This Is TASTE

You may know her from her New York Times column, On Dessert, or you may know her from trying one of her unbelievably chocolaty, world-famous World Peace Cookies at a party that one time. But before Dorie Greenspan was famous for her cakes and shortbreads, she was an early pioneer of food television and a coconspirator (and coauthor) with Julia Child. On this episode, Anna catches up with Dorie to talk about her new book, Everyday Dorie, and ask about what she actually does cook every day. We also talk about why gooey, underbaked cookies’ days are numbered but lava cake is here to stay. Later on the show, Anna chats with Lisa Ludwinski, the owner of Detroit’s Sister Pie bakery and the author of the new cookbook Sister Pie. We talk about the evolving Detroit food scene, malted milk powder, and why making pie crust is easier than people think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s get this out of the way first. Jeremiah Stone and Fabian Von Hauske are sweet dudes: extremely hardworking, generous, with lots and lots and lots of friends in the food world—in the United States, France, Mexico, and the darkest corners of the Noma fermentation lab (all spots the pair have worked in their short and ambitious careers). They own a trio of influential restaurants on New York’s Lower East Side: Contra, Wildair, and the newly reopened Una Pizza Napoletana. And they have just released their first cookbook, A Very Serious Cookbook (there’s a wink in there somewhere). On the show we dive into their story (how they met in a chat room that may or may not be branded America Online) and explore how they organized their very serious cookbook into very unique chapters. Plus, Jeremiah Stone in praise of Maryland blue crabs: “It’s in your blood when you grow up around Washington, D.C.” Also on the show, we talk with Sohui Kim, the chef behind Brooklyn's Insa and the Good Fork, as well as the author of the new book Korean Home Cooking. We chat about karaoke, kimchi, and why we should all eat more tomatoes for dessert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There isn’t a restaurant in New York City that’s having a bigger and brighter fall 2018 than Atomix. It’s supremely ambitious, highly polished, and uncompromisingly Korean. We love it! After it got rock-solid reviews in Eater, The Washington Post, and New York, the New York Times critic Pete Wells last week dropped 3 stars on the restaurant, anointing it as one of the city’s top tasting menus. Period. “The way the Parks put Korean culture in the foreground recalls the early days of the Four Seasons,” writes Wells. The Parks here are Ellia and Junghyun Park, and we got to talk to them about the art of banchan, the distinct aesthetics they maintain in both of their spaces, and what Americans need to know most about Korean cooking in general. Later on the episode, Matt talks to chef Daniel Holzman in our ongoing series, 100 Questions for My Friend the Chef. This time we're talking about XO Sauce. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stay calm and…just act like Eric Ripert. Young cooks, are you listening? Ripert, a celebrated chef and TV personality, is a balancing force in this trash-fire age. And he’s also just a really good interview, as we find out. He joins the podcast to talk about communication. How one at the top of the kitchen chain needn’t yell to get his point across. “I don’t believe the pilots in the plane are having a screaming match,” he observes. True. We also discuss the Michelin stars at his restaurant, Le Bernardin, and how he finds out if he still has them. (He’s had the maximum three stars since the guide launched in New York City). And we talk about his love of Korean food and culture—from the late-night partying to the vegetarian temple style of cooking that aligns with the Buddhist religion that is so important to the chef. He loves it all, and we remember a trip we took to Seoul a couple years back. Also on the program, we ask Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman which of her favorite NYC restaurant dishes has she been able to re-create at home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just imagine: It’s the tail end of a dinner party you just cooked for, you’re dangerously full of food, and you realize you made about three times too much food. What are you going to do with that half-eaten plate of lukewarm crab toasts? If Julia Turshen had anything to say about it, you’re going to throw them in the refrigerator until tomorrow night, when you’re going to pulverize them to bits and turn them into buttery crab cakes for dinner. Turshen’s new book, Now & Again, thinks about leftovers not as inevitable detritus of entertaining, but as ingredients themselves that you can mix up and have fun with. On this episode, we talk about some of these party (and postparty) tricks, getting her start working with Gwyneth Paltrow, and why she decided to start Equity at the Table, a database of food professionals in the POC and LGBTQ community. Later on the episode, Matt talks to chef Daniel Holzman in their ongoing series, 100 Questions for My Friend the Chef. This time they’re talking about MSG and how to cook with it at home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might know him from the Eat column in The New York Times, for which he went into dozens of restaurants, home kitchens, and church basements to report on some of the untold food stories from New York’s many immigrant communities. Or you might know him as the voice you hear when you tune into The Splendid Table, interviewing everyone from activist Cecile Richards to chef Jacques Pépin. But I was especially excited to talk to Francis Lam about his work as a book editor at Clarkson Potter, collaborating and conspiring with hilarious, colorful personalities like Christina Tosi, Tyler Kord, and Chrissy Teigen. In this episode, Francis talks about why he thinks it’s important as an editor to let your authors be a little bit weird. We also look back on some of his writing for the Times and talk about why he misses reporting so much more than he misses writing. Oh, and he tells the story of the time he hung out with Chrissy Teigen’s mom and she wouldn’t stop feeding him. Also on this episode, Matt catches up with Lisa Lillien, the founder of Hungry Girl—a project started in 2004 that has ballooned into a hugely popular magazine, podcast, and series of cookbooks. They look back at the early days of blogging, before cauliflower rice, Instagram, and rainbow everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christina Tosi is a chef, TV personality, Milk Bar CEO and CCCO (Chief Compost Cookie Officer), and the author of a new cookbook, All About Cake. And indeed, during this lively episode taped live in front of a packed house at our offices at Penguin Random House, we talk about cake. Like, we get her hot take on what is up with the addictive boxed yellow cake flavor? Which great American classic cake would she eff, marry, and kill? We also find out if the kids of MasterChef Junior really make all that food. Plus, we get some memories from the Tosi childhood: Otis Spunkmeyer, Orange Julius, and bowl cuts at the mall. It's all in here. Also on the show I get to ask my buddy chef Daniel Holzman a burning question for our column 100 Questions For My Friend the Chef. It involves what he calls the “fertile crescent of pizza”—which may or may not be in Italy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Solomonov planted his flag in Philadelphia more than a decade ago with the groundbreaking Israeli-American restaurant Zahav, and people went nuts. Two words: pomegranate lamb. He’s since won many awards, opened restaurants focusing on Israeli staples hummus and falafel, and essentially put Israeli cuisine in the American zeitgeist, sitting right next to Italian and Mexican. He’s the author of several books, including the new Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious. In this fun and wide-ranging conversation, we talk about Israel’s major food groups—falafel, pita, sabich, and schnitzel—and dive into the history of the often-overlooked Ashkenazi food traditions in Israel. We swap stories about some of our favorite Tel Aviv and Jerusalem restaurants, and Mike shares the details of his five-minute hummus recipe—which is accurately called a “medium step forward for mankind.” And his dad used to own Subway restaurants! This is a cool fact. We discuss how this may have just informed the way he looks at his growing falafel and tahini-shake empire, Goldie. Are falafels the next Cold Cut Combo? Also on the show, Anna catches up with Dana Frank and Andrea Slonecker, authors of Wine Food: New Adventures in Drinking and Cooking. The pair offer some really unique takes on the merging of wine and food cultures in our modern world—as well as why pairing wine with chocolate is just a terrible idea. Plus, is rosé over? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniela Soto-Innes is the chef-partner at two New York baby institutions, Cosme and Atla. These young and progressive restaurants—a modern Mexican cantina featuring supremely delicious tortillas and corn meringue firmly supplanted in my dessert hall of fame, and a Mexican/Latin all-day café—are reshaping the way the city thinks about “Mexican food” writ large. Soto-Innes, winner of the prestigious James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year award in 2016, was born in Mexico City and raised in Houston, where she worked in kitchens before linking up with Enrique Olvera, and later partnering on the NYC restaurants. It’s a colorful conversation. I ask her about the ashwagandha root popping up on her IG feed. About her Mexican roots, and the regionality of Mexican cuisine—the vanilla of Veracruz and the wines of Ensenada—and the high percentage of women who make up her kitchen workforce. “It’s just the way it worked out; we hire nice people,” she says of her staff. Also on the show is Michael Harlan Turkell. He’s a photographer, radio show host, and author of a ridiculously cool book about vinegar, Acid Trip. We talk about his travels to Italy and Japan and why the inky bottle of “balsamic” you last put on your salad at Whole Foods is sorta not really what you thought it was. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deuki Hong is a San Francisco–based chef and restaurant-empire-builder in the making. He’s also the coauthor of Koreatown: A Cookbook. Here he catches up with his longtime collaborator for a wide-ranging conversation. They hadn’t seen each other in a minute! They discuss the exciting state of Korean cooking in America—and how it’s evolved significantly since the book’s release in early 2016. They also discuss Deuki’s first trip back to Korea since he was born. He covered the Olympics for the Today show, and, as he tells Matt, “It broke everything for me, in a good way. I realized I know nothing about Korean food.” Untrue, but the trip was an amazing revelation for the young chef. Also on the program is Jordana Rothman, restaurant editor of Food and Wine. She and Matt go back a long way, and they discuss the shifts in covering restaurants in the food media world over the past decade. She also discusses the exciting things happening in the restaurant world in lesser-covered cities like Detroit and St. Louis, as well as her strong Instagram game. Hashtag: #BaroqueBreakfast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Natasha Pickowicz is the super talented pastry chef at New York City restaurants Flora Bar and Café Altro Paradiso, where fans (and oh, does she have fans) have been impressed with her ambitious cooking. Her dessert style? Italian-ish and simple-ish and generally not overpoweringly sweet. But before she was running the show in NYC kitchens, she worked as a journalist, writing about food and music mostly, in Montreal. She served as a Canadian pizza correspondent for Serious Eats and has a unique take on the relationship between professional chefs and the media. Here she talks about a crazy tryout she once had for a job and what she actually makes for dinner at home once her long day is over (she cooks at home regularly, slightly atypical for a professional). Also on the program, EyeSwoon creator Athena Calderone and Food52’s Kristen Miglore talk about their recent books, Cook Beautiful and Genius Desserts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there an introduction needed here? Over her groundbreaking career, Ruth Reichl has served as the food editor of the Los Angeles Times, the restaurant critic of the New York Times, and the editor in chief of the legendary magazine Gourmet. She’s written juicy memoirs, mentored a generation of writers and editors, and still writes with regularity, curiosity, and a love for real journalism. She also whispers in beautiful character-count limits on Twitter if you haven’t checked that out. So what did we talk about? Reichl discusses editing the The Best American Food Writing 2018, grades the current New York Timesrestaurant critics, reflects on her time at the Los Angeles Times, when she would publish 60 pages a week and oversaw 20 full-time employees (food-media glory days!), discusses the terrible economic reality facing restaurants, and remembers her first cookbook, published in 1972. She also might surprise some with her take on journalism in the #MeToo era. Also on this episode, Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman answers the question: What’s an unpopular food that is due for a comeback? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brooks Headley does not take vacations, read Yelp reviews, or make his burgers with beef. The chef-owner of New York City’s Superiority Burger and author of the new Superiority Burger Cookbook joined us for the latest episode to talk about vegetarian cooking, from fake meats to savory zucchini sludges that are cooked for hours. We talked about the advantages and disadvantages of cooking at a restaurant small enough to see the facial expressions of diners reacting to the food, and the inevitable occasional shock when an unsuspecting carnivore bites into a burger and finds there’s no meat inside. Also in this episode, we talked vegan cooking with Chloe Coscarelli, the author of Chloe Flavor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Netflix culinary travel series Somebody Feed Phil proves that food television can be both accessible and interesting. Populist and high-brow. Much of the show’s success is credited to its host, the delightful human being Phil Rosenthal. The creator and showrunner of sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, Rosenthal made a few bucks on the series and could have basically retired and traveled the world. Instead, the 58-year-old brings a camera along on travels around the world (along with his scene-stealing brother Richard) to destinations like Lisbon, Mexico City, and Tel Aviv. All pretension is left at baggage claim, which is why we love this show so much. Rosenthal joins us for this episode to talk about the booming Los Angeles restaurant scene, the best craft service in Hollywood, and where he’s traveling next season. Also in this episode, Games of Thrones author George R. R. Martin joins us to talk about the pizza scene in New York City. Dude has some opinions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For six years, Angela Dimayuga served as the creative nerve center of New York City’s Mission Chinese Food, rising to executive chef and winning fans with her inventive culinary takes (shiso and umeboshi butter fried rice is in the fried rice hall of fame) and contagious free spirit. But in late 2017 she walked away from Mission to branch out on her own. She participated in a series of fundraising pop-ups, including an ACLU benefit at Art Basel in Miami, where she linked up with the guy running hotel and hospitality group Standard International. Now, nearly a year later, she’s been named the group’s creative director of food and culture and is determined to shake shit up. We find out about her big ideas (Asian bears in space!) in this colorful interview. Also in this episode, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen answers a reader question: What is your favorite non-photogenic food? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, Peter Meehan was a mystery. As the New York Times’s "$25 and Under" columnist in the early 2000’s, he dined anonymously everywhere from Roberta’s to Momofuku Noodle Bar to hidden gems like Uminoie in the East Village. As an author of cookbooks and while helping run the show at Lucky Peach magazine (RIP), he avoided cameras out of some combination of annoyance and muscle memory. We caught up with him to discuss his upcoming barbecue cookbook, the terror of doing food TV, and the legacy (and life after) Lucky Peach. Later on the episode, we talked to Julia Sherman, the author of Salad for President, about the unexpected intersections between art and salad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There aren’t a lot of things on the Internet that have been around since 1999. But David Lebovitz’s blog, full of quips, stories, and recipes from his life in Paris, is one of them. On this episode, we talk to David about why soft serve really mostly exists as a vessel for sprinkles, why it’s so hard to take photos of chocolate, and the newest edition of his book about ice cream, The Perfect Scoop. Later in the show, we talk to Jessie Sheehan, author of The Vintage Baker, and Erin Patinkin of Ovenly about Jell-O, flourless chocolate cake, and some of the most absurd retro recipes they’ve encountered in their careers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A brilliant chef, motivator, entrepreneur, and storyteller, Angie Mar is a force of nature. Her inspired meat cookery at the restaurant she owns and operates in New York City, the Beatrice Inn, has won awards and recognition from fickle New York City critics. On this episode she shares her story of being reviewed by The New York Times (it’s a crazy story), as well as the day she was forced to fire her entire kitchen staff just hours before service (equally intense). Also on this episode, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen tells us what the heck is stuck in the back of her freezer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alon Shaya is one of the leading voices in a newly crystalized Israeli-American food movement going down Stateside. Born in Israel and raised on cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, Shaya now calls New Orleans his home where he operates restaurants that blur borders. You’ll find blue crab and sweet corn hummus next to harrisa roasted chicken next to caviar on potato chips. On this episode, Shaya talks about his amazing journey, as detailed in his memoir (with recipes), Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel. Also on the program, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen talks about her favorite cookbooks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Ricker’s headstone: Let’s talk about that. The Thai restaurateur, cookbook author, rock guitarist, and drinking-vinegar empire builder has done a lot. But we’re going to take a shot at that headstone. Thai Cuisine: Not a Monolith! For over a decade, we’ve heard Ricker make this case about Thailand's diverse and unique foods many times over, and he continues in this interview—where he is joined by his longtime book collaborator, JJ Goode. It’s a great listen. Later, Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman answers the question: What condiment are you most obsessed with? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her years as a New York Times reporter, Julia Moskin has traveled to Provence to write about cooking in Julia Child’s kitchen, introduced us to the concept of “procrasti-baking,” and taste-tested commercial brands of hot dogs so that we don’t have to. On this episode, we talk to Moskin about her life working on the Food desk and her recent Pulitzer Prize win. She talks about some of the glamorous and not-so-glamorous parts of her job, including what she calls her “house cocktail” of cereals that she likes to eat when she gets home at the end of a long day. Later on in the show, we talk to TASTE Cook In Residence Jenn de la Vega about Filipino food, cooking underground, and why she owns a shaved-ice machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gail Simmons is a very cool human being. While many know her best from Top Chef, her career in food expands way beyond a judge’s table. She trained at culinary school and went on to assist legendary food writer and columnist Jeffrey Steingarten. She also worked the line in busy New York City restaurants and is the author of two books, including her latest, Bringing It Home. In this very candid conversation, Simmons shares her story—from living in Montreal and Israel to working in the kitchens of Daniel Boulud for three years. Also, Smitten Kitchen founder Deb Perelman answers a reader question: If you had to write a cookbook based on one ingredient, what would it be? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve followed the career of cookbook author and op-ed columnist Mark Bittman for nearly two decades, through his How to Cook Everything series and his writing in The New York Times and other publications. In this lively interview, Mark discusses how he started writing about food (it’s a great story), reading the comments (he doesn’t), and if the Amazon–Whole Foods hookup will end up on the right, or wrong, side of history. We also speak with our current TASTE Cook In Residence Therese Nelson. She tells us about the website she founded, Black Culinary History, as well as the stories she’s been working on for TASTE, including one on the legacy of George Washington Carver. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve been reading Smitten Kitchen for more than a decade now. At its helm is the hilarious and candid Deb Perelman, who joined us on this episode to talk about her favorite mushy carbs, keeping up with reader comments, and whether the Instant Pot is really worth the hype. Later, TASTE Editor in Chief Matt Rodbard shares a personal story about the great Anthony Bourdain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alison Roman wants to change the way you think about granola (it doesn’t have to be sweet), dinner parties (they don’t have to be fancy), and boiled potatoes (there should be a stockpile in the refrigerator at all times). We talked to Alison about her new cookbook, Dining In, and what it’s like to cook and entertain in small spaces. Also, Smitten Kitchen founder Deb Perelman answers a reader question: Which touristy food places are worth going to in New York City? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Samin Nosrat, the James Beard Award-winning author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, the majority of great meals spring from a combination of those four foundational elements. We talked to Samin about too-mami (cooking with too much umami), angry letters, and the differences in brands of kosher salt. That is, not all kosher salt is the same. Also, Smitten Kitchen creator Deb Perelman answers a reader question about the art of lasagna. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a two-year vacation (LOL), Anna and Matt are back! If you're a fan of smart and cool and weird and lively conversations about food and culture, this is the place. We interview the most interesting characters in the world of food, media, and cookbooks and release episodes several times a month. The program is co-hosted by TASTE editors Anna Hezel and Matt Rodbard, and is sometimes recorded live at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, NY. Visit TASTE online: tastecooking.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices