Back in March of 2018 we sat down with Vanda Asapahu of Ayara Thai for what would be, unbeknownst to us, our last in person interview for a long, long, long time. Somehow in the shuffle of the world shutting down, we misplaced the interview...until now! It’s a beautiful tale of family, food and building a special place for community and also is a snapshot of the restaurant industry before everything we knew about it changed forever. Then we are so excited to have TOMI back in for a live performa...
Aug 29, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 493
This week’s food guests are Tamy Rofe and Felipe Donnelly, husband and wife team behind beloved Colonia Verde in Fort Greene and newly opened Disco Tacos in Williamsburg. Felipe, a Colombian chef who spent his childhood throughout Spain, Brazil and Mexico, and Tamy, a sommelier, worked for award-winning global advertising agencies for more than a decade, before they began to host weekly dinner parties in their apartment. The dinner series quickly grew in popularity and evolved into pop-ups, and ...
Aug 09, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 492
Today’s episode is all about community and we’re spending time in two of our favorite cities to celebrate! First up we’re in Chicago, sitting down with Jenner Tomaska (Executive Chef & Owner) and Katrina Bravo (Creative Director & Owner), who are on the precipice of opening their first restaurant, Esmé . They share their vision of changing the perception of fine dining, the plan for local philanthropy and how they will integrate themselves into their neighborhood, Lincoln Park. Their new...
Aug 01, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 491
On today’s episode, we sit down with Tim Wiechmann, the award-winning chef and restaurateur (and musician) behind some of Boston's most beloved restaurants, including Bronwyn , T&B Wood-Fired and Turenne Bagels . A first generation German-American, Tim played guitar professionally with jazz and blues musicians like Ron Levy and Melvin Sparks throughout his 20s. He ended up pursuing a culinary career and worked in internationally acclaimed kitchens like Taillevent, L’Arpege and Joel Robuchon,...
Jul 25, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 490
On today’s episode, we sit down with one of our favorite LA chefs, Andy Doubrava, who currently oversees the kitchen of Santa Monica’s Rustic Canyon. We chat about the restaurant’s role as an enduring neighborhood spot, his deepening relationship with farmer’s market purveyors and his advice for what he looks for in hiring chefs. We also head into our archives for a perfect Sunday set from Small Black. Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is now on shelves...
Jul 18, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 489
We catch up with Nathan Hazard, owner and proprietor of Littlebear Bottleshop , located in the San Bernardino mountains. We took about his journey from the music industry to the beverage world, the winding path that took him out of LA and how his new store is the ultimate COVID pivot. Then we dip into our archives for one of delicious electronic performance from The Present. Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is now on shelves at bookstores around the wo...
Jun 27, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 488
On this week’s episode, we chat all things culinary and challah with LA based food stylist & photographer, Aliza J. Sokolow . Our conversation takes us to the start of her career in food during the 2009 financial crisis, as she shares tips about her professional journey, her pivots during an impressive career and her continuing work with charity. She also shares a preview about her first book “THIS IS WHAT I EAT” coming out with Random House Kids / Rodale Books in Summer of 2021. Then we dip...
Jun 20, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 487
As we ease back into drinks with friends, we are joined by our newest friend and rum entrepreneur, Marc Farrell. In summer 2019, young Trinidadian entrepreneur Marc, a Harvard Biz alum + Starbucks' youngest ever VP, set out on his own to challenge expectations around rum in the U.S. and reinvigorate the way people taste, experience and talk about the spirit, launching a premium rum brand that did away with the tired old pirate and plantation tropes and instead genuinely reflected his Caribbean h...
Jun 13, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 486
We sat down with the legendary LA Hainan Chicken Whisperer, Johnny Lee, to talk about his restaurant, Pearl River Deli . We discuss growing up in East LA, his perspective on cooking Chinese food and the upcoming plans for his dinner menu. Then we sit down with brothers Keaton & Kacey of Raised on TV to chat about their new album, “Fernando” and to enjoy some live tracks of some of their recent releases. We talk about recording as brothers, their singles only release plan and what recording w...
Jun 06, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 485
Bay Area native David Nayfeld is the Executive Chef and Co-Owner of the award-winning restaurants Che Fico and Che Fico Alimentari in San Francisco. Nayfeld boasts a venerable restaurant pedigree having worked alongside some of the most esteemed names in the industry. In 2018, Nayfeld opened his first restaurant, Che Fico, which features Italian cuisine through the lens of California. In 2019, he opened Che Fico Alimentari, a Roman-inspired, wine- centric restaurant and Italian market featuring ...
May 23, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 484
Leslie Merinoff is the co-founder of Matchbook Distilling Co. in upstate New York. This small batch, bespoke distillery comes with the intention of coaxing spirits into being from the ground up. Art d’Ecco joins us to talk about his new record, In Standard Definition . A concept album about entertainment. Like channels on an old television set - each song presents an episodic look into this world, our obsession with celebrities and the power they hold over us. Joining forces with producer/engine...
May 09, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 483
We check back with New Orleans hero Devin De Wulf, who we met last year through his efforts of Feed the Front Line. He catches us up on his teams’ year of activism and new efforts. His new focus (of which there are many) is Feed the Second Line, which focuses on elders in the community, and Nola Bean Coin, a local currency to save the Big Easy’s favorite watering holes. https://www.feedthefrontlinenola.org/ https://www.feedthesecondline.org/ https://nolabeancoin.com/ Snacky Tunes: Music is the M...
May 02, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 482
Greg & Darin were invited to sit down with Print: A Bookstore to chat about their book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon). They were joined with writer & restaurateur Briana Volk , to talk about food, music and share some insights from putting the book together. Check out Print: A Bookstore for more of their events and see one of American’s coolest independent bookstores. Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon)...
Apr 25, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 481
International Pizza Consultant and longtime friend of the show, Anthony Falco, stops by for a hang. We talk about his career, which has taken him from Brooklyn to all over the globe, discuss what makes a great white pizza and get the skinny on his brand new cookbook, Pizza Czar . In the second half of the show, we dig into our archives and revisit one of our most favorite live in-studio performances of all time. In 2013, Pam Autuori and Jacob Schreiber, better known as the Brooklyn duo, XNY, dro...
Apr 18, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 480
The Mediterranean Dish is the leading online resource for cooking spanning the breadth of the Mediterranean region, from South of Europe to North Africa and the Middle East. Suzy Karadsheh, a native of Port Said, Egypt, now living in Atlanta, launched the Mediterranean Dish inspired in part by her mother’s Egyptian cooking and her mother-in-law’s Levant-style cooking. She initially began the project as a hobby documenting her recipes for her American-born daughters before launching the site in 2...
Apr 11, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 479
This special episode is a live recording of the World's Biggest Family Meal , a global hospitality gathering supporting the food industry. We joined WBFM’s founder and host, Leiti Hsu, in a lively conversation with Lara Gilmore and Chef Massimo Bottura about music, food and the couple’s important work with their Food for Soul project. Food for Soul is currently building Refettorio Harlem , and we encourage you to please lend your support to the cause. For the musical portion of this episode we t...
Apr 04, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 478
Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our friend Jason Disu. We met Jason through Midnight Magic . He was an immensely talented musician, and just an incredible human being. He will be missed. We’re dedicating this show to him with an archived performance from Midnight Magic in our second half. We open the show with Chef Rashida Holmes of Los Angeles’ acclaimed Bridgetown Roti . Rashida was a restaurant sous chef before the pandemic devastated the hospitality industry. Needing a pivot, she dug i...
Mar 28, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 477
William Bradley is an icon of Southern California dining. His restaurant Addison is San Diego’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, and since 2006 it’s been wowing guests with its elegant degustation menus, high touch service and epic end-of-meal cheese cart. Like many chefs enduring the pandemic, William’s had to repeatedly close and reopen, pivot to takeout and devise a whole new plan for outdoor dining, but fortunately, he and Addison are still standing and still serving. Our musical guest, sin...
Mar 21, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 476
Noble Rot magazine hit shelves in 2013, and nothing has been the same in the world of wine writing ever since. Irreverent, informative and just good fun, amongst Noble Rot’s pages the boundaries between gastronomy and the creative arts often melt away, and you’ll find stories like a compare-and-contrast tasting of French and California wines with Brian Eno. Dan Keeling, the magazine’s co-founder, joins us for the first half of the show to share with us Noble Rot’s new book, Wine from Another Gal...
Mar 14, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 475
It’s that time of year again. We catch up with our dear friend, the legendary Michael Whiteman -- a.k.a. “the dean of restaurant consultants” -- who gives us a breakdown of his annual food and beverage trend report . The ongoing pandemic certainly has left the hospitality industry reeling, and Michael provides his insights into its long-term and short-term effects. Michael is the co-founder of the pioneering hospitality consulting company, Baum + Whiteman LLC , renowned for creating two of the w...
Mar 07, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 474
Alan Delgado first hit the stoves as a kid in El Paso, TX, by teaching himself how to cook vegetable-centric dishes when his mother fell ill. He would eventually work in some of the best kitchens in Austin, including being Sous Chef at the critically acclaimed Mexican restaurant, Comedor. In 2020, during the pandemic no less, Alan moved to New York to become Director of Recipe and Development with Via Halcon Hospitality, the group behind Greenpoint’s Michelin-starred Mexican hotspot, Oxomoco . H...
Feb 28, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 473
We open this all L.A. show by cruising down Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks to pioneering restaurant, Anajak Thai . Justin Pichetrungsi is Anajak’s second-generation chef-owner, having joined his family’s nearly 40-year-old business a few years ago. Since coming onboard, Justin’s updates to the menu, which include adding a taco night and stellar list of natural wines, have made Anajak the buzziest Thai restaurant in the Valley. Musical guest singer-songwriter Henry Hall has been known to weave...
Feb 21, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 472
Last May we met up with Chef Ned Baldwin at Los Angeles’ premier culinary bookstore, Now Serving . At his NYC restaurant, Houseman , Ned’s earned high praise for his seasonal cooking, and simple, yet elegantly crafted, dishes. He dispenses his techniques and tips in his new cookbook, How to Dress an Egg , and it’s the subject of this special episode. Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music (Phaidon), is now on shelves at bookstores around the world. It features 77 of th...
Feb 07, 2021•53 min•Ep. 471
East Village sushi newcomer Rosella skews the common practice of importing fish from Japan, opting instead to source from local and regional waters in an effort to minimize its carbon footprint. The restaurant is also home to the talented trio of Chefs Jeff Miller and Yoni Lang, who were previously head chefs at Austin’s critically acclaimed, Uchiko, and beverage director and wine expert, TJ Provenzano, formerly of Brooklyn Oenology. We catch up with all three and find out what the new restauran...
Jan 31, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 470
We’re excited to have chef and restaurateur Dale Talde back on the show. We’ve followed Dale’s career for many years, and he was one of the very first contributors to our book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music . He stops by to talk about Goosefeather , his critically acclaimed modern Chinese restaurant in Tarrytown, NY, and shares what it’s like returning to the show Top Chef once again for its upcoming 18th season. Musically, we dig through our archives and revi...
Jan 24, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 469
Showcasing Los Angeles’ incredible women-owned restaurants, the Regarding Her festival (RE:Her) takes its inaugural flight on January 21. The 10-day event features a roster of 100 participating restaurants from all across the sprawling metropolis, and is a spectrum of the city’s diverse cuisines and eateries. Lien Ta, of All Day Baby , and Heather Sperling of Botanica , are two of RE:Her’s nine founding members, and they give us the rundown of how the festival came to be and what you can expect ...
Jan 17, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 468
Though he’s only been in the industry for a relatively short period of time, Keith Corbin has already established himself as a talented chef to watch. As the Executive Chef of Los Angeles’ Alta Adams , he’s been garnering wide acclaim for his creative California soul food cooking. We catch up with Keith to talk about preparing meals for his family growing up in Watts, his approach to the menu at Alta Adams and what it’s been like trying to stay afloat during a global pandemic. Keeping things Ang...
Jan 10, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 467
We’re revisiting stops on our recently wrapped 2020 virtual tour in support of our new book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music . This pandemic plagued year has certainly reminded us of the importance of maintaining perseverance and hope. No other city is more imbued with that never-out-of-the-fight spirit than New Orleans, and it seemed fitting to conclude our tour there. Sitting down with us for a poignant discussion on music and food being beacons of light durin...
Dec 27, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 466
We’re revisiting stops on our recently wrapped 2020 virtual tour in support of our new book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music . Our London visit really had us nostalgic for those good ol’ days. Generating that fuzzy warm feeling were a trio of longtime Snacky Tunes pals, Chef Isaac McHale and Daniel Willis, co-owners of the Clove Club , Luca and Two Lights ; and musician Al Doyle of Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem . In addition to reminiscing about past hangs, we ta...
Dec 20, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 465
We’re revisiting stops on our recently wrapped 2020 virtual tour in support of our new book, Snacky Tunes: Music is the Main Ingredient, Chefs and Their Music . Our most international meetup spanned three of Earth’s hemispheres and 14 time zones. It was an India and Brazil hang with Chef Pooja Dhingra of Le 15 Patisserie + Cafe and singer-songwriter Lisa Mishra , who were both in Mumbai, and Chef Manu Buffara of Manu who joined us from Curitiba. Anjali Batar, founder of Food Talk India , graciou...
Dec 13, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 464
