We’ve been covering the nonalcoholic beer scene at TASTE for a minute, and it was a lot of fun having one of the most exciting names in the industry, Tate Huffard, in the studio. Tate is the founder of Best Day Brewing, which makes one of our favorite NA beers available today. Tate shares the story of the company, and how he’s bringing NA versions of Kolsch and IPAs to the masses. We also zoom out and talk about the future of NA drinking and how craft beer drinkers are embracing cans and bottles and kegs of beer. If you were ever interested in how nonalcoholic beer is made and why you are starting to see more of it around, this is the episode for you.

Also on the show, we have a great conversation with Rob Jensen. He’s the co-founder of Chicago-based Visitor and we learn about the company’s unique approach with NA beer. Think: Less is more. So much more.   

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Read more:

• It’s Cool to Care About NA Beer [TASTE]
• The 9 Best Non-Alcoholic Beers to Stock Right Now [Seven Fifty Daily]

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It’s the return of a special video podcast series: Food Writers Talking About Food Writing. It’s available on the TASTE YouTube channel, so make sure to subscribe and check out the video version of this podcast. Every couple of weeks, Matt invites a journalist to talk about some favorite recent food writing as well as their thoughts on the industry as a whole.

On today’s episode, we have an amazing conversation with Tammie Teclemariam. Tammie writes as the Underground Gourmet at New York magazine and combs the city for the most exciting new and historical restaurants. We cover so many topics in this episode, including New York City’s frozen yogurt boom, international chain restaurants, and whether Gen Z is really opposed to keeping a bar tab going. We also talk about the recent New York Times 100 Best Restaurants list as well as what Tammie is enjoying in the NYC food scene.

Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

Featured on the episode:

• 7 New York City Slices in 5 Hours [Food Time with Matt Rodbard]
• This City Is Ready for Some Fro-Yo [New York Magazine]
• Gen Z Doesn’t Want to Start a Bar Tab [NYT] 
• A Chain Opening That’s Worth Getting Excited About [New York Magazine] 
• 100 Best Restaurants in New York City [NYT]

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Woldy Reyes is a New York–based chef and founder of the boutique catering company Woldy Kusina. He’s become known for creating modern, fashionable, plant-based food, and now he’s sharing it in a debut cookbook: In the Kusina: My Seasonal Filipino Cooking. Today Woldy talks about the inspiration behind In the Kusina, his Filipino pantry essentials, karaoke, and more.

And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: The Meadow in Portland is our perfect store, a visit to Brooklyn’s Taquería El Chato, Mush peanut butter and an overnight oats conversation. Also: Exceptional Thai tea at Nuar in Manhattan, In for Dinner by Rosie Kellett is out in August and giving 1990s Jamie Oliver, and Coqodaq knows what people want in NYC.   

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Today we have a very fun episode highlighting one of the country’s emerging culinary cities: Traverse City, Michigan. Located in Northern Michigan on the stunning shores of Lake Michigan, Traverse City has a restaurant and wine scene that attracts visitors from around the globe. And this August marks the debut of the Traverse City Food & Wine, running August 20–24. In this episode, we speak with some of the people who make Traverse City such a special place.

First up we speak with Sarah Welch, a Top Chef finalist who ran the acclaimed restaurant Marrow in Detroit before moving to Traverse City to open a forthcoming restaurant with her husband, Cameron Rolka of Detroit’s Mink. Next, we hear from Traverse City Food and Wine director Whitney Waara about the amazing event, with a lineup of chefs including Tyler Florence, Ji Hye Kim, Mei Lin, and Kate Williams. To close, we learn about Traverse City’s growing wine region from Patrick Brys of Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery.

For Traverse City Food & Wine tickets visit traversecityfoodandwine.com. This very special episode is supported by Traverse City Tourism and Pure Michigan.

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Adam Roberts is back on the show, and we couldn’t be happier to speak with him about his terrific debut novel, Food Person. You may know Adam from his pioneering food blog (now on Substack), The Amateur Gourmet, but we know him now as a fiction writer digging into the world we talk about often here on the show: food media, cookbooks, collaborations, and all the behind-the-scenes drama that can pop up therein. Adam has written an incredible universe in the novel, and we discuss how he wrote it and how cookbooks truly informed the writing process.

And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Chicago's Lao Peng You has an incredible house noodle soup, Overcompensating is our favorite new show, Betweener is an interesting energy drink alternative. Also: A visit to the new Mission Chinese in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Lula Cafe remains a Chicago legend, Askinosie Chocolate is a favorite new chocolate company and puts the farmer front and center. 

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Mehreen Karim a Brooklyn-based pop-up chef, recipe developer, and food writer. You may know her from seeing her compete on Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef, but today she’s coming back on our show to talk about writing her first cookbook, Make It Plant-Based! Southern, and editing a larger plant-based cooking series. I always have so much fun catching up with our friend Mehreen, and this episode is no exception.

Also on the show, TASTE contributor Vrinda Jagota stops by the studio to talk about two of her recent stories about the real-world effects of going viral: The Expansive, Absurdist Canvas of Tiramisu and Indian Pizza Is Extremely Online.

Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

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Thank you to all of our listeners for helping us get to 600 episodes. If you like what we are doing, drop us a review on Apple or Spotify. 

Besha Rodell is a restaurant critic, columnist, and freelance reporter based in Melbourne, Australia. She is a James Beard Award winner and served as a critic at Creative Loafing, LA Weekly, and The Age. It was really great to have Besha in the studio to talk about her life as a critic, which she details in all its guts and glory in a terrific memoir, Hunger Like a Thirst. We talk about her time working in New York City restaurants and writing in the shadow of Jonathan Gold, who she followed as critic at LA Weekly during her time in Los Angeles. We also discuss the current restaurant reviewing scene and so much more.

And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Nepali Bhanchha Ghar is our momo rec in Queens, AOOA is our go-to Hudson Valley farm stop this summer, Aliza shares a home cooking update. Also: Blue Cove Preserves is doing great tinned branzino, we're pro-honey in a salad dressing, and Yes Plz and Camber is the coffee you should be subscribing to.

Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

Read more:

• Leave Beets and Goat Cheese Alone [TASTE]
• Peanut Butter Beautiful [TASTE]
• How We Chose the World's Best Restaurants [Food & Wine]

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What is queer food? Today we’re having a special roundtable discussion with the authors of two great new books unpacking the topic in exciting and unexpected ways: John Birdsall is the author of The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard and the wonderful new book What Is Queer Food?: How We Served a Revolution. Erik Piepenburg is a reporter and the author of Dining Out: First Dates, Defiant Nights, and Last Call Disco Fries at America’s Gay Restaurants. I loved both of these books, and I’m so grateful for this lively conversation that looks to the past, present, and future of queer community.

Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

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It’s the return of a special video podcast series: Food Writers Talking About Food Writing. It’s available on the TASTE YouTube channel, so make sure to subscribe and check out the video version of this podcast. Every couple of weeks, Matt Rodbard invites a journalist to talk about some favorite recent food writing as well as their thoughts on the industry as a whole.

On today’s episode, we have an amazing conversation with Jaya Saxena. Jaya is a correspondent at Eater, covering many topics including labor, queer food culture, and “why American potato chips are so boring.” She also serves as the series editor for the Best American Food and Travel Writing anthology, which has a new edition edited by Bryant Terry dropping in the fall.

In this great episode, we talk about Jaya’s career writing about the world of food, including her memorable piece for Eater, “The Food That Makes You Gay.” We also go over some recent stories and play the game “What would you pitch 1997 Graydon Carter?” That is, Jaya considers her dream no-budget reporting assignment.

Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

Featured on the episode:

• Thomas Keller asked me to leave the French Laundry [SF Chronicle]
• We’ve All Been In Thomas Keller’s Courtyard [Substack]
• The 22 Best Pizza Places in New York Right Now [New York Times]
• The Food That Makes You Gay [Eater]
• The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2025
• TASTE on YouTube

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Ali Domrongchai is a writer, recipe developer, and baker in Brooklyn. She’s passionate about researching and uplifting Thai culinary traditions, from teaching luk chup workshops to popping up with pandan lemongrass mochi cake and other treats at restaurants around the city. It’s so fun having Ali on the show to talk about the exciting state of Thai food in NYC, including her upcoming Thai Takeover at New York’s Museum of Food and Drink on May 29.

Also on the show we have a great conversation with Geraldine DeRuiter, author of a terrific essay collection, If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury. We talk about Mario Batali’s cinnamon rolls, writing food into video games, and her truly unique way of writing about food and culture.

Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

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