Alison Roman is an American food writer, chef, and internet personality known for her popular, "highly cookable" recipes that often go viral online. She built her career in professional kitchens and as an editor at Bon Appétit and a columnist for New York Times Cooking. Alison is the New York Times bestselling author of several cookbooks, with her most recent, Something from Nothing: A Cookbook published in November 2025. In addition to writing, she runs a popular YouTube series called Home Movies and has opened a small market, First Bloom, in upstate New York.

About the Joy Season

The world feels like a lot right now, and it can be hard to find those small moments that make us smile. In restaurants, we get three chances a day to bring joy — breakfast, lunch and dinner — but it doesn’t stop there. This season, The Joy Season, we’ll be talking to some truly brilliant people about the sparks of joy that keep them going, on and off the plate.

About Our Sponsor

Bring more joy to your workday — and your team — with Blink, the mobile platform built for busy restaurant teams. Goodbye, WhatsApp. Hello, employee experience app. From kitchen crew to front-of-house staff, Blink keeps everyone connected, informed, and in sync in one dedicated digital workplace. See why retail and hospitality brands — from local favourites to global food service chains — are choosing Blink to power their people experience. Visit https://www.joinblink.com/honey to start free today, and use code HONEYJOY at checkout for 20% off your first year.

Alison Roman's Joy Manual

Restaurant: Cervos', New York

Book: The End of the Story, Lydia Davis

Album:  Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, Sarah McLachlan

Film: The Taste of Things, directed by Trần Anh Hùng

People: us!

Place: London

Life advice to find joy: Trust the process, it will all work out

Episode Credits

Sponsor: Blink

Producer: Miranda Hinkley 

Sound Engineer: Melis Oslu

Sound Mixer: John Scott

Theme Song: Daniel Winshall 

Honey & Co Team: Louisa Cornford & Winnie Thomas 

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and share, it really helps us reach new listeners. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.