The Taste Podcast

A writer, editor, illustrator, cookbook author, children’s book author, and really fun guy to get to know, Joshua David Stein really has all the goods. In this truly epic episode we cover Joshua’s long and interesting career, from the early days of Gawker and the New York Observer to writing cookbooks with Kwame Onwuachi, Wilson Tang, and Joe Campanale. We talk about why writing about restaurants is such a compelling act of cultural anthropology, and why writing cookbooks was the natural progression for Joshua. And how the years-long process of writing a cookbook is the type of project, a huge one at that, that is both satisfying and an exercise of letting go. We also talk about the hustle required to hack it in food writing today. This is an amazing talk with one of our favorites. More from Joshua David Stein: When Jacques Pépin Made All the World an Omelet [TASTE] Chef Michael White's New York Comeback [Esquire]  This Is the Story of the Rainbow Room [PUNCH] Buy: Vino: The Essential Guide to Real It

We don’t talk much about the wine world on the show, but we couldn’t pass up the chance to have the legendary wine critic and big-ideas person Jancis Robinson in the studio. Wine talk can be a real snooze, but this wide-ranging chat is hardly the audio version of swirling and spitting. We talk about Jancis’s pioneering wine show on the BBC and how she translated wine to a wide audience. We also discuss what it’s like to select wines for Her Royal Highness and how the wines are highly scrutinized by the press and “royal watchers” (and we debate the accuracy of The Crown). We talk about natural wine and how the conventional wine world has been challenged by a seismic change in the industry. We learned a great deal from this conversation! More from Jancis Robinson: The 24 Hour Wine Expert [Talks at Google]  What Wine Twitter Taught Me About Wine [PUNCH] What Does It Take to Be a Great Wine Reference Book Today? [PUNCH] Visit Jancis online at: jancisrobinson.com

What a thrill to have Stephen Satterfield on the show. Stephen has many layers in his long career in journalism, wine, and television—and we discuss them all. He is the founder of Whetstone, a media company founded in 2017 that produces journals, podcasts, and an anchor magazine that is one of our favorites on the rack. He’s also the host of the Netflix series High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America, winner of a Peabody Award for documentary. This conversation is wide-ranging and dips into Stephen’s sommelier past, as well as digging into his approach for producing the magazine Whetstone. It’s a really great conversation. More from Stephen Satterfield:   F&W Game Changers: Stephen Satterfield [Food & Wine]  The Lasting Impact of ‘High on the Hog’ [Eater] The Profound Significance of ‘High on the Hog’ [New York Times]

Emily Schildt wants food shopping to be a more fun and mind-expanding experience, and with her company, Pop Up Grocer, she’s getting customers closer to the destination. As the name suggests, PUG travels the country and sets up shop for 30-day runs in cities like Miami, New York, and Washington, DC. Each pop-up sells hundreds of the most interesting and emerging food brands around (some of which we’ve covered on the TASTE Podcast), all heavily curated and many run by women and BIPOC founders. We speak with Emily about the company’s big ideas, even bigger plans, and some of the products she is most excited about selling. What a great conversation with Emily! More from Emily Schildt: Emily Schildt on Rethinking the Grocery Experience [Modern Retail] The Utopian Promises and Novelty Cheese of a Discount Grocery Store [TASTE] How Pop Up Grocer Curates its Aisles with Emerging Food Brands [Forbes] Pop Up Grocer [official website]

Yay, Adam Roberts is here for a very special episode. You may know Adam from his pioneering food blog Amateur Gourmet, or from his stint doing videos for the Food Network, which he talks about candidly in this episode (spoiler: it didn’t go so well). What has gone well is Adam’s new newsletter, naturally called the Amateur Gourmet, which is so worth checking out. We touch on many topics, including gossip about his early blogging days, some Food Network memories, his time working in television, his love of British cookbooks, the Broadway cookbook he wrote with Gideon Glick, what he’s cooking, and where to eat in his hometown of Los Angeles. It’s action-packed with Adam Roberts! More from Adam Roberts: Blow-Your-Mind Baked Beans [Amateur Gourmet] Homemade Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting [Youtube] The Amateur Gourmet Podcast Pre-order: Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway

Today on the show, we welcome Linda Holmes. Linda is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of the popular Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. She’s also a novelist, and we talk about her recent book release, Flying Solo. We also discuss some cool topics in the crossover of food and pop culture, including meal kits, olestra, The Flavor Bible, macaron rules that need to be broken, food on TikTok (specifically cinnamon rolls covered in apple pie filling), the New York City diner breakfast that needs no notes, the supremacy of Is It Cake?, and wrestling with the legacy of Anthony Bourdain. More from Linda Holmes: Love in the Time of Hollering: The Age of Enthusiasm [NPR] After Beanie Feldstein's departure, can Lea Michele really save 'Funny Girl'? [NPR] Buy: Flying Solo

She calls herself the Bob Ross of salads, and for very good reason. Jess Damuck is the salad freak behind the new cookbook Salad Freak and a really fun guest on our show today. Of course, we get into the Xs and Os of salad making, but we also find out about her journey—which included working closely with Martha Stewart for over a decade. We learn about the best way to store salad greens, the best way to use a salad spinner, serving salad hot, and the single mistake that most salad preppers are making. It’s a revealing conversation. More from Jess Damuck: Working for Martha Stewart Turned This Cookbook Author Into a ‘Salad Freak’ [Time] A Self-Proclaimed Salad Freak’s Kitchen Leads Right to the Garden [Domino] Essential Tools for a Better Salad [Food Network] Buy: Salad Freak

On this episode we're speaking with actor and comic Ayo Edebiri. Have you checked out The Bear, a new show on FX that is one of the finest representations of the white-knuckle restaurant world in popular culture since, well, Kitchen Confidential was first published? Ayo joins us to talk about her important role on the show and how she prepared to play the role of Sydney Adamu. We also find out about Ayo’s real-life work in restaurants, and we get into some behind-the-scenes talk about filming on location in Chicago. Last, we learn about shooting what many (us, at least) consider the greatest episode of television to air this year. This is such a great conversation!   More from Ayo Edebiri:  Meet Ayo Edebiri, the Breakout Star of FX’s Intense New Show The Bear [Glamour]  The Bear Renewed for Season 2 at FX [Variety] In The Bear on Hulu, a Kitchen Staff Is Nearly Eaten Alive [New York Times] Watch: The Bear

Bartees Strange is one of the most promising and confident voices in music today, and we wanted to have him on the show to talk about his new album, Farm to Table. The title suggests an interest in food and cooking, and we dive into some of the dishes he enjoyed growing up around the world in Oklahoma, Europe, and most recently living in Washington DC. He makes a strong case for Ben’s Chili Bowl and for traveling to Northern Virginia for Chinese seafood. But we also find out about what his food life is like on the road. We loved getting to know Bartees Strange during this lively conversation. Also on the show Matt is joined by producer Pat Stango to talk about The Bear, a new restaurant world drama on FX/Hulu that has exploded on the scene in recent weeks. We love it. How does the show get restaurant life oh so right? Matt and Pat chop it up.   More from Bartees Strange: Bartees Strange Ponders Success in Dire Times [New York Times] Bartees Strange Explores His Journey [NPR] Kelly Rowland [Youtube] Bu

Yes, yes, yes! Dana Brown is here for an entertaining and mildly gossipy episode. We’ve long followed Dana’s career at Vanity Fair, where he served many roles during his more than 20 years at the magazine. Dana has published a page-turning memoir, Dilettante, and we dive into his story, which starts with him working at the legendary “Conde Nast cafeteria” Forty Four, where he was scooped up by a young magazine editor, Graydon Carter, to serve as his assistant in 1992. Dana talks about so many things: editing A. A. Gill, food at the legendary VF Oscar party, NYC sushi in the ’90s, trashing the restaurant 66, the “Graydon Carter lunch order,” the power of a Waverly Inn reservation, Keith McNally vs. the world (including Graydon Carter). We also hear about Dana’s recent meal at the Noma pop-up in Brooklyn. What a fun conversation!     More from Dana Brown:  Bonfire of the Vanity Fair [Book & Film Globe] Graydon Carter Hosts a Vanity Fair Ancien Régime Reunion [NY Mag] Tour De Gall [Vanity Fair] Divine In

Writer, podcaster, and cookbook collaborator Andrew Friedman has a unique vantage in talking about chefs and food writing as a profession. He’s worked with some of the more interesting voices in the restaurant world (particularly going back a decade and longer), including Daniel Boulud, Alfred Portale, Michelle Bernstein, Bill Telepan, and David Waltuck. In this episode, we talk to Andrew about collaborating vs. full authorship, and about his most recent work, Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll, a sweeping account of the chef world in 1970s and 1980s America. Andrew also talks about the chef “takedown” piece—a particular style of article that litigates a wide variety of behaviors in and out of the kitchen. Are they all merited? We have an open conversation about the responsibility of writers, chefs, and the many judgment calls being made by journalists and editors covering the industry.  Also on the show, Clarkson Potter’s Bianca Cruz returns to talk about her journey in culinary school. We hear about her current s

Have you ever wondered how chefs rise from relative obscurity to the pages of your favorite glossy magazine or online publication? Longtime food writer Kate Krader has the answer. Kate worked at Food & Wine for over two decades and served as the magazine’s restaurant editor for years, overseeing the Best New Chefs program that spotted talent from New York City to Honolulu. We talk about Kate’s career, from studying at La Varenne in Paris to her current position as food editor at Bloomberg. Kate will soon be moving from New York to London, and we talk about some hot food topics, including Tesla moving into the restaurant business and why nobody can land a restaurant reservation these days. We also talk rivalries: Eater vs. Grub Street. Bon Appétit vs. Gourmet vs. Food & Wine. And with Kate’s pending move to the UK, naturally, Blur and XTC were discussed. It’s a great conversation. More from Kate Krader: The Best Restaurant in the UK Isn’t in London. It’s in Wales. [Bloomberg] Snagging a Table at a Hot Rest

Today is Nicole Enayati Day on the TASTE Podcast, and we’re so happy to welcome one of our favorite voices in food to the program. Nicole is one half of the popular food podcast A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich, and she can be found all over the Mythical Kitchen YouTube page serving as senior culinary producer. We debate and discuss some of food’s biggest controversies, and we dig into her background as a young eater growing up in Los Angeles. We also talk about “geriatric cereals” and the book she wrote, Bake Up!, a baking cookbook geared toward teens and tweens. Nicole tells us the single recipe that can unlock the joy of baking for any young cook. It’s a wild ride with Nicole Enayati, and we’re really happy to welcome her to the show. Also we are joined by chef Alon Shaya and 91-year-old Holocaust survivor Steven Fenves. The pair struck up a friendship over an effort to preserve and digitize the recipes of Steven’s youth before his family was taken to Auschwitz. The journey of this family cookbook is absolutely rem

Today, we have a really fun conversation with Jonathan Kung, a Detroit-based chef and TikTok creator we’ve fallen hard for over the past couple years. We wanted to reach out to Jonathan to talk a little bit about TikTok, but also to get to know a bit about his history with Chinese home cooking and with working and living in one of America’s great food cities: Detroit. We talk about the bounty of Michigan agriculture, which can be a chef’s secret weapon. We also discuss the cookbook he’s writing, the ownership of kimchi, and how Jonathan wrote a recipe that he calls a “solidarity dish,” which merges kimchi jjigae and mapo tofu. What? It’s such a great story. Please get to know this rising star in food! More from Jonathan Kung: I Have COVID So I Made Garlic Soup [YouTube] Jonathan Kung’s Guide to Making Dumplings Blow Up on TikTok [Interview] Kung Food Market Studio [official] @chefJonKung [TikTok]

Today on the show, we have the pleasure of getting to know cookbook author and food TV icon Alton Brown. Brown is behind popular and pioneering food television shows like Good Eats and Iron Chef America, which has returned with a new season on Netflix. We talk about how Alton has evolved over the years as a writer and food educator, and what inspired his unique play-by-play announcer style. We also discuss his background in theater and how Pee-Wee’s Playhouse has inspired both his live shows and TV performances. What a great episode! More from Alton Brown: 20 Second Scrambled Eggs [Alton Brown online] We Test an Air Fryer [Youtube] PK Grills [official site] Buy: Good Eats: The Final Years

Today is Jesse Sparks day on the TASTE Podcast. Do you know Jesse Sparks? Do you love Jesse Sparks? We certainly do. Jesse is a senior editor at Eater and the host of a really terrific new podcast, The One Recipe, a sister to the long-running Splendid Table. We talk about Jesse’s life growing up in Houston and how his college days in Chicago molded him as both a writer and an eater. We also discuss his weekend baking projects and what excites him about food and restaurants today. This is such a cool conversation! More from Jesse Sparks: Tammie Teclemariam’s Minty Pork Meatballs [The One Recipe] For These LGBTQ+ Creatives, Home Is a Source of Pride and Celebration [BHG] Real Talk: Do You Need A Stand Mixer? [Bon Appetit]

Today we have a really cool conversation with Andrea Nguyen, the author of many popular cookbooks, including Vietnamese Food Any Day, The Pho Cookbook, The Banh Mi Handbook, Asian Dumplings, and Asian Tofu. Andrea is a writer we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the years, and this conversation dives into her incredible history as a cookbook author and food educator. We talk about the story behind her first book, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, with then indie publisher Ten Speed Press, and her interaction with the enigmatic Ten Speed founder Phil Wood. We also hear Andrea’s candid thoughts on the loneliness of cookbook writing, and how her thirst for community inspired her excellent new podcast, Everything Cookbooks. It’s a really amazing chat. Also on the show, we catch up with Bianca Cruz. Bianca is an editorial assistant at Clarkson Potter and also currently attending culinary school. We wanted to have her on to talk about the ins and outs of her culinary education and what it’s like to take an act

Today we’re excited to welcome Dawn Davis to the show. Dawn is the editor in chief of Bon Appétit and Epicurious and a really fun person to get to know a little better. Before joining Condé Nast in August 2020, she was a longtime book editor, most recently at Simon & Schuster. So what was it like to move from the relatively glacial world of books to always-on digital and print media? It’s been a transition, no doubt. We find out how Dawn edits a modern food publication and what the modern home cook actually looks like (spoiler: there are many modern home cooks). We also find out about Dawn’s childhood in Los Angeles and what food was like growing up in one of the world’s most interesting food cities. Finally, what is Dawn’s go-to busy mom dinner? Find out. Also on today’s show, we have a great conversation with Hanna Raskin, the well-regarded journalist behind The Food Section, a Substack covering the food and culture of the American South. We talk about the ups and downs of independent publishing, and how on

Today we’re so excited to be speaking with the Michigan chef Ji Hye Kim. We’ve followed Ji Hye’s incredible career in Ann Arbor, where she runs the wonderful Korean restaurant Miss Kim. Ji Hye is a Food & Wine Best New Chef and has been nominated for multiple James Beard Foundation Awards. But what makes Matt most excited about this conversation on Korean food is the chef’s deep knowledge of Korean food’s modern (and less modern) history. We talk about some of our mutual favorite Korean dishes—gamjatang certainly comes up—and we discuss how Ji Hye worked her way through the Zingerman’s training program and eventually opened her own place. Also on the show, we catch up with Jane Kelly and Jenny Hartin, two dedicated cookbook fans behind the active online community Eat Your Books. We talk about some of their favorite books from the busy spring season and the types of books they wish they saw more of in cookbook publishing. More from Ji Hye Kim: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a Restauranteur [

Today on the show, we welcome Molly Stevens into the studio. Molly is the cookbook author behind the “All About” trilogy—that would be All About Braising, All About Roasting, and All About Dinner. Molly is also a food educator and one of the cohosts of an amazing podcast, Everything Cookbooks, that covers the ins and outs of writing cookbooks—the highs, the lows, and the many edits. Stevens has great insight into the cookbook industry, and we were thrilled to share the mic with her. Also on today’s show, we have a talk with Lorenzo Carcaterra, the writer behind the book Sleepers, which was adapted into a 1996 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. We talk about what food was like when he was growing up in Hell’s Kitchen and about his latest book, Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride. More from Molly Stevens: Grown-Up Chicken Nuggets with Herb and Radish Salad [Food and Wine] Molly Stevens Makes Roasted Carrots [YouTube] Buy: All About Braising, All About Roasting, All About Dinner