Eater's Digest

Susan Feniger is a pillar of the Los Angeles dining scene. The chef opened her first restaurant in LA with culinary partner Mary Sue Milliken in 1981. Since then, Feniger has opened a number of restaurants both with Milliken and on her own, gaining national attention with the duo’s long-running Food Network show Too Hot Tamales along the way. In her conversation with Greg, Feniger discusses the secret to a 36-year chef partnership, her stint on Top Chef Masters, and what she loves about the LA restaurant community.

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Jeni Britton Bauer founded Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in 2002 to make better American ice creams. In the decade plus since then, Jeni’s has grown to become one of the leaders of the movement for higher-quality pints. In her conversation with Helen and Greg, the ice cream maker reveals the secret to coming up with her uber-creative ice cream flavors, explains how she came out ahead of a 2015 listeria outbreak, and grapples with mixing ice cream and politics.

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David Chang is the powerhouse behind the global Momofuku restaurant empire, which as Helen succinctly puts it at the beginning of this week’s episode, has been largely responsible for “The Way We Eat Now” ever since its New York City beginnings in 2004. In Chang’s chat with Helen and Greg, he reveals how he came to terms with the importance of Yelp, why he’s no longer interested in going after awards, and which major restaurant critic can just go f*ck himself. 

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Dana Cowin spent 21 years as the editor in chief of Food & Wine. During that time, she played a key role in fueling the rise of the celebrity chef. Now, she talks one-on-one to women in the food world on her podcast Speaking Broadly. In her chat with Helen, the food media powerhouse looks back on the moment food became not just something to eat, but an experience to have, reveals her feelings on meal kits, and explains why it's an exciting time to be a woman in the restaurant industry. 

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Bianca Bosker left a career as a tech writer to explore the world of sommeliers, wine makers, and well-heeled oenophiles. A wine novice at first, Bosker quickly got sucked into the community of bottle-obsessives through working in restaurants and attending tastings and events, including the notorious La Paulée fest, which Bianca describes a big “wine orgy.” After becoming a certified sommelier, Bosker turned the notes from her journey into "Cork Dork," an immensely entertaining book that demystifies the wine industry. In her chat With Helen and Greg, Bianca looks back on some of the most surprising moments she encountered on her quest to becoming a master taster, and she offers some notes on how anyone can approach wine like a bona fide Cork Dork. 

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Massimo Bottura is the driving force behind one of the world’s greatest destination restaurants: Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. The chef/author/restaurateur spent the last two decades developing a style of Italian cuisine that points toward the future while paying respect to the past. Last year, shortly after Osteria Francescana landed at the top of the World’s 50 Best list, Bottura and his team began opening non-profit community kitchens in his native Italy, as well as Rio de Janeiro. In his chat with Upsell co-host Greg Morabito, Bottura outlines his ambitious expansion plan for these neo soup kitchens, and he reflects on the importance of education and collaboration within the culinary community. 

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Don’t let her chill demeanor fool you: Ayesha Curry is an insanely busy person. In addition to hosting a Food Network show, launching a meal kit, being married to an NBA superstar, and publishing her own cookbook, Curry is also dipping her toe into the world of San Francisco restaurants, alongside her friend, chef Michael Mina. In this chat with the Helen and Greg, Ayesha talks about how she built a fresh, highly personal lifestyle brand over the last few years, and what she wants to tackle next.

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Paul Liebrandt, former chef of NYC’s two-Michelin-starred Corton, is still cooking. The star of A Matter of Taste, the documentary that chronicled years of his career in fine dining kitchens, is now a consultant. Liebrandt stopped by the Eater Upsell to discuss what that means, the possibility of a new Paul Liebrandt restaurant, and why you’ll never see him on a cooking show. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on social! Paul: instagram.com/paulliebrandt Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater

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27 year old Fabián von Hauske and his partner chef Jeremiah Stone are the team behind New York City’s Contra and Wildair, two of the buzziest restaurants on Lower Manhattan’s fine-dining scene. The Mexico City-born chef and 2014 Eater Young Gun stopped by the Eater Upsell to discuss working in kitchens as an immigrant, the evolution of New York City’s restaurant scene, and why he and Jeremiah are really into piña coladas. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on social! Fabs: instagram.com/fabianvhv Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater

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Although Jessica Seinfeld says her culinary qualifications are minimal, her home cooking skills have led to four cookbooks. The latest is Food Swings, a book of recipes designed for a life of “virtue and vice.” Seinfeld stopped by the Upsell studio (with homemade cookies in hand) to discuss eating what she wants, the coffee maker that gets her out of bed in the morning, and why the Zabar’s lox counter was the perfect place for her husband Jerry to profess his love for the very first time. We'd LOVE to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, suggestions at [email protected]. and check us out on social! Jessica: instagram.com/jessseinfeld Helen: twitter.com/hels Greg: twitter.com/gregmorabito Eater: twitter.com/eater

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