In this episode of Repertoire, I travel to Los Angeles, California to sit down with Mei Lin—James Beard Award–winning chef, Top Chef champion, and the creative mind behind Daybird, the first fast-casual Szechuan hot chicken spot in the U.S.

Born in China and raised in Detroit, Mei’s path through food is a story of balance—between precision and intuition, heat and harmony, tradition and reinvention. Her journey spans from fine dining kitchens like Wolfgang Puck’s Spago and Michael Voltaggio’s Ink to winning Top Chef: Boston and earning national acclaim for redefining fried chicken through an unapologetically personal lens.

We dive into:

• How her Chinese heritage and Midwest upbringing shaped her palate and perspective.
• The origins of Daybird and how she brought a Szechuan spin to the American fried chicken sandwich.
• Her approach to creative evolution, from running food pop-ups to managing a viral restaurant phenomenon.
• Why she values minimalism, restraint, and control as guiding principles in both cooking and leadership.
• What winning Top Chef taught her about visibility, confidence, and the reality behind TV fame.
• How she channels identity and authenticity through flavor—using spice, texture, and timing as her language.

Mei and I talk about the duality of being a chef in today’s world—where tradition and innovation are constantly in dialogue, and where clarity of vision is what keeps your craft alive.

Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of Repertoire, I continue my conversation with James Beard Award–winning chef and Saltbox Seafood Joint founder Ricky Moore—a man who’s turned frying fish into an act of storytelling, mentorship, and self-discovery.

In Part 2, we dig even deeper into Ricky’s philosophy on leadership, culture, and the craft of cooking. What begins as a conversation about building better kitchens evolves into a masterclass on purpose and presence. Ricky and I dig into what it truly means to lead, create, and sustain culture in the modern restaurant world.

We dive into:

• The responsibility of chefs to lead with empathy—and how accountability shapes healthy work culture.
• Why joy and discipline can coexist in the kitchen, and how the old “angry chef” archetype has no place in modern hospitality.
• Breaking cycles of fear-based leadership and replacing them with creativity, intention, and love.
• The evolution of American food culture—and what it means to protect tradition while embracing technology.
• A chef’s science talk on steak perfection, sous vide precision, and the beauty of rendering fat just right.
• The connective tissue between global cuisines—from Basque salted cod to North Carolina seafood—and how storytelling ties it all together.

And then, the rhythm shifts. The conversation flows into hip hop, creativity, and the parallels between music and food. We talk about:

• The shared language of authenticity, individuality, and storytelling, rejecting “corny” personas in both art forms.
• How the golden age of hip hop shaped our generation’s worldview — referencing Busy Bee, Jay-Z, and the pioneers of Wild Style — and how those voices came from Black and brown resilience and trauma.
• The way rap continues to mature alongside its founders, with veteran MCs still pushing culture forward—just as seasoned chefs continue to innovate in their craft.
• And how artists like RZA and Mos Def embodied conscious lyricism and social awareness—long before “woke” became a headline.

This is Ricky Moore in full form: reflective, relentless, and rooted in respect for the people who make restaurants run. It’s not just a conversation about food—it’s about rhythm, leadership, culture, and the future we’re building one plate at a time.

Watch Part 2 of Repertoire featuring Ricky Moore on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of Repertoire, I’m in Durham, North Carolina, where the scent of hot oil, vinegar, and fresh herbs drifts down the block from Saltbox Seafood Joint—a place that’s redefined what it means to serve North Carolina seafood with soul.

My guest, Chef Ricky Moore, is a James Beard Award–winning chef, cookbook author, Army veteran, and proud North Carolina native. His journey spans fine dining kitchens around the world, yet it’s here—on the side of the road in Durham—where he distilled decades of training into something profoundly simple: fish cooked with heart, skill, and truth.

We talk about:

• The meaning behind the word “joint”—and why he traded white tablecloths for a walk-up window.
• His “gospel of croaker and spot”—a sermon on honoring local fish and the overlooked beauty of whole fry.
• Growing up fishing the Neuse River with his grandmother and learning that vinegar, not lemon, was all you needed.
• How a trip to Singapore inspired the model for Saltbox, and why doing one thing deliciously is enough.
• The art of patience, purpose, and building something authentic one plate at a time.
• What it means to lead with passion, intention, and integrity in an industry that tests all three.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation that captures the rhythm and reverence of a chef who’s turned a humble roadside shack into a Southern institution. Ricky Moore doesn’t just fry fish—he tells stories through it.

Watch Part 1 of Repertoire with Chef Sammy Monsour featuring Ricky Moore on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of Repertoire, I’m in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, where oyster shells clink and the tide meets the bar, sitting down with Renée Erickson—James Beard Award–winning chef, restaurateur, author, and the creative force behind The Walrus and the Carpenter and her celebrated restaurant group, Sea Creatures.

Renée’s food has always carried a quiet confidence—briny, romantic, and rooted in grace. Her restaurants feel like art installations you can eat inside of, shaped by her painter’s background and eye for beauty in texture, color, and imperfection. We talk about how that foundation in art informs her approach to cooking, design, and storytelling through space and plate alike.

We dive into:

• The creative intersection between visual art and cuisine, and how her degree in painting still guides every concept she builds.
• Learning to see food differently after studying abroad in Rome, and how Italy’s reverence for seasonality reshaped her worldview.
• Building a restaurant empire from a 25-year-old’s leap of faith, without investors, blueprints, or a roadmap.
• The evolution of Seattle’s restaurant culture—its challenges, costs, and resilience amid change.
• Her process for creating dishes that start with vegetables, texture, and mood rather than recipes.
• The delicate balance between entrepreneurship and artistry, and why she still cooks for herself at home after long days in the kitchen.
• What it means to lead with intention, mentor young cooks, and protect creativity in a business that rarely lets you come up for air.

Renée and I explore what it takes to sustain beauty, community, and craft in one of America’s most thoughtful food cities—and why the work of chefs like her must endure.

Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of Repertoire with Chef Sammy Monsour, I travel to Saint Louis Park, Minnesota—just outside Minneapolis—to sit down with Andrew Zimmern, the Emmy and four-time James Beard Award–winning chef, writer, television host, and global advocate whose work has redefined how we talk about food.

Andrew’s career spans continents and decades: creator and host of Bizarre Foods, What’s Eating America, and Family Dinner; founding member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition and the Coalition for Sustainable Aquaculture (which I’m proud to have co-founded alongside him); and one of the most influential voices using food to foster cultural understanding and social change.

We dive into:

• His new cookbook, The Blue Food Cookbook, coauthored with Barton Seaver, and how aquaculture can help feed a growing planet.
• The complexities of U.S. seafood policy—from the MARA Act to the future of the blue economy.
• Why chefs are uniquely positioned to lead conversations about climate, labor, and equity.
• Lessons from decades of global travel, from artisanal fishing villages in Africa to Indigenous food systems in Alaska.
• The evolution of food media—from PBS and the early days of Bizarre Foods to the digital storytelling era.
• His personal Mount Rushmore of culinary icons—Bourdain, Emeril, and Martin Yan among them.
• And a few unforgettable adventures from the road: maggot cheese in Sardinia, giant scallops in Samoa, and the rare foods that tell stories of place and time.

Andrew and I explore food as both joy and justice—a bridge between people, cultures, and the planet itself.

Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of Repertoire, I travel to the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle to sit down with J. Kenji López-Alt—New York Times bestselling author of The Food Lab and The Wok, James Beard Award winner, YouTube creator, dad, knife nerd, and one of the most influential food writers of our time.

Kenji’s impact on the way home cooks and chefs approach food is unmatched. From reverse-searing steak to slathering turkeys with mayo, he’s built a career on peeling back the science behind cooking and making it accessible, joyful, and endlessly useful. Millions of cooks—myself included—are better because of his work.

We dive into:

• The honor (and surreal weirdness) of being Simpsonized and writing a stew recipe for The Simpsons.
• Gas station cult culture and first impressions of Buc-ee’s.
• Why Duke’s mayo holds its own alongside Kewpie and Hellmann’s.
• The science of washing vs. not washing chicken—and how velveting meat transforms stir-fries.
• Frozen vs. fresh seafood, invasive catfish, and why labels like “fresh” can be misleading.
• Recipe ownership, credit, and the ethics of content creation in the social media era.
• His journey from architecture student to restaurant cook to one of the most trusted voices in food writing.

Kenji and I explore the craft of recipe development, the role of science in shaping instincts, and the joy of cooking with curiosity. We also share plenty of laughs, swap cat stories, and get honest about what it means to carry influence in today’s food world.

Whether you’re a chef, cook, or just a lover of food culture, this conversation is loaded with flavor, science, and unfiltered kitchen talk.

Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of Repertoire, I head to Deep Run, North Carolina to sit down with the legendary Vivian Howard—chef, restaurateur, television host, cookbook author, and one of the most celebrated culinary voices of the South.

Vivian first captured national attention with her Emmy Award–winning PBS series A Chef’s Life, which spotlighted the food traditions of eastern North Carolina. The show not only earned her a James Beard Award for Outstanding Host but also made her the first woman since Julia Child to win a Peabody for a cooking program. She has since gone on to author two acclaimed cookbooks, including the New York Times bestseller Deep Run Roots, and continues to evolve her culinary vision through multiple restaurants across North Carolina and Charleston, SC

In this candid, unfiltered conversation, we cover a wide range of topics—from squash blossoms, figs, and muscadine grapes to the art of questioning culinary traditions and creating new ones. Vivian reflects on her early influences, the isolation of building Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, the importance of travel and mentorship, and how her storytelling spirit has shaped both her television career and her cooking.

We dive deep into the evolution of Southern cuisine, exploring its roots, cultural ownership, and the ways it continues to grow through global influences. Vivian shares hard-earned lessons on balance, creativity, and what it really means to carry the weight of both a community and a national platform.

This is more than just a conversation about food—it’s about resilience, identity, and redefining success on your own terms.

Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of Repertoire, I head to Washington, D.C.’s U Street Corridor — once known as Black Broadway — to sit down with Chef Eric Adjepong, a first-generation Ghanaian American whose cooking bridges West African traditions with Southern foodways and modern fine dining.

Eric’s journey is remarkable: from graduating Johnson & Wales and the University of Westminster with degrees in Culinary Arts and Public Health, to cooking in Michelin-starred kitchens, becoming a fan favorite on Top Chef (and Top Chef: All Stars), hosting Food Network shows like Wildcard Kitchen and Alex vs. America, publishing his debut cookbook Sankofa: Bringing West African Recipes into the World, and opening his celebrated restaurant Elmina.

We dive into:

• The art of a perfect first bite, with Eric’s scallop crudo in coconut gazpacho and lemon basil granita.
• Why his three-way duck jollof rice has become a signature dish — and how nutmeg connects him to his mother’s cooking.
• The roots of Southern food in West African cuisine, from groundnuts and okra to benne seeds and rice.
• Creative riffs like roasted banana grits for brunch and experimenting with collard green kimchi.
• Mentorship, leadership, and the lessons passed down from chefs like Derek Wagner.
• Honest talk about labor models, tipping, and equity in the restaurant industry.
• The joy, rhythm, and Zen of being on the line — and why hospitality depends on protecting the culture of the kitchen.

Eric and I explore what it means to honor tradition while pushing cuisine forward, celebrate the lineage of soul food as America’s great culinary identity, and geek out on the craft that keeps us both inspired.

Whether you’re a chef, cook, or just a lover of food culture, this conversation is packed with flavor, history, and unfiltered kitchen talk.

Watch the full video on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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