There is no food writer we would rather talk to about Italy—and maybe about food in general—than Katie Parla. Katie is the author of several books, and her latest is a return to her hometown of Rome. Rome: A Culinary History, Cookbook, and Field Guide to the Flavors that Built a City captures the history and modern culinary spirit of one of the world’s greatest cities. In this episode, we speak with Katie about her independent book publishing business, the current tourist vibes of Italy, and what makes Rome such a special place.

And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: A Korean restaurant and brewery, NY Makgeolli, is serving amazing freshwater eel in the Hudson Valley, Maxi’s Noodle has a new location in Manhattan, Raf’s is a great spot for weekday breakfast in Manhattan. Also: Toasted Pepita Pumpkin Spice from Burlap and Barrel may change your opinion about pumpkin spice, Ken Burns’ The American Revolution has some surprises, and the new Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro  is beautiful. 

Also, we’re doing a mailbag episode to end the year. Send your questions to: [email protected] with Mailbag in the subject. We'll answer questions about cooking, favorite restaurants, past guests, cookbooks we may have missed, cities we should visit. If you have a question, Aliza and Matt will answer it. 

Subscribe to This Is TASTE: ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices