in the way that she fused together personal storytelling, atmospheric pictures, and recipe-writing (it won the James Beard Award in 2015 for Best Food Blog). Since then Molly's written three books -- A Homemade Life, Delancey, and her most recent, The Fixed Stars (now in paperback) -- as well as co-hosted the podcast, Spilled Milk, which is now in its eleventh year...
Aug 30, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Lisa Donovan is the James Beard award-winning author of "Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger," a widely celebrated memoir about her time in the restaurant industry. She's also equally acclaimed for her baking: food critic Bill Addison has called her "one of the South's best pastry chefs" for her work at City House, Margot Cafe & Bar, and Husk, where she was famous for her buttermilk chess pie. In today's session, we hear all about her writing sabbatical in New Orleans, the difference between pleasi...
Aug 23, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Tara O'Brady is the multitalented food journalist (Saveur, Jamie Oliver, Bon Appetit) and cookbook author (Seven Spoons) who lives in Ottawa, Canada with her husband and two children. In today's session, we talk all about differentiating herself from her parents' cooking, the dish that she would make to best represent her, what she wants for her kids food-wise (it involves Pop-Tarts), and mixing work and normal life. We also get into the systematic racism she encountered after publishing her fir...
Aug 16, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Jake Cohen is such a nice Jewish boy, my mom wishes I could be more like him! He's the author of the NYT bestselling cookbook Jew-ish, he's got hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram, and Katie Couric loves his matzoh ball soup. In today's session, we talk all about body image, being chubby as a kid, staying in shape, his Bar Mitzvah theme, and the purpose of ritual regardless of belief. We also talk coming out to himself, going to the Culinary Institute of America, marrying ...
Aug 02, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Today's a watershed day on Lunch Therapy: we have our first couple! Byron Lane and Steven Rowley are both published authors; Byron's the author of A Star is Bored (now in paperback) all about his time working as Carrie Fisher's assistant. (It's a great read... I just finished it.) And Steven Rowley is the author of three widely-acclaimed novels: Lily and the Octopus, The Editor, and his newest, now in bookstores, The Guncle. In today's session, we talk about being on separate food journeys as a ...
Jul 26, 2021•1 hr 4 min
