Show overview
Pot Luck Food Talks: Kitchen Stories From Behind the Pass has been publishing since 2022, and across the 4 years since has built a catalogue of 194 episodes, alongside 2 trailers or bonus episodes. That works out to roughly 90 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 23 min and 32 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. It is catalogued as a EN-language Arts show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 3 days ago, with 26 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2023, with 56 episodes published. Published by Chef Phil & Eric | Experienced Cooks & Restaurant Insiders.
From the publisher
Two decades on the line leave scars, stories, and a way of seeing the world that doesn’t wash off with the apron.Pot Luck Food Talks is where the chef lifestyle gets laid bare—raw chef talk, the kind you don’t hear in PR interviews.Phil & Eric aren’t here to romanticize. They’re here to trade food stories that smell of sweat, butter, and burned fingers. Stories about the beauty and brutality of restaurant culture, the quiet rules, and the loud disasters.It’s the truth about Michelin Star kitchens, the whispered restaurant secrets, the victories no one tastes but the cooks, and the mistakes that teach more than any school.If you want sanitized food media, go elsewhere. If you want chef conversations about life, gastronomy, and why flavor is the only compass worth following—pull up a chair.
Latest Episodes
View all 194 episodesThe Private Chef: Escape from the Kitchen or Career Upgrade?
Good Cooks Break Rules: Who Says Pasta Must Be Al Dente?
Can Cooks Actually Hack Nostalgia in the Kitchen?
Kitchen Trends Cooks Are Loving
9 Flavors vs 400: The Miso Science Behind Every Great Kitchen Ft. Fermentation Specialist Christian Weij
Even the Coleslaw: Nothing's Too Basic to Be Great
The Garlic Episode
Culinary Elegance: Why Simple Food Is So Hard
Harsh Truths: The Stuff That Actually Makes You A Better Cook
A Cook's Process, Pt. 3 – Opening a Restaurant: Great Cooking Won't Save a Bad Concept
What the Korean Army Can Teach Chefs About Leadership
S1 Ep 181A Cook’s Process, Pt. 2 – Building a Menu From Scratch
🎙️ EP181 — Turning ideas into dishes is one thing. Turning them into a menu that makes sense is where cooking gets real.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🍽️ Building a Menu From Scratch 🔪 Small Team Kitchen Structure 🥗 Starters, Grill & Dessert 🌿 Ingredient Driven Dish Creation 🌎 Local Dishes With a Twist 🧠 Cooking for the Local Palate 🥬 Why Freshness Tastes Better 🔥 When to Transform an Ingredient 🐟 How to Build Around Fish 🥄 Sauce Design & Flavor Logic📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!
S1 Ep 180A Cook’s Process, Pt. 1 – Where the Hell Does a Dish Begin?
🎙️ EP180 — Before there’s a dish, there’s a way of seeing. This one gets into how cooks find ideas, work inside constraints, and turn produce, technique, and instinct into something worth putting on a plate.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🌱 Creativity Starts Before Cooking 🧭 Constraints Shape Better Dishes 📍 Resources, Geography & Seasonality 🤝 Why Producers Matter 🌿 Gardens, Foraging & Access 🫙 Preservation Builds a Pantry 🔥 Technique as Personal Language 👅 Taste, Texture & Seasoning 🍶 Vinegar, Garums & Condiments ✨ What Gives a Dish Value📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!
S1 Ep 179Thai Flavor Without Thai Ingredients? Ft. The Social Distortion
🎙️ EP179 — What can cooks learn when they stop chasing ingredients and start understanding flavor, balance, and instinct? Mark Hill of The Social Distortion gets into Prik Laap, experimental Thai seasoning, and how local scraps become honest flavor.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🇹🇭 Thai Flavor Logic🧂 Seasoning & Balance🌿 Cooking With Substitutions🔥 Prik Laap♻️ Scraps Into Flavor🍛 Curry & Relish🧠 Honest Influence🍽️ The Social Distortion💸 Why Restaurants Fail📍 Northern Thai Cooking📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!
S1 Ep 178We’re Not Done With Eggs: Probably the Kitchen’s Most Versatile Ingredient
🎙️ EP178 — Eggs are the ingredient that exposes whether a cook understands texture, heat, structure, and restraint... or just follows recipes.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🥚 Why Eggs Matter ⚪ Whites vs. Yolks 🔥 Egg Temperature Wars 🍳 The Perfect Fried Egg ☁️ Using Leftover Whites 🇫🇷 Why Soufflé Still Matters 🧪 Adapting Recipes 🏭 Cooking at Scale 🍋 Lemon Curd Logic 🧈 Egg Yolk Sauce 🧀 Whole Eggs vs. Yolks 🍮 Custards, Flan & Set 📚 Go Fact Yourself: Egg Myths 📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!
S1 Ep 177What Cooks Learn in Other People’s Kitchens
🎙️ EP177 — What cooks learn in other people’s kitchens: pop-ups, borders, Mexican food abroad, and the small decisions that separate real adaptation from watered-down cooking.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🚨 Dubai Under Missile Attacks🍷 Madrid, Castizo Cooking & Old-School Restaurants🇲🇽 Mexican Food in Dubai👨🍳 Pop-Ups, Collabs & Real Professionalism🔥 Adapting Cuisine Under Restrictions🌮 Tortillas as Culinary DNA🍽️ Why À La Carte Still Matters🥩 Chuleta, Salsa & Playing With Tradition🥃 Mezcal, Sotol & Raicilla🧠 Tradition vs. Innovation in Cooking📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!
S1 Ep 176What Changed in Bread Baking in the Last 20 Years? Ft. Claudio Perrando
🎙️ EP176 – Master baker Claudio Perrando joins Eric to talk fermentation, flour, open crumb, Tartine’s influence, and why bread is still one of the clearest signatures of a serious restaurant.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🍞 Bread’s Modern Renaissance 🏝️ Baking Bread on a Caribbean Island 🔥 Baking vs Cooking 🥖 Deck Ovens vs Rational 🕳️ The Open Crumb Revolution 📚 Tartine & Chad Robertson 🧪 The Science of Dough 🌾 Flour Quality & W-Value 🥐 Panettone Craft 🍽️ Restaurant Bread Service📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!
S1 Ep 175Motivation: The Stories That Drive and Break Us
🎙️ EP175 — The lie we call motivation. We worship the grind and romanticize the 16-hour shift, calling it passion, discipline, excellence. But what if motivation is just a story we tell ourselves to survive, and sometimes a lie we cling to while it quietly grinds us down?🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🔥 What Is Motivation?🧠 Stories We Believe🍳 Flow State🥶 Burnout🧘 Monk Mentality📊 Excel vs. Dish Pit👑 Ego & Image🍽️ The Perfect Bite🪓 The Abusive Chef🪞 The Story We Tell Ourselves👀 Who Are You Alone?🤝 Leading with Energy📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!
S1 Ep 174Noma Under Fire: When Kitchen Culture Crosses the Line
🎙️ EP174 — We talk about the abuse allegations surrounding Noma, what we’ve heard from chefs who worked there, why this story is more complicated than headlines suggest and why the industry needs real mechanisms, not just viral outrage.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🍽️ Noma Allegations — What Happened?🗣️ First-Hand Staff Accounts👊 Physical Aggression in Kitchens⚖️ Legal Consequences🧠 What Counts as Abuse?🌱 Sustainability vs. Reality🏆 Power & Silence in Fine Dining📣 The Whistleblower Dilemma🧩 Motives vs. Accountability👑 Should Leadership Step Down?🧨 Fame, Fear & Reputation🛠️ Fixing Kitchen Culture📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!
S1 Ep 173Impostor Syndrome in the Kitchen: Feeling Like a Fraud Behind the Pass
📌 Before we start, we address the recent Noma abuse stories surfacing online 🎙️ EP173 — Impostor syndrome in the kitchen: the quiet fear that you’re one service away from being exposed.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:📌 The Noma Allegations ⚖️ Abuse, Power & Social Media 🧠 Impostor Syndrome: Feeling Like You Don’t Belong 🍳 Becoming Head Chef Too Early 📋 Doing the Job Without the Title 🧑🏫 Why Chefs Suck at Managing 🎯 Overconfidence vs. Real Skill 🪞 Leaving Your Ego at the Door📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!