In June of 1979, Channy arrived in Lincoln Nebraska as a refugee. After four years of no school and not knowing a word of English, she attended Lincoln High School; earned a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from Santa Clara University and undergraduate degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Channy worked in Silicon Valley as an engineer in the Aerospace and Biotech industries for 30 years before starting her own business, Angkor Cambodian Food and publishing her memoir, “Short ...
Jun 27, 2019•58 min•Ep. 87
Join Ethan & guest host Vallery Lomas for an interview with Hetal Vasavada . She's is the founder of the blog, Milk & Cardamom and a former MasterChef contestant who went from being a biochemist to feed media consultant. She consults on recipe development and content creation for culinary businesses. Her recipes have been featured in Huffington Post, TASTE and The Times of India. She lives in San Francisco, California. It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our list...
Jun 20, 2019•54 min•Ep. 86
Chef Alvin Cailan is a Filipino-American chef who grew up in Los Angeles, where he learned how to cook at a very young age. He attended the Oregon Culinary Institute , and later worked for culinary establishments such as Olympic Provisions, Bouchon, French Laundry, and more. Shortly thereafter, he opened his famed Eggslut (where he rose to fame), his chef-driven, gourmet concept which started as an egg-centric food truck but now has multiple locations throughout LA. Eggslut was inspired by his l...
Jun 13, 2019•54 min•Ep. 85
Join co-hosts Ethan & Jenny for a conversation with Material cofounders Eunice Byun and Dave Nguyen . They're longtime friends, and they launched Material in 2018 to bring people together and spark meaningful moments by creating high-quality, thoughtfully designed things for the kitchen. Eunice started her career at Goldman Sachs, has helped launch and advise several start-ups in the consumer space, and was most recently Head of Digital at Revlon. Her favorite dish to cook (and eat) are whol...
Jun 06, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 84
Vallery Lomas was working as a an attorney for the New York City government and writing a food blog when she was contacted by a casting director for the Great American Baking Show. She auditioned, was accepted and ultimately won the 2017 season, but it never aired. She has since appeared on CNN, the Hallmark Channel, ABC, and Fox, been featured in I have been featured in People Magazine, Buzzfeed, Forbes, Variety, Grubstreet, the Chicago Tribune, Food & Wine, presented at the 2018 James Bear...
May 30, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 83
This week, please join us in welcoming Alicia Kennedy to the studio! Alicia is a Long-Island born, Brooklyn-based food writer and recipe developer with a focus on the intersection of food and politics, veganism, and spirits. She’s the vegan recipe columnist for NYLON Magazine and a former Village Voice contributor. Her podcast, Meatless, features conversations with chefs and writers on issues around culture and meat consumption. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast . See Privacy Policy at https:...
May 23, 2019•56 min•Ep. 82
We are excited to sit down with Peter Stein, the owner and founder of Peeko Oysters! An ex-teacher and management consultant, he traded in his desk for the dock when he launched Peeko Oysters, the only oysters based out of New Suffolk, NY. Tune in as we talk to Peter about how his early childhood passion in aquaculture led him down the path to becoming an entrepreneur, the environmental benefits of oyster farming and the importance of creating more transparency in the fishing industry. Why Food?...
May 16, 2019•52 min•Ep. 81
Join us for a conversation with Will Horowitz, executive chef and owner of Ducks Eatery and Harry & Ida’s Meat Supply Co in New York City. His New York culinary heritage is deep rooted, with grandparents on both sides as local chefs: one a French-trained chef cooking seasonally on the North Fork of Long Island, the other running a traditional Jewish Delicatessen in Harlem. Will attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado for Tibetan Buddhism and eco-sustainability. There he spent extensi...
May 09, 2019•49 min•Ep. 80
After spending 16 years cooking at notable restaurants including Tabla, Zahav and ABC Kitchen, Zia Sheikh knew that he had a problem. He found himself turning to drinking and substance abuse to avoid his depression and cope with the pressures of working long hours in a high-stress kitchen environment. After a night of binge drinking almost cost him his life, Zia launched his nonprofit, Restaurant After Hours, an organization dedicated to the mental health of hospitality workers. Why Food? is pow...
Apr 18, 2019•52 min•Ep. 79
Liza de Guia had worked for ABC News and Plum TV when she launched food curated to tell stories about the artists and artisans who drive New York's food scene. She realized no one was making short documentaries about food on a weekly basis, so she decided to create the first of its kind. What began as a small video blog has since grown to partner with The New York Times , Food and Wine , Huffington Post and win numerous awards. Since 2009, Liza has single-handedly created over 200 short documen...
Apr 11, 2019•54 min•Ep. 78
This week, we are thrilled to welcome Daniel Gritzer , the Culinary Director of Serious Eats , into the studio! Daniel shares how his early passion for food — staging at legendary restaurant Chanterelle at the age of 13 in lieu of a bar mitzvah — influenced his culinary career path. He's had few twists and turns along the way, including nearly a year working on organic farms in Europe, where he harvested almonds and Padrón peppers in Spain, shepherded a flock of more than 200 sheep in Italy, and...
Apr 04, 2019•54 min•Ep. 77
After spending 10 years as an investment banker and management consultant, Minh Tsai became frustrated that he couldn’t find the delicious tofu and yuba he grew up eating in Vietnam. He decided to embark on a culinary journey to take back tofu, combining deeply traditional and pure methods with innovative production for his artisan tofu, yuba and soy milk product. After creating Hodo Foods , he launched a farmer’s market stand in Silicon Valley, eventually growing Hodo Foods to more than 4,000 r...
Mar 21, 2019•59 min•Ep. 76
"Join cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Catherine Piccoli, Curator at the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn. Catherine is a food historian and writer whose work focuses on the intersection of food, culture, memory, and place. As curator, she oversees the creation of MOFAD’s exhibitions and educational programming and was instrumental in the research, writing, and development of past major exhibitions, Flavor: Making It and Faking It and Chow: Making the Chinese American Restaura...
Mar 14, 2019•58 min•Ep. 75
This week, please join us in welcoming Lisa Curtis to the studio! Lisa is the Founder and CEO of @kulikulifoods, the leading brand pioneering the superfood moringa in the US market. She founded the company after working as a Peace Corps volunteer. Since then, she has grown her Peace Corps dream into a multi-million dollar social enterprise with products being sold in over 7,000 stores. Prior to Kuli Kili, Lisa served as the Communications Director of Mosaic, wrote political briefings for Preside...
Mar 07, 2019•53 min•Ep. 74
Deepti Sharma is the CEO and Founder of @ foodtoeat , an online food ordering and delivery service specializing in food trucks and restaurants. She started her company with the mission to connect immigrant, women and minority-owned food vendors to opportunities for growth - ultimately helping them strengthen their own business skills. She is also a Co-Founder of Bikky , a platform solving customer engagement for restaurants. Please tune in as we talk to Deepti about her incredible pioneering sto...
Feb 28, 2019•56 min•Ep. 73
Please join us in welcoming restaurateur Rose Previte to the studio! Rose spent her childhood helping her mother run her Middle Eastern catering business and restaurant. She then later spent over a decade working in bars and restaurants while getting a master's degree in Public Policy from George Mason University. After meeting her husband and traveling around the world to 30 countries, her time abroad inspired her to open award-winning restaurant Compass Rose in 2014 and then her second restaur...
Feb 21, 2019•51 min•Ep. 72
Join us this week for a conversation with Aneesha Hargrave and Ali Banks of Chopt Salads . Aneesha is Chopt's Executive Chef and left a career in auto parts sales to go to culinary school and become a chef, following a family passion for food and cooking. After building her foundational culinary skills and technique, she moved to NYC and found her dream opportunity at Chopt. Ali Banks, Chopt's head of R&D, built on a background in architectural, a culinary education in Paris mastering the fi...
Feb 14, 2019•54 min•Ep. 71
This week, we're joined by Adam Rosenbaum, CEO of the Meatball Shop. The Meatball Shop is known for their team first culture and aims to serve simple, sustainable, delicious food with no strings attached. Drawn to high-touch and community-focused communities, Adam joined the team in 2017 to strategically expand the business to major cities and markets. Prior to joining The Meatball Shop, he was the VP of operations for Patina Restaurant Group and SVP of Global Operations of Flywheel. Why Food? i...
Feb 07, 2019•59 min•Ep. 70
We are so thrilled to have Mohammad Modarres of Abe’s Meats joining us! Mohammad is a former biotech entrepreneur, game designer and political cartoonist who moved to NYC to start Interfaith Ventures , an incubator that creates products and programming promoting unity and dialogue across religions. Abe’s Meats grew naturally out of Interfaith and has since become its flagship product — it offers meat products that are both #halal and #kosher so they can be enjoyed without worry with friends and ...
Jan 31, 2019•53 min•Ep. 69
Join us for a conversation with Alex McCrery and Jenny Goodman: husband and wife, and cofounders of the groundbreaking restaurant workwear line Tilit NYC. Alex is a former restaurant chef (as well as private chef for Jerry Seinfeld's family) and Jenny worked in the pharmaceutical industry. They met while working at the iconic New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace, and in 2012 launched Tilit NYC to supply the restaurant industry with high quality, intentionally designed aprons and clothing. W...
Jan 24, 2019•53 min•Ep. 68
Our first guest of the season is Soleil Ho is the San Francisco Chronicle’s newest restaurant critic. Before coming to the Chronicle, she was a nationally recognized writer, chef, and the host of the Racist Sandwich Podcast, all while providing her thoughtful-provoking perspective on immigration, race, gender, and class in the food world. She is also co-writer on a graphic novel on entomophagy, culinary mentorship, and queer romance called MEAL. Tune in for an insightful conversation on her jour...
Jan 17, 2019•48 min•Ep. 67
Chitra Agrawal has been cooking, teaching and writing about food inspired by her family’s recipes from India for ten years. She co-founded Brooklyn Delhi with her husband Ben Garthus in 2014 to bring the flavors she was creating to a wider audience. Chitra is the author of Vibrant India: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Brooklyn (Penguin, 2017). Prior to Brooklyn Delhi, Chitra held marketing roles at American Express and DDB and completed her MBA at NYU Stern. Brooklyn Delhi's award-wi...
Dec 20, 2018•49 min•Ep. 66
Eric Kim is a food writer and the Senior Editor at Food52 , where he writes the popular Table for One column. Before becoming a food writer, Eric was an academic - he undergraduate literature courses at Columbia while pursuing a PhD in 19th- and 20th-century American fiction. Join cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a discussion about writing, writing about cooking, and identity in food. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at ...
Dec 13, 2018•51 min•Ep. 65
Join cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Haley Baron. She's the City Operations Director for pineapple collaborative , a community for women who love food, in NY, DC and SF. She's an accomplished food systems researcher, the team manager for the city-wide evaluation of a food access program administered by the Mayor's Office, and is publishing a suite of articles on the organic supply chain. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Calif...
Dec 06, 2018•56 min•Ep. 64
Join cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Alex Mayyasi, editor of Gastro Obscura , a food publication devoted to culinary wonders and curiosities.Alex was early employee at Priceonomics, where he wrote and edited business and economics stories. He lived in Cairo in 2011-2012, and along with Egyptian democracy activist Ahmed Salah, is the co-author of You Are Under Arrest for Masterminding the Egyptian Revolution (A Memoir). We'll talk about the transition from writing about politics a...
Nov 29, 2018•53 min•Ep. 63
Join us for a special episode with Lisa Gross (Founder & CEO) and Afsari Jahan (Bengali Cooking Instructor) from League of Kitchens. Lisa was and artis and social entrepreneur, and Afsari managed garment manufacturing in Bangladesh, but today they're part of the team behind League of Kitchens, hosting intimate cooking classes led by immigrant women in their homes. Join us for a conversation about social entrepreneurship, creating connection and understanding through food, and the most import...
Nov 15, 2018•44 min•Ep. 62
Ben Jacobsen started making salt as a hobby, to distract himself from a failing tech startup. When he finally left tech and decided make salt his full-time business, began by collecting seawater in buckets and boiling it down to make his now-famous finishing salt. In the seven years since then, he's build Jacobsen's Salt Co into a national brand and created a truly American finishing salt. Join co-host Ethan for a conversation about building a brand and changing the way consumers think about the...
Nov 08, 2018•45 min•Ep. 61
"Erin Patinkin and Agatha Kulaga are the co-founders of Ovenly , an award-winning bakery known for creating baked goods that twist sweet and savory flavors in a modern way. With five retail locations, a large wholesale clientele, and over 60 employees, Kulaga and Patinkin are at the forefront of ethical entrepreneurship, building a dynamic company committed to job training and development and environmental sustainability. The duo were named one of New York’s most “badass” leaders in food by Thri...
Nov 01, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 60
Amber started her career as a musical producer in Australia, where she toured famous bands such as Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen, before becoming the worldwide producer of Dirty Dancing. While still on tour, her childhood friend Adam Boyd approached her with a crazy idea: to start a high-quality, ethical coffee roastery in Brooklyn — and she figured, why not? She had been looking for a new creative outlet and, as Amber says, it sounded like an adventure! That idea has grown to become Toby's Es...
Oct 19, 2018•55 min•Ep. 59
Join Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Zwann Grays, Wine Director at the highly regarded Brooklyn restaurant Olmsted. Zwann began her career in distributor wine sales, and then transitioned to work in restaurants, including at some of New York City’s most notable wine destination. At Olmsted, Zwann focuses on natural, producer-driven wine selections from responsible growers, female wine makers, and the next generation of wine makers. Why Food is powered by Simplecast . See Privacy Policy a...
Oct 11, 2018•51 min•Ep. 58
