Blake Gotliffe doesn’t stop. After Blake regained consciousness from a heroin overdose to find himself in his mother’s arms and alive he regained control of his life. His near death experience was the catalyst for him to be able to juggle so many businesses and activities. Whether Blake is curing meat to end up at your next dinner party or perhaps on your sandwich order from Meats and Pickles, he doesn’t stop. Blake might be pickling vegetables picked from his own garden so that he can use that in a future Under the Oak Farms dish. It doesn’t end there as Blake might be helping his expecting wife Megan create a new icing for her I Do Cakes business or he might be reaching out to colleagues to help him out in a Roots For Reece charity dinner. At this juncture of the story you get the point, Blake Gotliffe is not only a tenacious worker but a talented and resourceful chef. Hear how darkness turns to light in this story of an addict revived!

“Cheap seafood ain’t good & good seafood ain’t cheap!” Listen to the silky tones of the Steward of North Carolina Aquaculture aka our original fan, Top Chef contestant Keith Rhodes explain that statement. Chef Keith walks the walk and talks the talk. He literally eats, breathes and sleeps (in that order by the way) the North Carolina food culture. Rare is it to find such humility, passion and sincere zeal for others’ success, in such an accomplished chef.

Chef Keith Rhodes is a 3 time best chef Wilmington award winner and a James Beard Award nominee for best chef in the Southeast. Keith discuses the high level of work, dedication and focus it takes to be successful in the restaurant business. We delve into how a prospective chef should build their resume. We come to understand how the culinary culture has ethnically evolved in this country; thanks to television minorities can see chefs of the same ethnic background become successful in the culinary world, it becomes a “if you can see, I can be” mentality.

There are so many valuable lessons learned in this episode. Find chefs who go beyond cooking, their soul speaks to the community. Understand why it’s important to eat local and support your neighbors. Finally, answer the question, are we experiencing a turning point in North Carolina food culture different from anything before? Listen and learn!

The future Mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina must be Billy Mellon. Billy is a driving force behind putting Wilmington on the culinary map. Manna is one of the culinary beacons of North Carolina, east of interstate 95. Thanks to his stick-to-itiveness, resiliency, innate sense of hospitality and his attention to detail, Manna is thriving.

In addition to building a restaurant, Billy shakes hands, kisses babies, finds up-and-coming musical acts and also directs the 40 Eats culinary collaborative. He literally does it all from helping to raise his son, curate the wine list, oh and now he’s writing a book.

Billy is not only the future mayor of Wilmington but he is also the angel feeding the people “Manna” from heaven. Fascinating does not even begin to describe Billy; you will have to listen for the whole story. On top of everything, we learn what Ronnie James Dio means and the origin of Devil Horns. When I tell you this episode has it all, believe me.

Walk up the down staircase a few times in your life. Going in the opposite direction will give you perspective and give you insight into the minds of Dean Neff and Lydia Clopton. Dean and Lydia’s journey took them from Athens, GA to Atlanta through Asheville, NC to finally settle on the coast in Wilmington, NC.

Some Chef’s come in with pre-conceived notions of what a restaurant in going to be but not Dean and Lydia, they let the place and space dictate the menu. Some might say they listened to the waves. Pinpoint takes fresh and local ingredients and turns them into sophisticated yet crowd pleasing food. We learn how local catfish can be elevated into an ethereal dish and how roasted dandelion root can turn into delicious ice cream.

Dean Neff learned from the best such as Hugh Acheson and Jonathan Fleer, after fifteen plus years of world class tutelage Dean was ready for his own restaurant. With Lydia Clopton providing desserts to equal Dean’s savory menu a gem of a restaurant was born right near the water in downtown Wilmington, NC.

CLICK FOR TICKETS TO 'PORK & RUM' JANUARY 28TH, 2018

Would you like to be wealthy?

Listen closely to Chef Ben Barker's wisdom and you will be rich with stories of humility, North Carolina history and family values. Chef Ben Barker is literally a living legend of NC, he has won the James Beard award for best chef in the southeast and has been nominated six times. His restaurant Magnolia Grill was the epicenter of North Carolina Cuisine for decades.

The coolest part of Ben’s story goes beyond the man. Karen Barker, Ben’s wife is also a James Beard award winner for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2003. On top of all their success, the Barkers are still in the game as they are intimately involved in their son Gabe’s restaurant Pizzeria Mercato.

Join us in Carrboro, NC where we sat down to chat with the Godfather of North Carolina fine dining.

Charlie is quite a big Deal! Learn how one man, who could at times be perceived as curmudgeonly, is in fact a gregarious restaurateur. Charlie Deal is a chef, sommelier and innovator all wrapped up into one.

We covered everything in this episode. We learned why Charlie left the Golden State behind to move to North Carolina. Hear how he changes food to match the wine. Why there is too much sugar in most Asian food. We learned the art of the short list and how to cleverly buy close out wine deals. Listen to why Charlie is in love with Gamay. Oh yeah we also talked about virginity.

I told you this one has it all!

Jordan Salcito is a woman possessed with success. Whether the task is staging at Restaurant Daniel for Daniel Boulud or working harvest in Burgundy for Alix de Montille she will achieve. Get this woman to a spin class in the morning and watch her run the world for the rest of the day.

Jordan joined us at Poole’s Diner in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Jordan was in NC to raise awareness for her creations Bellus wines and Ramona. While Jordan was here we took the opportunity to chat about what it’s like to work for David Chang and be the Director of Wine and Special Projects for Momofuku restaurants. We also got behind the scenes of what it’s like to sit for the Master Sommelier exam, be a mom and a somm and finally what High-Low means.

Listen to this episode to be inspired, awed and entertained. Jordan’s story is one of endless energy and drive plus intelligence and charm. Forget TED Talks, sit down with Jordan for about an hour.

Say yes, that is the motto that Sunny Lin lives by and how Sophia Woo gets her to join in on the Pho-King fun. These girls turned their lives upside down and literally took a wild ride in creating the Dump Pho (pronounced fuh) king food truck. Within a year of beginning the Vietnamese food truck they were approached by The Food Network to compete in The Great Food Truck Race television show. Despite almost crashing the truck and many other potential disasters, the newly named Pho-nomenal truck won the Competition. The winnings from the television show gave the ladies a small nest egg, Sophia had an idea, Sunny said yes and soon enough Mofu Shoppe opened in downtown Raleigh, NC. This episode takes you on a grand journey. You will learn how a biomedical engineer and a PWC accountant upheave their lives and follow their passion into the culinary realm. From food truck wars to battling the restaurant scene in downtown Raleigh, these ladies are warriors!