Pot Luck Food Talks: Kitchen Stories From Behind the Pass

🎙️ 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!

🎙️ 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!

🎙️ 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!

🎙️ 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!

🎙️ 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!

🎙️ 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!

🎙️ 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!

🎙️ 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!

📌 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!

🎙️ EP172 — You cook fusion whether you like it or not. With ideas coming from everywhere, coherence is what makes it make sense.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🍳 Fusion Is Inevitable🔥 Cooks hate that word📱 There's Too Much Influence🌍 When Fusion Has Roots⚖️ Fusion vs. Confusion📖 Storytelling vs. Bullshit🍝 No Cuisine Is Pure🏷️ The Label Problem📋 Menus That Don’t Add Up⭐ When Fusion Actually Works🧠 Inspiration vs. Originality🏙️ Cities Shape Flavor🌮 Borders Move, Food Follows📩 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!

🎙️ EP171 — Abusive Systems. A closed kitchen breeds its own rules: silent wars, punishments, fear, and ego disguised as discipline. This is what happens when power goes unchecked behind the pass.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🔥 Emotion vs suppression in kitchens🍊 Punishment as “respect”⚡ Ego, fear & control🧠 When leadership becomes abuse🕳️ Kitchens as a closed habitat🍺 Addiction, stealing & blind spots🪓 CDP vs CDP conflicts📉 Burnout & long hours🍽️ Doing less, cooking better🧄 Go Fact Yourself — Peeling ginger?📩 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.

🎙️ EP170 – Douglas McMaster is the chef behind SILO, the world’s first zero-waste restaurant. He looked into the trash and saw a design failure. This is a chef’s conversation about waste, balance, and why “impossible” is usually just a lack of imagination.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🗑️ The bin as a design failure⚖️ Sustainability as balance🧠 Zero waste as a mindset🥬 Fine dining waste realities🔥 The WASTED pop-up🌍 St. John, Noma, Fat Duck lessons😤 Kitchens that shape who you become🌊 When the public finally paid attention🧩 Reverse-engineering a menu🧠 Psychology of selling waste👥 Human sustainability in kitchens🥦 Confidence over ingredients🥕 The Upcycling Mindset🧪 Go Fact Yourself: Stock Myth📩 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!

🎙️ EP169 – When ambition forgets humility, food stops being a conversation and turns into a lecture. Phil and Eric unpack the Richard Hart / Green Rhino controversy in Mexico City to talk about respect, cultural depth, and why cooking in another food tradition starts with listening, not declaring yourself better.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🥖 Bread, Power & Opinion🌍 Cooking Abroad Without Listening🔥 Ambition vs. Arrogance🇲🇽 Why You Don't Mess with Mexicans🍞 Judging a Local Staple🧠 When Confidence Becomes Ignorance👵 Technique vs. Tradition🧊 Go Fact Yourself: Freezing Food?📩 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? https://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy.

🎙️ EP168 - Two cooks catching up on recent food travel, forgotten cookbooks, kitchen myths, and the uneasy feeling that somewhere along the way, we started cooking for the wrong reasons.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🥂 When Is It Too Late to Say Happy New Year? 🥩 What's a Good Roast Beef?📚 Falling Back in Love With Old Cookbooks 🗺️ Building a San Sebastián Food Guide 🥟 Knödel Explained 🇩🇪 Why Old German Cooking Is Underrated 🇯🇵 Japan Food Notes 🔥 Comment Section Madness ⭐ Michelin ≠ Better Chef 🏫 Cooking for Kids vs Cooking for Critics 🧠 Teaching Food in Schools ☢️ Go Fact Yourself: Are Microwaves Radioactive?📩 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? https://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy.

🎙️ EP167 – If you cook meat, age fish, ferment, or make sauce, you’re already using enzymes. Kevin Jeung has spent years at Noma working directly with fermentation, aging, and enzymatic processes in the lab and the kitchen.🎧 Topics Covered:🧬 What enzymes are (in cook language)🍍 Pineapple & papaya tenderizing… then eating your meat🧼 Cold-water detergent = enzyme tech you already trust🧫 Koji, shoyu, miso, garum: umami on autopilot🍣 Aged sushi & why “freshest fish” is often a lie🧪 Pectinase fruit juice wizardry (mandarin cheat codes)🧷 Meat glue shame & why it’s just a tool🎯 Go Fact Yourself: corks & copper coins for octopus (spoiler: bullshit)📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ http://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy

🎙️ EP166 – Cooking With Trash. This episode is a love letter to the parts we ignore… and the flavor we’re too lazy to earn. If you’ve ever thrown something away and then paid for it again in a different form, this one’s for you.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🗑️ Cooking with Trash – Why upcycling is a real chef flex🥕 The Veg Stock Revelation – Balance, seasons, depth🧈 Stock Veg Tapenade – Bread-course alchemy🐟 The Cod Water Crime – Pouring flavor down the drain💸 Waste Is Expensive – Laziness costs money🐑 Underrated Cuts – Lamb belly, heads, bone flavor📛 Menu Mind Games – How naming shapes taste🥦 Broccoli Stems – Cooking on cultural autopilot🧪 Scrap Condiments – Vinegars, powders, patience🧫 Garum Power – Quiet umami domination🎯 Go Fact Yourself – The avocado pit myth📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 💙 Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks 📢 Want to advertise with us? https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP165 — Christmas service is the cruelest shift of the year: everyone’s celebrating, you’re bleeding tickets, and the smell of cinnamon just mocks you. Eric and Phil talk why working Christmas Eve always sucks—and the fantasy menu you’d cook for your tribe if you weren’t trapped on the line.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🎄 Why Christmas Service Breaks Chefs 🔥 Cinnamon Fantasy vs Kitchen Reality 💭 Should Restaurants Even Open on Christmas?🍽️ The Christmas Menu Chefs Dream About 🥔 Chips, Caviar & Low-Effort Luxury 🍞 Are We Tired of Sour Dough? 🦆 When Game Becomes the Main Event 🥣 Chicken Blanquette as Peak Comfort🥬 Bitter Greens That Save Heavy Meals 🥔 Potatoes Done the Serious Way🧀 Cheese Without Rules or Apologies 🍐 Quince & the Fruits We Forgot🍸 How Naming Changes Taste & Expectation 🍮 Rice Pudding, Memory & Why Nostalgia Wins📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: http://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: http://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us?: http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP164 – These books were impressive, innovative and expensive. But does Modernist Cuisine still hold up? We talk cooking with science, gizmos and gadgets vs. cooking with just a knife, a pan, and years of repetition.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:📚 What Modernist Cuisine Actually Is💸 The 500€ book and who it was really for🧠 Cooking by intuition vs. cooking by process🧪 When technology helps—and when it gets in the way🌍 How restaurant scenes evolve 🌶️ Tradition, adaptation & the gentrification debate🔥 Go Fact Yourself – Why searing doesn’t lock in juices📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: http://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: http://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us?: http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️EP163 – Kitchens Run on Fear. One way or another, every cook learns that the heat isn’t just on the stove—it lives in your gut, your ego, your nightmares. This episode is about a cook’s fear and the tiny mistakes that steal your sleep and shake your sanity.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🍳 Fear Runs the Kitchen💸 Expensive Plates, Expensive Mistakes🌙 Cook's Nightmares Are Real🧠 Ego, Failure & First Drafts✈️ Fear That Moves You🪦 When Pressure Turns Deadly🥢 Paranoia Makes You Better⚠️ Allergies & Going to Jail😡 Becoming “That” Chef🔥 Riding the Chaos of Service👨‍🔬 New Segment: Go Fact Yourself!📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: http://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: http://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us?: http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP162 – El Bulli is gone. But if you cook today, you’re still cooking in its shadow. This episode is about how one weird beach restaurant rewired modern kitchens, pastry, foams, ferments – and the way chefs think about creativity itself.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🏰 El Bulli: The Most Influential Restaurant?🔧 The Prep Table Revolution – One Long Bench, One Brain🔥 How Mugaritz, Noma & French Laundry Carried the DNA🥚 Deconstruction: Tortilla in a Martini Glass & Other Crimes🧪 Xantana, Agar, Lecithin – Powders That Became Kitchen Gospel🍺 Beer Courses & Foams – When Texture Became an Idea🍮 Sweet Cuisine – Albert Adrià Breaks Pastry Open🧠 Creativity Is Not Copying – Ferran’s Real Legacy📸 The Final Waltz – A Whole Generation in One Photo🕯️ Who Holds the Torch Now? Roca, René, Andoni…🧩 Why Enigma Is Today’s Last Bulli Temple📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: http://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: http://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/📢 Want to advertise with us?: http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast

🎙️ EP161 - Chefs live and die by the prep list. This episode is kitchen discipline: owning your section, juggling a thousand timers, costing without bullshit, and letting go of those ego dishes nobody orders.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:📋 Night Prep Lists – Building a bulletproof station🐂 Grab the Bull by the Horns – Taking real control of your section (and surviving clopening)🗣️ Commies, Demi, CDP – Communication and chain of command that actually works⏱️ Chefs as Project Managers – Living inside a storm of timers💻 Apps & Excel – Why most kitchen software still sucks📊 Costing 101 – Steak, fries, rosemary salt & the hidden percentages💸 Margin of Error – Airport pricing and not lying to yourself📈 Dynamic Pricing – When burgers behave like plane tickets🤝 Front of House Magic – The golden goose and the perfect check⭐ Dogs, Plow Horses & Stars – Menu engineering for real kitchens🥔 Buying Better Product – Quality vs. racing to the bottom🧠 Ego Dishes – Specials, sweetbreads & gently educating guests📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: http://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: http://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: http://patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP160 – We got told we “know nothing about hospitality.” So we cracked open the word, the history, the ego, the danger, and the beauty of inviting someone in.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🤬 Instagram Says We “Know Nothing” About Hospitality📖 Hostis: Guest, Enemy, Stranger🤝 Host vs Guest — Power, Grace, Boundaries🎁 The Art of Giving⭐ Arzak's Bad Reviews -Trip Advisor Rage🍬 Avant-Garde Gone Too Far🔥 Elkano × Josh Niland: Two Fish Wizards🐟 Fish Eyes, Bone “Mero” & Dirty Hands🍨 Fish Collagen Ice Cream🪄 Collaboration as Hospitality🧷 Vulnerability, Limits & Saying “No”📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: http://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: http://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: http://patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP159 - We pray to the tire god—patron saint of burnout and greenwashing. The cult of squared perfection, fake sustainability, and the insanity of chasing stars. This one’s for every cook who’s ever asked—what are we really cooking for?🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🌿 Michelin’s Vanishing Clover – Green Star sudden disappearance🛞 Love–Hate with the Tire God – Worship, whips, and whiplash stars🌟 What Michelin Was (Maybe) – The old religion of “excellence”✝️ Brand as Church – Crosses, Bibendum, and belief engineering🎥 Puglisi’s Rant – Square fish, round lies, and waste (the video)📖 Storytelling vs. Truth – Farm porn, misty fields, and menu fiction🦋 Noma, Mugaritz & Myth – When narrative flavors the dish⏰ Human Cost – Overworked brigades, perfect squares, and burnout🃏 Fooling the Inspectors – Staged rooms, borrowed petit fours, instant stars🍲 Cook for Stars or Self? – Freedom vs. validation addiction⏳ Michelin is Obsolete – What if tomorrow all stars disappeared ?📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: http://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP158 - There’s a difference between a place that looks cool and a place that feels right. One has soul, the other comes with a mood board and hashtags. The ones we love need no gimmicks, just good taste, hot planchas, cold anchovies, and the kind of energy that makes you think, “Damn… I wish I’d open this.”🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🌿 Cafe Botanic – Dirty chai, quiet gardens, plant-based cheese that fooled us🍴 La Brillantina – Latin American fusion done right🥪 Ultramarinos & Ultra Paninos – Plancha, garum splash, house bread & charcuterie🐟 Rooftop Smokehouse – Smoked-butter anchovies worth the pilgrimage🍞 Origo & Lot (Barcelona) – Pastry labs, cocoa drinks, Mobb Deep on the speakers🥯 Lille Bakery (Copenhagen) – Rustic bread, pink-sugar donuts, community tables🪄 The Vibe – Authenticity > aesthetics; rooms built by people who care🔥 Saison (SF) – Wood embers, primal precision, ingredients doing the talking🌶️ Nikkei Tricks – Ceviche mayo on fried chicken, binchotan oil, bright tiraditos🍳 Brunch Done Right – Turkish eggs, pastrami melts, and why hipster brunch slaps🥗 Annelies Kohlrabi Salad – Mustard, hazelnut, Thai basil, perfect simplicity📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP157 - Foie gras with white chocolate. Anchovies in a cake. Jamón fat in flan. Sounds wrong—until it’s not. This episode is about breaking the rules and laughing at anyone who says, “that’s not how it’s done.”🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🍰 Savory Desserts – Blue cheese cheesecake, anchovy tart & foie gras ideas🦆 Foie Gras Ganache – White chocolate, corn nuts & San Sebastián flashbacks🍣 Sweet Sushi – Truffle, yuzu, and why dessert can be purely savory too🥖 Bread Course – When carbs take center stage🧈 Butter vs Olive Oil – The eternal kitchen divide🇪🇸 Iberico Ham – Spain’s magic animal and Anthony Bourdain memories🔥 Jamón Cheesecake & Ham Fat Flan – When pork sneaks into pastry🤬 Culinary Orthodoxy – It's okay to do things differently!📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP156 – 700 covers. Tickets spilling to the floor. Grill in freefall. This episode is about the nights everything falls apart, and why that’s where real cooks are made.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🔥 Friday-Night Meltdown — When the pass loses the plot and how to reset🧾 Ticket Tsunami — Reading, batching, and staying ahead of the board🥩 Grill Triage — “Fire everything” vs. perfect sear and rest🧠 Prioritize & Execute — Jocko’s playbook for the line🧘 Detach to Survive — Mind control under pressure🧮 Mental Mapping — Keeping six tables in your head without dying📣 Expo Done Right — FOH-led pass calls and flow🐻 The Bear IRL — What the show nails🍜 Din Tai Fung — Systems, speed, and consistency at scale🔥 Wok Logic — A la minute skill from Chinese & Japanese kitchens🇵🇪 Chifa Legends — Javier Wong, ceviche + wok, and doing two things perfectly📋 Small Menus, Big Impact — Why fewer dishes hit harder🏗️ Kitchen as System — Leadership, stress management, and getting your grip back📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP155 – Phil & Eric are back on The Line: the guests who test your patience, the ones who treat the menu like a suggestion, and the quiet power of saying NO when everyone expects you to bend.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:👨‍🍳 Back belly, underbelly, and serving up “The Line Pt. 9”👀 Open Kitchen Reality – Early signs of trouble before the first ticket drops🔄 Annoying Guests – The one that rearranged the whole dining room🧾 Off-Menu Madness – When “Can I have this without that?” breaks the system💸 Partial Refunds, Full Integrity – When keeping your rep means eating the cost💬 Review Warfare – Turning a 4★ into a 5★ without selling your soul🧘 Boundaries as Brand – “No soup for you” and other small victories🥣 The Soup Suitcase – VIPs and their crazy requests 19:16🧪 Dietary Minefields – Gluten-free, vegan, and the high price of “special”🚫 Entitlement Kills Experience – How one guest can ruin service for twenty🗾 Japan’s No-Sub Culture – Why respect tastes better than entitlement👨‍🍳 When We Do Bend – Freestyling dishes vs tanking quality📋 Menu on the Fly – The Dos Palillos discipline of rewriting in real time🗣️ Hospitality Backbone – Saying NO clearly, kindly, and once📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: http://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📢 Advertise with us: http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP154 — Basque fire, Bangkok chaos: From Mugaritz to Noma and now the streets of Thailand, Chef Iñaki Bolumburu turns a 35-seat speakeasy into a traveling txoko where the market writes the menu, charcoal does the talking, and “waste” gets a second life.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🏡 Basque Roots – Farmhouse life, family kitchens, and early sparks🎓 Bilbao School Days – Bad student, good instincts🔥 Mugaritz Breakthrough – “Everything is possible”🌍 Learning English in the Kitchen – Cooking abroad without words👨‍🍳 Noma & Azurmendi – Creativity and foraging on another level🏛️ Nerua Lessons – Mentorship, travel, and purpose✈️ First Pop-Up – Grief turned into motion❄️ Force Creativity – From waste to byproduct to dish🌪️ Pop-Up Snowball – 40 countries, countless ideas🇵🇹 Portugal Collab – Cooking with Vasco Coelho Santos🇹🇭 Bangkok Chaos – The accidental Amalur🔥 Fire Language – 80% of the menu on charcoal💡 Txoko Philosophy – Basque hospitality abroad🥩 Product Over Prestige – Local fish, honest salt🥢 Basque vs Thai – Minimal meets maximal🧪 Locavore Lessons – Sustainability done right🎒 Nomad Tour – Europe, foraging, and family🏠 Inside Amalur – 35 seats, one chef, full heart🍷 Natural Wine & Firewater – No frills, just flavor🧁 Simple Desserts – Olive oil cakes and pickled fruit🧘‍♂️ Health Reset – Quitting tobacco, finding balance📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks 📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP153 – More audience questions. More proof that breaking rules and ignoring common sense sometimes makes food more delicious. From soggy chicken skin to overcooked pasta, sometimes wrong tastes right.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode🍗 Soggy Chicken Skin — Hainanese chicken, hot-water trick, poached bounce🌿 Ugly Greens — Army-green spinach🥧 Recipes That Shouldn’t Work — Boiled-butter citrus curd, silky and perfect🍝 Overcooked Pasta? — 25-minute spaghetti, risotto-style al dente🥬 Wok-Fried Salad — Tossing mixed greens hot and fast🎭 Trends We’d Kill (and Keep) — Gimmicks out, bistro classics forever😭 When Food Hits Emotion — Gratitude bites in Japan, a son’s first omelet🧪 Cooking Myths Torched — Searing “locks juices,” & more🤖 AI Recipes — They're mostly robot hallucinations.📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: linktr.ee/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? https://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP152 – From Wall Street to Berlin Burger Joint: Sachin Obaid eats more fine dining than anyone we know. But his true masterpiece? A burger that tells his life story.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:📈 From Finance to Fryers – line-level pressure on Wall Street and on the pass🥒 Gilda Memories – a dirty martini that tasted like San Sebastián🌍 Third-Culture Cooking – India meets the U.S. inside a bun🧪 Pandemic Pop-Up Playbook – Shopify menus, zero-waste pantries, perfect sell-outs🧂 Real Spices, Real Problems – potency, ports, and why your cardamom is dead'🔥 Kerala Fried Chicken – Southern technique, South Indian soul🍔 Gully Burger – masala patties, chutneys, and a sesame-seed grin⭐ Hype vs Taste – why star systems don’t guarantee goosebumps🥩 Etxebarri Truth – the steak that resets your compass🍷 Hidden Spain – off-map temples (hello, Galicia)📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP151 – 🍳 Forget the tasting menu. If you want to be a real cook, start in the trenches. 🔥This week we take on audience questions — and crack open the uncomfortable truths young chefs need to hear. ⚡🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:👨‍🍳 Best Advice for Aspiring Chefs – Why foundations matter more than stars🔥 “F### Tasting Menus” – The lost art of real cooking🔪 Choosing Your Path – Decision fatigue in a career with too many options🍚 The Rice Wars – There’s no one right way (sorry, Valencians)🍗 The Underdog Meat – Why chicken deserves respect🥂 Berlin Dining Scene – Hype vs. substance🥔 Potato Purée Salt Debate – Timing, superstition, and science🌶️ Cooking with Identity – Context, culture, and food credibility📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP150 - Julián Otero isn’t here to make you comfortable. As creative chef of Mugaritz, he serves ideas disguised as food—sometimes brilliant, sometimes brutal, never safe. At the most controversial restaurant in the world, the dish isn’t finished until you eat it.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🎙️ Intro – Meet Juliano Otero, creative chef of Mugaritz🤳 Gastro Cringe – calling out bathtub tiramisus & clueless critics📚 From librarian dreams to kitchen life💡 El Bulli ambitions & rejection from Basque Culinary Center👨‍🍳 Inside El Bulli Foundation & working with Ferran Adrià🤝 Learning from Oriol, Eduard & Mateu at Disfrutar’s roots🎓 Teaching at Basque Culinary Center at 24 years old🍽️ Breaking into Mugaritz – skipping the usual stagiaire ladder🎸 From fan to bandmate – making books at Mugaritz🌍 What really fuels Mugaritz: thousands of young cooks🧪 Beyond flavor – cooking as ideas, not comfort🔄 Why Mugaritz keeps changing to stay alive👥 How dishes are created: teams, topics & young blood🎨 When is a dish finished? Why the diner completes it🧫 Four years to grow a fungus – the long road of R&D👋 Closing thoughts & Juliano’s philosophy👥 Relevant People & Restaurants Mentioned in This Episode:Julián Otero (Mugaritz): @gastrojuliusMugaritz: @mugaritzEl Bulli Foundation / Ferran Adrià: @elbullifoundation_ferranadriaBasque Culinary Center: @bculinaryOriol Castro (Disfrutar): @oriolcastrofornsEduard Xatruch (Disfrutar): @eduardxatruchMateu Casañas (Disfrutar): tagged in @disfrutarbcnDisfrutar: @disfrutarbcn📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP149 – Tourists chase paella. Chefs chase truth. This is Barcelona through a cook’s eyes: lobster-slick canelons, seawater stews, five-euro dinosaurs, and bars where the plancha still shouts. Some obvious, some hidden. All about how this city eats—and why it matters.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🌊🐖 Mar i Muntanya – Catalonia’s surf-and-turf DNA🍝 Canelons + Lobster Butter – humble pasta, obscene sauce🐟🔥 Suquet, Monkfish & Seawater – fishermen logic in a pot🇪🇸🏆 Spain’s Case – why Spanish cooking belongs in the pantheon🎄🍲 Galets at Christmas – meat-stuffed pasta that makes its own broth🍋🐟 Fismuler Barcelona – Nino Redruello’s “cuisine doctor” vibe🧀🔥 Cheesecake Wars – Zuberoa’s blue-cheese whisper, Ama vs. Fismuler, crust included🥬🔥 Kimchi Butter & Charred Cabbage – fusion with restraint🇪🇨🍲 Ecuador in BCN – Ñaño’s encebollado + plantain–peanut fish stew🍺🍤 Counter Culture – Cal Pep & the gospel of the plancha🧑‍🍳🥄 Bar Pinotxo → Sant Antoni – market bars done right🥂🐙 Ultramarinos Marín – produce-driven seafood and “that bill”🥃🍲 Bar Gèlida – the last cheap, working-class dinosaur🥑🏙️ Gentrification vs. Culture – hip cafés, fragile ecosystems📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️EP148 – A casual catch-up ☕ turns into a deep exploration of a cook’s career 👨‍🍳—turning points, mentors, and the lessons that shape a chef’s path to excellence ⭐.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🍰 The Cheesecake Test – Why eating from the back might mean you’re a psychopath🔥 Improvising in Caracas – No oil, no problem (fish confit saves the day)👨‍🍳 Mentors Who Changed Everything – Ruben Martinez, Michel Hopfel, and the craft vs. business debate🍃 Mugaritz & Beyond – Life lessons from chaos, herbs, and endless mise en place🥕 When Food Makes You Cry – Hay ice cream, strawberry salads, and flavor as memory🎵 Music or Silence – How sound shapes cooking and dining🥩 Fine Dining vs. Chuletas – From Bourdain’s Mugaritz epiphany to Etxebarri’s steak supremacy🎨 Doing Less, Doing It Right – Why Picasso lines, rap lyrics, and cooking all share the same truth📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP147 – Eric and Phil go all-in on the potato hall of fame—Robuchon’s butter-bomb purée, Heston’s triple-cooked fries, French gratins, plus some real WTF recipes like potato sauces and espumas. The greatest spud dishes every chef should know.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🥔 The Potato is King – humble, ugly, glorious👨‍🍳 Robuchon’s Legendary Purée (60% butter rule)🍟 Heston’s Triple-Cooked Fries – the recipe that changed fries forever🔥 Why Technique Matters – turning classics into innovation🇪🇸 Spanish Fries vs. French Fries – soggy but soulful🥛 Potato Gratin & Tartiflette – French comfort classics🍲 Pommes Boulanger – baked potatoes with broth & onions🥘 Creole Potatoes & Family Food Memories🎶 Potatoes, Smell & Memory – food as time travel🧪 WTF Potato Recipes – juicing, gels & experimental sauces💨 Potato Espuma – fish, olive oil vs. butter debates🤬 The Cheesecake & Potato Purée Wars – dogma in the kitchen🧄 Marco Pierre White’s Butter-Roasted Potatoes🍷 Potato Dressings – truffle oil, stock & genius simplicity📚 Final Thoughts & Outro📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP146 – From Canteens to Michelin Stars – Giacomo Zani’s career didn’t start in gleaming fine-dining kitchens. It started with peeling potatoes for 400 in a pharmaceutical company cafeteria. Now he’s Executive Chef at Amelia in San Sebastián, running a 2-Michelin-star kitchen and helping launch restaurants from Bangkok to Miami. This is about passion, discipline, and saying yes before you’re ready.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🇮🇹 Florence Beginnings – From canteen life to chasing flavor🍝 Italian Roots – Grandmothers, Bolognese, and milk debates🏨 Luxury Standards – Four Seasons and the precision omelet🌍 Global Openings – Bangkok, Barcelona, Miami & more🍣 Product First – From kinome leaves to Chawanmushi 💡 Mentorship & Discipline – Why only the best touch the protein👨‍🍳 Career Advice – For the 20-year-old who thinks it’s too late🥖 Basque & Beyond – Breaking the local culinary lineage📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP145 – This is tuna, lip-to-tail. From cheeks to collars, marrow to belly—we break down every cut, every technique, and every dish that makes this fish a true culinary heavyweight.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🏛️ What Is a Sociedad? – Basque supper club rules & culture🍽️ Cooking in the Sociedad – Eric’s 100-dish Basque challenge🥣 Marmitako Deep Dive – Peppers, bonito, and potato theory🦑 Next Up: Squid in Ink – Eric’s cooking plans🐟 Bonito vs. Big Tuna – Size, flavor, and grandma’s preserves🔥 Hay-Fired Tataki – Japanese bonito torched over dry hay🎣 Fishing Bonito in Venezuela – Eric’s childhood story💡 Why Freshness Matters – Catch it, cook it, eat it🧂 Bonito Flakes & Umami – Katsuo in Japanese cooking👑 The Tuna King – Tokyo’s auction legend & surprise meal🐄 Tuna Is the New Steak – Ribs, necks, cheeks & more🍖 Pulled Smoked Tuna Head – LA chef Junya Yamasaki’s method🥩 Belly Cuts & Wagyu Comparisons – Why tuna eats like beef🍳 Tuna au Poivre – With ponzu, yuzu kosho, and matchstick fries🍟 Roasted Nori Fries – The seasoning twist🌡️ Warm-Blooded Tuna – And why the texture hits different🍖 Reverse Vitello Tonato – Tuna with veal jus espuma🐟 Bone Marrow & Tuna Cocochas – Cuts chefs overlook🥫 Canned Tuna Memories – School lunches & government aid🫙 Conservas Matter – High-end bonito belly in oil🍅 Simple Salad, Elevated – Tuna belly with tomato & onion🍱 What They’re Serving Now – Tartlets, truffle tuna & spicy rolls🌶️ Truffle Oil in Spicy Tuna – Sounds wrong, tastes right🧁 Akami & Otoro Tartlets – The one-bite umami bomb📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP144 – A Basque Temple of Smoke and Simplicity. It’s nearly impossible to get a table—yet somehow, we found ourselves upstairs at Asador Etxebarri. Later, over wine-stained notes and full stomachs, we tried to make sense of every course kissed by smoke, salt, and fire.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🥣 Pea Broth – A liquid emerald that sets the tone with gentle smokiness🥩 Our CHORIZO – Melt-in-your-mouth pork butter and restraint in seasoning🐟 Home Salted ANCHOVIES – Crusty bread, rich fish, and zero vinegar shock🧀 Fresh Buffalo CHEESE – Mozzarella meets bitter rocket, unadorned perfection🦐 Palamós PRAWNS – Sweetness, smokiness, and chewing every edible part🌊 SEA URCHIN – Seaweed oil, unctuous cream, and ocean umami🦑 CUTTLEFISH – Peas, garlic flower, and a grilled Sunday memory🐟 Hake KOKOTXAS – Rebosado style, wild garlic cracker, gelatinous bliss🥄 CAVIAR – Pork fat emulsion, smoked pearls, and goat milk butter🍄 Cardoon & Black TRUFFLE – Marzuelos mushrooms in broth worth bathing in🐟 Sea BREAM – Grilled with finesse, sour restraint, and yes… the eye🥩 CHORIZO Tartar – A raw pork tartare sandwiched between Basque talos🥩 Beef CHOP – Txuleta from “Marilyn Monroe,” rare, warm, and unforgettable🍨 Reduced milk ICE CREAM & beetroot – Smoky, earthy, ice-cold perfection🍫 Chocolate SOUFFLE – Airy, rich, sweet, and intentionally “too rare”🧀 Cheese FLAN – A warm, naked ode to Basque cheesecake without flour🛋️ Upstairs at Etxebarri – Private rooms, wooden tables, and feeling at home🧠 First Times – What stays with you when everything is done just right📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP143 – Eric visited a foie gras facility. What he saw wasn’t what you'd expect. This episode is about what it means to kill, eat, and stay honest about both.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🦆 What is Foie Gras? – The duck breeds and strange logistics behind it📦 Born in Spain, Shipped to France – Why marketing determines birthplace🌾 Duck Life – 90 days of freedom, feeding, and finality🍽️ Force-Feeding Explained – What Eric actually saw (and didn’t)⚡ Conscious Slaughter – Electricity, bleeding, and respect🪷 Ritual vs Cruelty – Saying a prayer before each kill🪓 Lobsters, Langoustines & Knives – Why killing still haunts professional chefs🔋 Duck Poop Power – How a slaughterhouse fuels itself with methane😶 “I Don’t Want to Know” – Phil’s takedown of meat ignorance📚 Cookbook Censorship – The chicken photo that made readers sad🎯 Know Your Food – Why cooking starts with understanding your ingredients📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP142 – The Rise of the Basque Cheesecake. On the road to Etxebarri, Eric chats with José Pelares—chef, entrepreneur, and founder of LA VASCA, Colombia’s cult-favorite Basque cheesecake brand. From nostalgic late-night cheesecake sessions in San Sebastián to adapting the classic recipe for a new audience, the two dig into what makes this dessert so addictive.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🍰 The Cheesecake Origin Story – How a late-night craving turned into a brand🇨🇴 Exporting Flavor – Bringing Basque cheesecake to Colombia🧂 Salt > Sugar – Why the best cheesecakes aren’t that sweet🍪 Cookie Base Controversy – Breaking tradition or improving it?🐐 Mamia & Sheep’s Milk – Basque desserts in all their minimal glory🍠 Sweet Potato, Matcha & Dulce de Leche – Remixing the recipe💡 Tips for Home Bakers – How not to mess it up🧀 Cheesecake Cheese? – From secret cheeses to white mold crusts🍷 Pairings We Love – From Sauternes to Pacharán📈 Going Viral – Runny centers, arepa confusion, and social media gold📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP141 – Finding Your Culinary Identity? After a stretch of solo episodes, Eric and Phil are finally back together—and Phil’s got stories. In this episode, he unpacks his new role at the Arts Club in Dubai, from chef’s table tastings to 1,000-cover yacht clubs. The two dive into the sacred simplicity of chuleta, a ridiculously rich pastrami bao, and the croissant sandwich that broke their brains. Then, listener Chef Ryan sparks a big question: how do you find your culinary identity? The conversation veers into authenticity, remix culture, and why your story is your style—even if it’s German, Spanish, and Venezuelan all at once.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🇦🇪 Back in Dubai – Phil rejoins the Arts Club with a creative R&D role🥩 The Basque Way of Steak – Chuleta, salt, and zero bullshit🥐 Croissant x Pastrami – A sandwich only a pervert could invent🍜 Tuna Tarts & Tonkotsu Ramen – Why simplicity hits hardest🧪 Pastrami Science – Brining Wagyu short rib for bao buns🧠 Remix or Ripoff? – How identity is built through inspiration📍 What Is ‘Authenticity’? – Tortillas, Thomas Keller, and French-Peruvian food🌍 German Chef, Japanese Food – Cooking outside your passport🎭 Chef Impostor Syndrome – Finding your place when you feel like a fraud🧬 Tell the Story Only You Can – Why all art is autobiographical📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP140 – Chef Jackie Villena, a.k.a. The Caviar Queen, knows more about caviar than most people know about salt. From harvesting secrets to wild pairings, she breaks down the luxury ingredient like only an insider can.She’s cooked in renowned kitchens across the Americas — from Gusto in Bolivia and Barra Lima with Francis Mallmann, to The Inn at Little Washington with Patrick O’Connell — and now serves as Executive Chef at RH’s Champagne & Caviar Cellar, earning her the crown as The Caviar Queen.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🐟 Fisherman’s Butter – Caviar’s humble beginnings⏳ Ten-Year Fish – Why it takes a decade to harvest🍷 Caviar Matures Like Wine – Flavor gets better with age🌍 Caviar Around the World – From Madagascar to China🍩 French Toast & Donuts – Sweet pairings that just work🧈 Brioche, Butter & Bliss – The perfect bite🥩 Tartar Without Capers – Why caviar replaces the classic🥄 Never Use Metal – Caviar etiquette and preservation tips🍗 Fried Chicken & Caviar – The pairing no one expects🏰 The Inn at Little Washington – Jackie’s fairytale kitchen📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP139 – The Umami Conspiracy. From parmesan-in-mayo hacks to kombu-fueled flavor bombs, Phil and Eric dive mouth-first into the misunderstood world of umami. They trace the Japanese origin of the term, bust myths about MSG, and confess the bastardized secrets that supercharge their sauces. Also in this episode: dessert umami bombs, rule-breaking parmesan, and a tomato sauce that hits harder than it should. This one’s full of science, swearing, and savory revelations.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🇦🇪 Back in the Fryer – Phil lands in Dubai🍄 What Is Umami, Really? – And why no one can describe it📜 The Japanese Chemist Who Named Umami – A kombu-flavored discovery🧂 MSG, Sugar & Ajinomoto – The factory-made flavor crystal🚫 Chinese Restaurant Syndrome – The racist roots of anti-MSG panic🍟 Shio Kombu on Fries – A flavor bomb you didn’t know you needed🧀 Parmesan Power Moves – How to hack beurre blanc and mayo🍅 The Tomato That Punches You – A sauce built to kick your ass🍫 Dessert Umami – From cheesecake to ganache with blue cheese🥄 Umeboshi Turnips – A subtle Japanese breakfast that hits deep🌀 Too Much Umami? – When your pupils become tea saucers🇮🇹 Rule-Breaking Parmesan – Culinary Crimes Against Italy📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP138 – 🔬From Fine Dining to Harvard Ft. Alejandra Touceda. From her early days dodging crazy chefs, staging at El Celler de Can Roca to now managing the food lab at Harvard University, Alex’s path is anything but linear. In this episode, she dishes on what happens when food meets science.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode👨‍🍳 First Kitchen Trauma – Crying cooks, forced coffee, and surviving a toxic brigade.🥘 Traditional Roots – Falling back in love with cooking at La Taverna del Clínic.🌟 Fine Dining Entry – Product-forward learning at Casa Solla.🏛️ El Celler Energy – Why staging there felt like summer camp for the obsessed.📚 Thesis at LCA – Rediscovering forgotten plants through grandma’s recipes.🧪 Nerding Out at Harvard – Teaching food science through pizza elasticity and Harold McGee lectures.🍶 Amazake Hits Different – A ferment that smells like fruit and flowers.🧫 Indigenous Beverages – How Alex’s PhD is mapping microbes in traditional fermentation.📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: http://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: http://patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP137 – 🥣 Soup, Salsas & Sea Urchin: Why the Simple Stuff Blows Your Mind From Basque fish soups to sea urchin redemption arcs, Phil and Eric go deep on the dishes that stick with you for life. They swap stories about ramen joints that smell like dashi, jarred bouillabaisse, and introducing moms to the magic of sucking prawn heads. Plus: the quiet power of meat garum, a tuna gut sauce that tastes like sake, and how MSG is the cheat code in Mexican salsa. A warm, savory episode full of flavor bombs and comfort food revelations.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🇲🇽 MSG in Mexican Salsa – The flavor hack that’s more common than you think.🥄 Soup Memories – Why simple broths hit the deepest emotional notes.🐟 Bouillabaisse Bucket List – Paying €160 for the real thing in Marseille.🐦 Quail Dashi – The minimalist broth Phil swears by.🦐 Prawn Head Juice – A mom’s first taste of carabineros.🥩 Meat Garum Magic – Fermented umami that levels up lean cuts.🥔 God-Tier Meatballs – How onions, potatoes, and tradition make you question everything.🌊 Sea Urchin Redemption – The Hokkaido Uni that changed Phil’s mind.🐟 Tuna Gut Sauce – A fermented fish condiment made for sake.🍜 Sushi with Mom – Navigating crab brains and shirako like a pro.📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP136 – 🧈 Fat is Flavor: From Robuchon’s legendary mashed potatoes to duck fat caramel and toasted yeast butter, Phil and Eric go full-fat in this unapologetic ode to cooking’s richest ingredient. They break down emulsions like mayo and alioli, get nostalgic about real cream, and share chef secrets like using pork fat in tortillas or chuleta fat for glazing veg. If you’ve ever wondered why your dressing is flat or your potatoes are boring—this one’s for you.🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode:🧠 Olive Oil & Brain Power – Why the good stuff boosts more than just salad flavor.🥧 Lemon Pie Is Mostly Butter – The sneaky ratios behind custards and “lemon” desserts.🥔 Robuchon Potatoes – How to fold in butter until it nearly splits (and that’s a good thing).🦆 Duck Fat Caramel – The Michelin trick that deepens sweet complexity.🌮 Pork Fat Tortillas – A Mexican grandma move that changes everything.🌰 Nut Oils & Plum Seed Magic – Alternative fats that bring surprising elegance.🥄 Mayonnaise 101 – Why emulsions are the real power move in flavor and texture.🍞 Toasted Yeast Butter – Umami-rich, roasty, and criminally underused.🥛 Real Cream vs. Supermarket Slop – A passionate rant on why quality dairy still matters.🧈 Brown Butter Forever – The squeeze bottle hack you’ll wish you knew earlier.📩 Follow & Support Us:🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks📸 Instagram: @potluckfoodtalks▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks💙 Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/potluckfoodtalks📢 Want to advertise with us? potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast🔥 Enjoy!