Eater's Digest

France is typically credited with pretty much everything in the upper echelon of dining, but how much of what we consider fine dining actually came from Japan? Eater's senior editor Meghan McCarron stops by the upsell to tell Dan about a radical shift in France's culinary scene that came right after France's top chefs went over to Japan in 1965. The Japanese Origins of Modern Fine Dining on eater.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bill Addison spends nearly all of his time on the road, deciphering American dining as a whole. Every year he presents his findings in a list called America's 38 Essential Restaurants. Everyone (including Bill) thinks Bill has the greatest job on the planet, but it has its drawbacks. Also- eater senior critic Robert Sietsema takes us on a little tour of some new carts that have popped up in Brooklyn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eater deputy editor Erin DeJesus explains how to cover disasters while they are the center of attention(2:00), and while they start to lose public attention. Eater Houston editor Amy McCarthy catches us up on Houston's dining scene 16 weeks after Harvey(8:20). Finally, in a collaboration with the Southern Foodways Alliance, Eater commissioned journalist Barry Yeoman to cover Hurricane Harvey from the ground(13:30). Hosted by Amanda Kludt and Daniel Geneen Email us [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Michelin season in the Eater offices, which means endless debates about the value of the guide and its coveted stars. On today's upsell, Amanda and Dan talk with Ryan Sutton, Eater's chief food critic about the guide's limited scope and Stefanie Tuder, senior editor of Eater NY, about a problematic panel she attended. Email us anything at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 21st Brett Anderson of Nola.com, The Times Picayune, filed a 6000 word report claiming that 25 employees reported experiencing sexual harassment while on the job working for Besh Restaurant Group. Additionally, John Besh himself was accused of engaging in a “long-term unwelcome sexual relationship” with an employee. On today's Upsell, Eater New Orleans editor Stephanie Carter explains how big a deal John Besh is, and Brett Anderson describes what went into putting together a piece of this magnitude. The Eater Upsell is hosted by Amanda Kludt and Daniel Geneen, email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is much harder for female chefs to garner the exposure of their male counterparts. Eater's editor-in-chief Amanda Kludt explains to co-host Daniel Geneen why this problem exists, and what we can all do about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Upsell, Eater's resident José Andrés expert Monica Burton stops by to chat with Amanda and Dan about all the ways Andrés is being a super hero in Puerto Rico. 0:00 What José is up to in Puerto Rico. 9:00 Best of José Andrés episode. Original air date: 03/27/2017 Donate to World Central Kitchen here Update: Read Monica's latest José Andrés coverage ~~~ José Andrés is the chef that helped America fall in love with tapas. Now, he runs an empire of some 26 restaurants and is a passionate advocate for immigration reform (for which Obama awarded the chef a National Humanities Medal). Andrés is everywhere: D.C., Vegas, Miami, and even in the crosshairs of a legal battle with the current president, who sued after Andrés pulled out of a restaurant project at the Trump International Hotel in D.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't ask Anthony Bourdain to limit himself to other people's assumptions. It's been sixteen years since Kitchen Confidential blew up the food world; in the time since, he's built a career as a full-time expectation-upending maverick. Bourdain's books, television shows — and his not insignificant renegade charisma — have catapulted him into the kind of badass cross-genre celebrity that results in bros geeking out over him (though he doesn’t love that) and fans accosting him in the bathroom (he doesn’t totally love that either). Bourdain swung by the Eater Upsell studios to talk about his brand new cookbook, Instagram FOMO, and the life-altering magic of fatherhood. (Original air date: October 23, 2016) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the third Best of episode, hosted by Amanda Kludt and Daniel Geneen. Filmmaker turned chef Preeti Mistry cooks Indian food with a distinctly Bay Area sensibility. Think big flavors built from the best ingredients, served in a casual, fun setting. On a recent trip to New York, Mistry stopped by the Eater Upsell studios to talk about her Top Chef days, embracing her heritage, and building something new out of her past. Original air date: (09/07/16) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the second Best of episode: Best of TV (hosted by Amanda Kludt and Daniel Geneen). 5:00 Carla Hall interview 22:10 Amanda and Dan talk Queer Eye 26:30 Ted Allen interview ~~~ Carla Hall is a badass, culinarily and otherwise. The two-season Top Chef finalist, host on ABC’s The Chew and cookbook author drops some major wisdom on this week’s episode of the Eater Upsell, chatting with hosts Greg and Helen about about food shaming, catchphrases, fighting for exposure, and racial bias in the cookbook industry. Air date: (08/29/2016) Who knew helping clueless dudes learn a thing or two about food and wine would pave the way for this now Emmy-award-winning host, writer, and cookbook author? On the latest episode of The Eater Upsell, Chopped and Chopped Junior host Ted Allen dishes on how that little Bravo pilot project paved the way to his career as referee for one of primetime’s most challenging cooking competitions — and more. Air date: (08/22/2016) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the first Best of the Upsell! hosted by Amanda Kludt and Daniel Geneen (aka apdan). 2:00 Amanda ate at Vespertine!! 6:30 J. Kenji López-Alt interview 32:00 Amanda and Dan talk about Dan being weird with guests 38:00 Nathan Myhrvold interview After getting his start in restaurant and test kitchens in Boston, Kenji created The Food Lab, a column on Serious Eats dedicated to lassoing the laws of science and riding them to home cooking success every time. In the subsequent six years, the “Kenji method” has blown up, but despite being a cult phenomenon and bestselling cookbook author, Kenji himself is just about as cool and down to earth as you can get. Air date: 2/18/2016 twitter.com/kenjilopezalt Nathan Myhrvold is the wildly successful businessman/scientist/tech guru behind Modernist Cuisine, a self-published culinary encyclopedia that demystifies the world of high-end gastronomy. Nathan also released a spinoff, Modernist Cuisine at Home, and he’s working on another volume focusing entirely on bread. Air date: 2/13/2017 nathanmyhrvold.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City and the recent Bright, Precious Days, was already a successful novelist when he started writing about wine more than two decades ago. This may be why his columns for House & Garden, the Wall Street Journal, and currently, Town & Country stand out from other writing on the subject and have been published as standalone volumes. On this week’s Eater Upsell, McInerney chats with Helen and Greg about possibly setting off the rosé craze, the trouble with maintaining a wine collection, and why New York is still the best restaurant city in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stella Parks spent six years developing the recipes for BraveTart. In the cookbook, the pastry chef, who has a blog of the same name, bakes iconic American desserts and delves into their histories. Listen as she chats with Helen and Greg about trying to recapture childhood food memories, what she’s learned from McDonald’s apple pie, and her running theory for why Oreos are called Oreos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Koppelman loves restaurants, a fact that he’s made eminently clear as co-creator of the Showtime series Billions. On this week’s Upsell, the screenwriter and podcast host talks to Helen and Greg about why he admires chefs and what the audience can learn by paying close attention to the restaurants featured on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Franklin is the pitmaster behind Franklin Barbecue, the Austin barbecue restaurant that has had Texans and tourists lining up since it opened in 2009. Despite the high demand, Franklin is adamant about never opening up a second location, and on this week’s episode, he chats with hosts Helen and Greg about why that’s the case and how he’s expanding his business in a different way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Shepherd is one of Houston’s most ambitious chefs. In 2012, he opened Underbelly, which highlights Houston’s diversity with cuisines pulled from its various cultures, and in January, he launched One Fifth, a restaurant that closes each year to reemerge with a totally new concept and cuisine. Right now, it’s a steak house. Next year, the theme will be “romance languages,” and in its third year, One Fifth will take on seafood. Shepherd sat down with hosts Helen Rosner and Greg Morabito on this week’s episode of the Upsell for a conversation that touched on everything from cooking across cultures to the benefits of a good pedicure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Traverso knows a thing or two about lobster rolls. The food editor of Yankee Magazine and co-host of Weekends With Yankee recently compiled her findings from an exhaustive RV tour of New England in an impressive feature called The Great Lobster Roll Adventure. Listen as Amy talks to Helen and Greg about why lettuce is the villain of the lobster roll saga, why Boston has restaurants with such truly awful names, and why she hates Jimmy Buffett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny Meyer is the king of New York City hospitality. The restaurateur leads the prolific Union Square Hospitality Group, responsible for New York City dining stalwarts Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, and the Modern, among others, and the global burger chain Shake Shack. On this week’s Upsell, he sits down with Eater's editor-in-chief Amanda Kludt and Greg to discuss leading the no tipping movement, how he comes up with each new restaurant concept, and explains why he makes his staff read his book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer John T. Edge is a professional “observer of the South,” and in The Potlikker Papers, his “food history of the modern South,” he looks at the ways in which the region’s culinary traditions are inextricably linked with its history. On this week’s Upsell, he chats with Helen and Greg about the restaurants that fail to acknowledge the South’s troubled past, his vision for a multi-cultural future, and why food is power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charleston chef Sean Brock has been widely recognized for the Southern food he serves at his Husk restaurants and at tasting-menu spot McCrady’s. But, Brock has also made headlines for his personal struggle with an autoimmune disease and a recent revelation to the New York Times that he’s committed to sobriety after a stint in rehab. On this week’s Upsell, the high profile chef chats with Helen and Greg about taking time for self care, creating the “anti-tasting menu” tasting menu, and showing the world why Southern cuisine is the best on the planet. Check out the full transcript here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Susan Feniger is a pillar of the Los Angeles dining scene. The chef opened her first restaurant in LA with culinary partner Mary Sue Milliken in 1981. Since then, Feniger has opened a number of restaurants both with Milliken and on her own, gaining national attention with the duo’s long-running Food Network show Too Hot Tamales along the way. In her conversation with Greg, Feniger discusses the secret to a 36-year chef partnership, her stint on Top Chef Masters, and what she loves about the LA restaurant community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeni Britton Bauer founded Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in 2002 to make better American ice creams. In the decade plus since then, Jeni’s has grown to become one of the leaders of the movement for higher-quality pints. In her conversation with Helen and Greg, the ice cream maker reveals the secret to coming up with her uber-creative ice cream flavors, explains how she came out ahead of a 2015 listeria outbreak, and grapples with mixing ice cream and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Chang is the powerhouse behind the global Momofuku restaurant empire, which as Helen succinctly puts it at the beginning of this week’s episode, has been largely responsible for “The Way We Eat Now” ever since its New York City beginnings in 2004. In Chang’s chat with Helen and Greg, he reveals how he came to terms with the importance of Yelp, why he’s no longer interested in going after awards, and which major restaurant critic can just go f*ck himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Cowin spent 21 years as the editor in chief of Food & Wine. During that time, she played a key role in fueling the rise of the celebrity chef. Now, she talks one-on-one to women in the food world on her podcast Speaking Broadly. In her chat with Helen, the food media powerhouse looks back on the moment food became not just something to eat, but an experience to have, reveals her feelings on meal kits, and explains why it's an exciting time to be a woman in the restaurant industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bianca Bosker left a career as a tech writer to explore the world of sommeliers, wine makers, and well-heeled oenophiles. A wine novice at first, Bosker quickly got sucked into the community of bottle-obsessives through working in restaurants and attending tastings and events, including the notorious La Paulée fest, which Bianca describes a big “wine orgy.” After becoming a certified sommelier, Bosker turned the notes from her journey into "Cork Dork," an immensely entertaining book that demystifies the wine industry. In her chat With Helen and Greg, Bianca looks back on some of the most surprising moments she encountered on her quest to becoming a master taster, and she offers some notes on how anyone can approach wine like a bona fide Cork Dork. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Massimo Bottura is the driving force behind one of the world’s greatest destination restaurants: Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. The chef/author/restaurateur spent the last two decades developing a style of Italian cuisine that points toward the future while paying respect to the past. Last year, shortly after Osteria Francescana landed at the top of the World’s 50 Best list, Bottura and his team began opening non-profit community kitchens in his native Italy, as well as Rio de Janeiro. In his chat with Upsell co-host Greg Morabito, Bottura outlines his ambitious expansion plan for these neo soup kitchens, and he reflects on the importance of education and collaboration within the culinary community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don’t let her chill demeanor fool you: Ayesha Curry is an insanely busy person. In addition to hosting a Food Network show, launching a meal kit, being married to an NBA superstar, and publishing her own cookbook, Curry is also dipping her toe into the world of San Francisco restaurants, alongside her friend, chef Michael Mina. In this chat with the Helen and Greg, Ayesha talks about how she built a fresh, highly personal lifestyle brand over the last few years, and what she wants to tackle next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Liebrandt, former chef of NYC’s two-Michelin-starred Corton, is still cooking. The star of A Matter of Taste, the documentary that chronicled years of his career in fine dining kitchens, is now a consultant. Liebrandt stopped by the Eater Upsell to discuss what that means, the possibility of a new Paul Liebrandt restaurant, and why you’ll never see him on a cooking show. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on social! Paul: instagram.com/paulliebrandt Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 year old Fabián von Hauske and his partner chef Jeremiah Stone are the team behind New York City’s Contra and Wildair, two of the buzziest restaurants on Lower Manhattan’s fine-dining scene. The Mexico City-born chef and 2014 Eater Young Gun stopped by the Eater Upsell to discuss working in kitchens as an immigrant, the evolution of New York City’s restaurant scene, and why he and Jeremiah are really into piña coladas. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on social! Fabs: instagram.com/fabianvhv Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although Jessica Seinfeld says her culinary qualifications are minimal, her home cooking skills have led to four cookbooks. The latest is Food Swings, a book of recipes designed for a life of “virtue and vice.” Seinfeld stopped by the Upsell studio (with homemade cookies in hand) to discuss eating what she wants, the coffee maker that gets her out of bed in the morning, and why the Zabar’s lox counter was the perfect place for her husband Jerry to profess his love for the very first time. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on social! Jessica: instagram.com/jessseinfeld Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barbara Lynch put the Boston restaurant scene on the national radar. The 2014 James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur has eight restaurants in her home city, including a collaboration with Eataly Boston, and recently published a memoir, Out of Line, in which she details how she rose from Southie to become a major figure in the restaurant world. Just last week, she was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people of the year. The chef and restaurateur sat down in the Upsell studio with hosts Helen Rosner and Greg Morabito to chat about how she runs her kitchens, her Dunkin’ Donuts order, and that time Todd English threw a soda bottle at her head. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on social! Barbara: twitter.com/@barbaralynchBOS Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wolfgang Puck is America’s first celebrity chef. The man behind Spago, Cut, and the eponymous airport restaurants you hope to find during layovers, among others, shaped California cuisine as we know it, the pizza included. Fittingly, his celebrity status has been set in stone with his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Puck stopped by the Eater Upsell to chat with hosts Helen Rosner and Greg Morabito about creating celebrity hangouts, what’s wrong with restaurant criticism today, and why sex is best in the afternoon. Really. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on social! Wolfgang: wolfgangpuck.com Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Naomi Pomeroy’s Portland restaurant Beast turns 10 this year, and over the past decade, the self-made chef has mellowed. Ten years of running the restaurant, which, so far, has stuck to a six-course menu and set seating times, has taught the Pomeroy to yell less, adapt more, and consistently prioritize fun in the kitchen. “The key to my success has always been empowering the people around me,” she says. Another likely contributor: fan-favorite appearances on two TV shows. After getting her start in food with her own catering company at 22, she’s done all this without ever having worked for “one of those old man chefs.” Pomeroy stopped by the Eater Upsell to chat with Upsell hosts Helen and Greg about her rules for the kitchen, drawing menu inspiration from the sky, and being “robbed” of an Iron Chef win. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on twitter! Naomi: instagram.com/NaomiPomeroy Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Flynn McGarry is still a teen chef, but three years after he came onto the scene as a 15-year-old fine dining wunderkind, he is no longer, technically, a kid. McGarry has spent time in some of the world’s most renowned kitchens, including Geranium in Copenhagen, Alinea in Chicago, Eleven Madison Park in New York, and at the Modernist Cuisine lab in Seattle. More recently, the teen chef (who expects that label to stick long after his teens) has hosted his tasting menu pop-up, Eureka, in Los Angeles and New York City, with plans to take it abroad. Three months into his eight-seat tasting counter in New York, McGarry joined hosts Helen and Greg in the Eater Upsell studio to discuss the particular weirdness of high-end counter service, why he’s so done with pop-ups, and why he’s so not done with The Bachelor. Get the full transcript for this episode (and all Upsell ep’s) at eater.com/upsell and check us out on social! Flynn: instagram.com/diningwithflynn Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

José Andrés is the chef that helped America fall in love with tapas. Now, he runs an empire of some 26 restaurants and is a passionate advocate for immigration reform (for which Obama awarded the chef a National Humanities Medal). Andrés is everywhere: D.C., Vegas, Miami, and even in the crosshairs of a legal battle with the current president, who sued after Andrés pulled out of a restaurant project at the Trump International Hotel in D.C. The superstar chef recently sat down in the Eater Upsell studios to talk to hosts Helen and Greg about his dealings with Trump, being snubbed by the James Beard Awards, and the vacation experience that inspired him to create what some are calling the world’s greatest margarita. Get the full transcript for this episode (and all Upsell eps) at eater.com/upsell and check us out on Twitter! José: twitter.com/chefjoseandres Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ken Friedman, the music industry hot shot turned restauranteur, has that kind of cool you just have to be born with. Together with chef April Bloomfield, he has reshaped the New York dining scene with his particular take on the English gastropub. Ken stopped by the Upsell studios in LA to chat with Greg about how he ended up in the restaurant business, the origins of The Spotted Pig, how to be cool at parties, and how much he hates staring at exposed filament lightbulbs. Get the full transcript for this episode (and all Eater Upsell episodes) at eater.com/upsell ... and check us out on twitter! Ken: twitter.com/kennewyork Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melissa Clark is one of America’s greatest recipe scribes. Over the last two decades, she's worked on nearly 40 cookbooks and contributed countless recipes to the New York Times food section, where she's a columnist. One of her NYT contributions, a recipe based on a Manhattan restaurant’s guacamole with peas, ignited a firestorm, with both Barack Obama and Jeb Bush weighing in on the controversial dish. During her chat with Helen and Greg, Melissa gives the full story behind Pea GuacamoleGate, and she explains the inspiration behind her new cookbook, Dinner: Changing the Game. Get the full transcript for this episode (and all Eater Upsell episodes) at eater.com/upsell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Ferriss built his career on finding the sweet spot between effort and outcome. The podcaster and bestselling writer — you probably know him from The Four-Hour Workweek or The Four-Hour Chef — uses his books as opportunities to teach himself how to be a better human being, whether it’s holding his breath for 4 minutes, or searing a perfect steak. Tim stopped by the Upsell studios to chat with Helen about his relationship with fine dining, the path that led him to writing a cookbook, and how to win at dating apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JJ Johnson is the acclaimed chef behind Minton’s in Harlem. After working his way through several big kitchens in New York City, JJ first earned raves from the critics at Minton’s sister restaurant, the Cecil, where the served a menu that drew inspiration from the foodways of the African diaspora. In this candid chat wit Helen and Greg, the chef talks about culinary school, his experiences cooking around the world, and the importance of having — and becoming — a mentor in the kitchen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frank Bruni is a New York Times op-ed columnist and author of several books about subjects ranging from the Bush administration to the college admissions system, but most food lovers know him as the paper’s chief restaurant critic from 2004 to 2009. Bruni stopped by the Eater Upsell studios to talk about the current President of the United States, Frank's tenure as the most powerful critic in the world, and the creation of his new cookbook with Jennifer Steinhauer, “A Meatloaf in Every Oven.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nathan Myhrvold is the wildly successful businessman/scientist/tech guru behind Modernist Cuisine, a self-published culinary encyclopedia that demystifies the world of high-end gastronomy. Nathan also released a spinoff, Modernist Cuisine at Home, and he’s working on another volume focusing entirely on bread. During his chat with Helen and Greg, Myhrvold drops some knowledge about baking bread, building nuclear reactors, and barbecuing dinosaurs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Helen, Greg, and AP Dan discuss their favorite moments from season 2 of the Eater Upsell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Francis Lam’s cookbooks always do more than dinner. The editor and writer has ushered some of the best and most inventive cookbooks of the last few years to publication, all of which stand out as better than just a list of recipes — for their introspection, research, and often their humor. Lam dropped by the Eater Upsell studios to talk about the immigrant experience, the writer-editor relationship, and how to spend three perfect hours in the Atlanta airport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fuchsia Dunlop is a big proponent of the “I’ll have what they’re having” school of restaurant ordering. The cookbook author and veritable historian of Chinese culinary culture has made a career of introducing the country's gastronomic traditions to a Western audience — without dumbing anything down. Fuchsia dropped by the Eater Upsell studios to talk about her latest book, Land of Fish and Rice, as well as 12th century Chinese foodies, and how to make the best of long-distance travel (chocolate and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, for starters). But first, Helen and Greg shoot the shit about pie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For anyone who’s ever asked, “Why?” in the kitchen, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is your man. After getting his start in restaurant and test kitchens in Boston, Kenji created The Food Lab, a column on Serious Eats dedicated to lassoing the laws of science and riding them to home cooking success every time. In the subsequent six years, the “Kenji method” has blown up, but despite being a cult phenomenon and bestselling cookbook author, Kenji himself is just about as cool and down to earth as you can get. He stopped by the Eater Upsell studios to talk meatloaf, space travel, and how to secretly take a professional phone call from the bathtub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Evan Sung didn’t think he’d be a photographer — let alone one of the most sought-after food photographers in the country. Armed with an undergrad degree in psychology and an insatiable curiosity about people and the world, Sung set out to tell the most honest visual stories he could, his success at which landed him on the pages of 35 cookbooks (shooting with the likes of chefs Paul Liebrandt and Marc Forgone) and a myriad of publications. Sung visited the Eater Upsell studios to talk LA’s incredible light, his favorite shots of all time, and the unsung hero of the food photography world: the prop stylist. But first, Helen tells Greg about a secret Las Vegas restaurant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vivian Howard’s new cookbook Deep Run Roots weighs as much as a newborn, but if you think you’ll find a fried chicken recipe on one of its nearly 600 pages, you are gravely mistaken. The eastern North Carolina-based chef, restaurant owner, and Peabody Award-winning co-creator and star of A Chef’s Life on PBS, swung by the Eater Upsell studios to chat with Helen and special guest host Amanda Kludt (Eater's editor-in-chief) about homemade ketchup, the price of tea, and Hollywood's eye roll-inducing portrayal of chefs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaker turned chef Preeti Mistry cooks Indian food with a distinctly Bay Area sensibility. Think big flavors built from the best ingredients, served in a casual, fun setting. On a recent trip to New York, Mistry stopped by the Eater Upsell studios to talk about her Top Chef days, her stint in a Google cafeteria kitchen, her love of Do The Right Thing, embracing her heritage, and building something new out of her past. But first, Greg and Helen shoot the shit about why some flavors of seltzer are gross. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley Christensen is a Raleigh-based chef and restaurateur who was shot into the culinary spotlight after opening Poole's Diner, both because of her unique take on Southern cooking and the way the space brought new life to the community. Now, her work is synonymous with city of Raleigh, but her network and influence can be felt all across the South, and the nation at large. Christensen stopped by the Eater Upsell studios to chat with hosts Helen and Greg about teamwork, kale fatigue, and what makes North Carolina the perfect place for women to become culinary powerhouses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't ask Anthony Bourdain to limit himself to other people's assumptions. It's been sixteen years since Kitchen Confidential blew up the food world; in the time since, he's built a career as a full-time expectation-upending maverick. Bourdain's books, television shows — and his not insignificant renegade charisma — have catapulted him into the kind of badass cross-genre celebrity that results in bros geeking out over him (though he doesn’t love that) and fans accosting him in the bathroom (he doesn’t totally love that either). Bourdain swung by the Eater Upsell studios to talk about his brand new cookbook, Instagram FOMO, and the life-altering magic of fatherhood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices