At her Michelin-starred restaurant Elizabeth in Chicago, Chef Iliana Regan has been stunning diners with her modern and soulful midwestern-inspired fare. Her cooking is rooted into the flavors she learned both growing and foraging ingredients on her family’s small farm in Northwest Indiana. In her new deeply candid memoir, Burn the Place, Iliana chronicles her less-than-conventional life’s journey. We’re joined once again by longtime friend of the Tunes, folk singer-songwriter Fletcher C Johnson. Darin and Greg met Fletcher nearly a decade ago when he was couch-surfing in Brooklyn. He’s now dropping by the studio to perform songs from his upcoming album, Are You Feelin’ It, and to talk about his new podcast, Listening to Fletcher C Johnson.

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Ben Hundreds, co-founder of famed L.A. streetwear brand The Hundreds, gives us the download on his latest creative endeavor, the Family Style Food Festival, which hits on Sept. 15 at Television City. He described it to us as, “A day where we’re going to collide streetwear and food.” The upcoming fete features the combined talents of restaurants such as Jon & Vinny’s, Secret Lasagna, Felix and Howlin’ Ray’s, and artists, brands and designers like Verdy, James Jean, Mr. Cartoon and Chinatown Market collaborating on one-of-a-kind dishes and limited merchandise. Keeping things Angeleno we head over to Silver Lake to Dangerbird Records’ studio to meet up with Brazilian singer-songwriter Samira Winter and her eponymous band, Winter. After Samira and Darin commiserate about their college days in Boston, she and her crew give us a listen to dreamy songs from their latest release, Infinite Summer.

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We open the show in Lima, Peru, with legendary chef Virgilio Martínez. He’s redefined the cuisine of his homeland by diving deep into the country’s incredibly diverse ecosystems and indigenous ingredients. He’s served potatoes that only grow thousands of feet above sea level, unleashed the flavors of wild varieties of quinoa and amaranth seed and even used kushuru, an edible cyanobacteria harvested in high-altitude wetlands. His flagship Central Restaurante is one of the most acclaimed and groundbreaking restaurants in the world. For music we revisit one of the most memorable bands we’ve had on the show: Tropa Magica. Back in October 2018, the Pacheco brothers, David and Rene, performed for us live in-studio at Dangerbird Records’ studio in Los Angeles. The East L.A. natives are longtime fixtures in the local music scene, and their unique high-spirited “psychedelic cumbia punk” sound is sure to get your feet moving.

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It’s an all Eastside L.A. episode. We open in Echo Park with Chefs Akira Akuto and Nick Montgomery, owners of the hit Japanese sandwich shop Konbi. The two longtime friends and restaurant industry vets opened the daytime restaurant in fall of 2018, and it instantly gained critical notoriety and a cult following for its katsu and egg salad sandos. Our good pals at Silver Lake’s Dangerbird Records give us an up-close look and listen to their Microdose single series with dream pop upstarts Mirrorball. The band is the project of singer Alexandra Johnstone and guitarist Scott Watson, both longtime fixtures in Los Angeles’ underground music scene. The duo share their story with us along with some of their latest songs, including the single “This Time.”

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In 2006, Ed Levine was a 54-year-old freelance food writer who wanted control of his own professional life. He took to the internet, created a blog and called it Serious Eats. Unbeknownst to Ed he had launched what would become one of the most respected and most oved food sites in America. Ed’s chronicled the entire surprising and wild journey in his new book Serious Eater: A Food Lover’s Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption.

In January 2013, we met with Brianna Lance, Savannah King, Lyla Vander and Christian Owens, better known as all-ladies rock quartet Bad Girlfriend. They tell us about their eating habits on tour, and also perform songs from their first self-titled EP.

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Christian Page is the chef / co-owner of one of Los Angeles’ most iconic lunch counters and burger joints, Cassell’s Hamburgers. Originally opened in 1948, Cassell’s rose to wide acclaim before shuttering in 2012. Christian and his partner Jingbo Lou resurrected the brand in late 2014 in the Hotel Normandie--they now have a second location in DTLA--and began once again slinging some of the best burgers and patty melts in the country. We return to Dangerbird Records’ studio in LA, and things get loud and fun with a visit and performance from SGV hardcore band Hungry Ass Youth. Formed in 2007 by best friends David “Flea” Ayon (guitar) and Jessie Castro (vox), the band has a devoted following for its comic stylings and odes to fast food, weight issues and anti-health.

It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate

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In 2015, Chef Rene Redzepi made the surprise announcement that he was shuttering his venerated Copenhagen restaurant Noma to search for new inspirations in hopes of finding reinvention. He reopened in 2018, but only after years of hopscotching the globe--Australia, Japan, Mexico and more--learning new tricks and running dining pop-ups. Acclaimed food and drinks scribe Jeff Gordinier, whose own life coincidentally was at a crossroads, tagged along and chronicled this four-year quest in the brand new book, Hungry. The book chronicles both men’s journeys of self-discovery and evolution. In addition to his work as a journalist, Jeff has a deep knowledge and affinity for poetry and music. Check out the “Chef Music Monday” playlist he did for us. We travel back to 2013 to revisit an in-studio interview and performance by Brooklyn’s TEEN. At the time the sisters Lieberson--Kristina, Katherine and Lizzie--were hard at work on a new EP. Check out their latest single, “Pretend,” from their new album, Good Fruit.

It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate.

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Daniele Uditi arrived in Los Angeles from his native Italy in 2010. It was only supposed to be a 6-month stay for a consulting gig, but nine years later he’s very much still here and gaining a deep, devoted following as the chef-pizzaiolo for the popular Pizzana restaurants. We catch up with Steve Sladkowski, guitarist for Toronto punk band PUP. Steve called into the show during a stop on the band’s current tour to talk about jerk chicken, collard greens, Del Taco and of course, Hawaiian red fruit punch. PUP’s latest album is the critically acclaimed, Morbid Stuff.

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Derek van Bakergem stops by to talk about this year’s Pinknic music, food and wine festival. Started in 2016 by Derek and co-founder Pierrick Bouquet, Pinknic is quickly becoming a New York City summer tradition, welcoming thousands to enjoy rosé and dance the day away. This year’s festival is July 19 and 20 on Randall’s Island Park, and features headliners Mark Ronson and Chromeo. We pull an in-studio performance from the archives, and reach back to May 2012 to revisit our time with Wilmington, DE, indie rockers The Spinto Band. In addition to playing songs from their new album Shy Pursuit, they also told us all about their greenhouse recording studio, and how to properly order a hoagie from Wawa.

It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate

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It’s our 400th episode. Wow. Thank you to everyone, and especially to our families and the folks at Heritage Radio for all the support over the years. Cheers!

In this special episode of Snacky Tunes we’re in the Caribbean at the 11th annual Cayman Cookout at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. Our guest is the indomitable, legendary, inspiring three-Michelin-star chef, Dominique Crenn. Dominique grew up in France, but blazed her trail in San Francisco with her acclaimed restaurants Atelier Crenn and Petit Crenn. We went all the way back to ST episode #26 for one of our most memorable in-studio performances. It was January 2010, and Queens indie rock quintet Freelance Whales played an all-acoustic set for us, opening the show with their hit song, “Generator 1st Floor.”

It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate

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