This week's guest is an icon, a chef’s chef, and a tireless culinary educator -- it's not hyperbole to suggest that the entirety of food media as we know it, a food media that respects food and the process of making it as a skill to be fostered and shared, is in his profound debt. Raised in his parents’ restaurant near Lyon, Jacques Pépin went from unpaid apprentice and presidential chef for Charles de Gaulle to redefining American cooking after moving to New York in 1959, even turning down an offer to become John F. Kennedy's White House chef to learn the science and scale of food at Howard Johnson’s. His landmark books La Technique and La Méthode, followed by decades of PBS series from The Complete Pépin to Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home, made rigorous French technique approachable for home cooks everywhere. Now he’s channeling that lifetime of craft into the Jacques Pépin Foundation, which supports community kitchens and culinary job training for people facing barriers to employment -- all while celebrating his 90th birthday with 90 dinners across the country.

He calls into the Joiners studio from his home in Connecticut to chew the fat with the boys in a conversation that spans seven-day-a-week apprenticeships in postwar France to dinner parties with Julia Child and James Beard -- including who actually did the dishes. 

This week, we’re enjoying some poured wine (his favorite) with the indefatigable Ken Fredrickson -- Master Sommelier, restaurateur, and founder of High Road Wine and Spirits, whose career runs from Charlie Trotter’s and Spago to Jackson Hole, Denver, Las Vegas, and Chicago’s most intentional wine lists. He went from Idaho ranch kid to the 40th American Master Sommelier in just five years, then bet big on his own programs, built and sold distributors, and kept doubling down on family-made bottles with real stories behind them. He joins us in the studio to talk about what that obsession costs, what it creates, and why he still believes in taking the high road.

This week, we’re thrilled to be joined by Chef Curtis Duffy, the culinary dynamo behind Ever and After. He's earned a constellation of Michelin starts for his meticulous, innovative approach to fine dining, where every dish showcases his obsessive attention to detail and zero-waste philosophy. He has a new book out called Fireproof: Memoir of a Chef, which chronicles his journey from a turbulent childhood in Ohio through the kitchens of Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz to becoming one of America’s most celebrated chefs. We talk: the philosophy behind his silent kitchen, how he finds inspiration in unexpected places, the hard lessons from Grace that shaped Ever, what it takes to achieve greatness, and so much more!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

This week we’re joined by Ryan Castelaz -- founder of Discourse (Milwaukee’s boundary-pushing coffee bars) and co-creator of Agency, a reservation-only cocktail lounge known for its made-to-order “dealer’s choice” program (and equally serious non-alcoholic builds). A former opera singer turned flavor obsessive, Ryan went from Door County pop-ups to running one of the Midwest’s most inventive beverage programs, with a best-selling book -- The New Art of Coffee  -- along the way. You can catch Discourse at its Wicker Park residency across from Dove’s -- with a permanent neighborhood spot on the horizon. Expansion plans are percolating, too. Ryan joins us to talk storytelling as a service, why NA belongs at the same table as spirits, the alchemy of flavor science, how to design two-hour experiences in a two-minute coffee world, and so much more.

This week, it’s all smoke and discipline with the pitmaster–entrepreneur himself, Chef Charlie Mckenna. He’s the founder behind Lillie’s Q, known for Memphis in May-winning pork shoulder, as well as his regionally faithful Lillie’s Q sauces and rubs. He tells us about the journey from CIA grad and Michelin-line cook to Chicago barbecue, and what his Air Force family’s “six Ps” instilled in his leadership. Plus: how CPG realities differ from fine dining, how Roux lets him serve his favorite dishes, the secret salsa at Tony’s Burrito Mex, and so much more!

Joe is an Executive Chef, Culinary Director, and Director of Restaurants with SMG x PRG Restaurant Groups, where his reach spans multiple acclaimed Chicago concepts, new ventures at O’Hare Airport, and forthcoming projects across the city. A meticulous craftsman and systems thinker, Joe’s culinary journey has taken him from small-town Illinois to the helm of some of Chicago’s most innovative dining rooms -- including his leadership role at Apolonia, the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant he helped launch with Chef Stephen Gillanders in 2021. From growing up near the Indiana border with a gearhead father and a nurse mother, to learning the psychology of taste at Kendall College, Joe’s story is one of curiosity, adaptability, and deep respect for craft. This week, we discuss how a musician’s mindset shaped his kitchen leadership, what he learned about efficiency and culture from the Hogsalt Group, how Apolonia evolved during the pandemic, and -- don't you know it -- so much more.

This week, we’re firing up the pit with Heather Bublick, co-founder and CEO of Soul & Smoke, alongside her husband and business partner, Chef D’Andre Carter. A writing major-turned-restaurateur with front-of-house and sommelier chops, Heather blends fine-dining rigor with neighborhood warmth to power one of Chicago’s favorite barbecue brands. She joins us to talk about Soul & Smoke’s evolution with D’Andre -- from initial pop-ups to multiple locations -- the three-year Evanston flagship build, and launching an in-house bottling line. We also talk:  scaling a commissary-driven model without sacrificing craft, why resting brisket beats rushing barbecue at volume, building a values-driven beverage program highlighting BIPOC and women-owned producers, and so much more.

This week on Joiners, we’re talking to Chef Rodolfo Cuadros, the executive chef and owner of the critically acclaimed Chicago restaurants Amaru and Bloom. Growing up in Cali, Colombia, before moving back to Queens and then New Jersey, he’s known for his bold, Pan-Latin cooking at Amaru and his award-winning plant-based philosophy at Bloom. Amaru brings together the flavors, history, and passion of Latin America, while Bloom -- named one of the city's best plant-based restaurants -- earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand for its vibrant, vegetable-driven menu.

He joins us in the studio to talk about growing up amid both joy and conflict in Colombia, his journey from dishwasher to acclaimed chef-owner, why balance and sustainability shape his cooking today, and so much more!

Since his days as a kid housing full packs of double-stuffed Oreos and torching his tongue with bootleg Chinese Warheads, Chef Josh Kulp has always been chasing big flavors. It makes sense, then, that the moment he and his business partners first dipped their fried chicken in honey butter felt like a huge eureka -- salty, crunchy, sweet, and creamy all at once. That unlikely pairing grew into Honey Butter Fried Chicken, the Avondale restaurant he co-founded with Christine Cikowski that became one of our go-to spots.

We complete the holy trinity of Maxwells Trading by sitting down with their Executive Chef, Chris Jung. Born in Korea, raised across Alaska, Jersey, and Virginia, he ditched pre-law for the kitchen and never looked back -- and we’re lucky he did, because his food plays a major role in defining Maxwells’ compelling identity. He tells us all about that journey, from grueling training in Japan and celebrity-filled nights at Mataro to building Maxwells from the ground up with Erling and Josh. This one’s a ride -- we’re talking his grind as a workhorse in a Japanese restaurant, bidet destroyers, almost getting a law degree, and so much more.