Michael McCarty is the owner of two restaurants, Michael’s in Santa Monica, which opened in 1979, and Michael’s on West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, which followed a decade later. McCarty is truly the father of California cuisine, at the center of a culinary movement that produced top Los Angeles chefs like Jonathan Waxman, Mark Peel, Nancy Silverton, and many others. I had so much fun having Michael back into the studio, and he was happy to go over his deep history in the American restaurant scene. He also talked about his early days cooking in Paris, and how he ended up in Santa Monica and helped establish the legendary farmers’ market there. It’s Michael, the early years, in this amazing episode.

Also on the show we catch up with Eater Chicago editor Ashok Selvam. He recently wrote about the revival of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, and how Dylan Trotter is taking a big role in the rebirth.

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

MORE FROM MICHAEL MCCARTY:

• This Is TASTE 383: The Father of California Cuisine with Michael McCarty [TASTE]
• A Pioneer of California Cuisine Turns 35 [NYT]

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on the show, we welcome one of our favorite writers in the game, Jason Diamond. Jason writes the wonderful newsletter The Melt and has written two books, Searching for John Hughes and The Sprawl: Reconsidering the Weird American Suburbs. He’s also worked on the truly amazing New York Nico’s Guide to NYC, which we talk about in this great episode. We get into what Jason has been eating and reading, and the Jason Diamond way of life. I always enjoy catching up with Jason, and I hope you enjoy this episode.

Also on the show, we catch up with Vivian Song. Vivian wrote a terrific piece in the New York Times, “It’s Zinc Bar vs. Barista in a Paris Battle of the Buzz,” and we hear all about the shifting coffee scene in Paris.

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

MORE FROM JASON DIAMOND:

• The Many Garlics of My Childhood [TASTE]
• Shattering the Jarred Pasta Sauce Stigma [TASTE]
• Luncheon with a Zabar [TASTE]

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we have a very special episode. Visit California invited us out of our New York City studio and over to the West Coast for a food-focused road trip around Orange County and the San Gabriel Valley. We start our journey at Mercado González at Northgate Market in Costa Mesa, where Aliza and Matt share an incredible afternoon walking around the mercado looking for pozole, churros, and many more surprises along the way.

We hit the road for our next stop, a visit with Sara Lezama, the owner of Rye Goods, an acclaimed sourdough bakery and deli with three locations throughout Orange County in Newport Beach, Tustin, and Laguna Beach. 

Next on our road trip, we head to the San Gabriel Valley, where journalist Kristie Hang gives us a tour of some of her favorite new and under-the-radar restaurants, including Banh Mi Hoa Phat, Good Alley, and Bistro Na’s.

We stay in the SGV for a conversation with chef Chris Yang of Yang’s Kitchen, which has firmly become one of our favorite restaurants in all of California. To close, Aliza and Matt share many more discoveries from their road trip around Southern California.

More places we visited: Folks Pizzeria, A&J Seafood Shack, Burritos La Palma. 

And a great hotel for your future home base in the SGV is the Hilton San Gabriel.

To donate to California wildfire relief, visit Restaurants Care.      

This very special episode of This Is TASTE is supported by Visit California. While this episode was recorded before the LA wildfires in January, all of the restaurants featured are open for business, and we can’t think of a better time to pay California a visit for your own food-obsessed road trip. Dining out in LA is one way to help support the city, and these truly were some amazing places. Questions about visiting LA now?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we have a very special episode. Visit California invited us out of our New York City studio and over to the West Coast for a food-focused road trip around San Diego and North County, including stops in Carlsbad and Oceanside. We start our journey at the source at the legendary Chino Farm, where three generations of Japanese American Chinos have been growing incredible produce used by chefs throughout California. 

Our next stop is a visit with Jeff Lozano, a brand ambassador at San Diego’s Ballast Point Brewing, one of the foundational craft beer makers in a city famous for its great beer. 

The journey then heads up Interstate 5 to Carlsbad, where we catch up with Eric Bost, a prolific chef behind the newly opened Wildland and the soon-to-open tasting menu restaurant Lilo. To close, Aliza and Matt share many more discoveries from their road trip around Southern California.

More places we visited: Rare Society, City Tacos, Tribute Pizza, Wayfarer Bread, Aisu Creamery, Little Fox Cups and Cones, Wrench & Rodent. 

You can visit the Salk Institute for Biological Studies by reserving a spot on a weekly docent-led tour. 

And some great hotels to keep in mind: Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa and the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.

To donate to California wildfire relief, visit Restaurants Care.            

This very special episode of This Is TASTE is supported by Visit California. While this episode was recorded before the LA wildfires in January, all of the restaurants featured are open for business, and we can’t think of a better time to pay California a visit for your own food-obsessed road trip. Dining out in LA is one way to help support the city, and these truly were some amazing places. Questions about visiting LA now?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In her latest cookbook, Romy Gill’s India, chef and British TV personality Romy Gill shares more than 70 of her beloved family recipes, each a testament to the flavors that define her childhood. From the iconic butter chicken, a beloved staple in every Indian home, to the delicious simplicity of her masala omelette, Romy taps into her personal connection to India. In this episode, we talk about what drives her to write a perfect recipe and how her London home base informs so much of her work.

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

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Over the last nine years, journalist Shane Mitchell has braved snakes, fire ants, floods, rallies, marches, protests, pageants, and near heat stroke to write the essays contained in her new collection of work published in The Bitter Southerner. The Crop Cycle: Stories with Deep Roots has Shane traveling throughout the South, uncovering history both past and modern and reporting on major topics such as farm labor, race, gender, and the history of the Georgia peach. Shane has incredible writing chops, and she has contributed memorable stories for TASTE as well. We go over all of it in this terrific episode.

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

MORE FROM Shane Mitchell:

• Odd Birds [The Bitter Southerner]
• Kiss My Grits [The Bitter Southerner]
• This Is TASTE 261: Cherry Bombe & The Bitter Southerner [TASTE]
• Buy: Far Afield.

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David Joonwoo Yun has a great story to tell. As one of the partners of New York City Korean restaurants C as in Charlie and Kisa, he’s been at the center of Korean cooking in NYC for a minute. But how did he get here? And how did he and his partners eventually redefine Korean cooking one banchan at a time? We dig into his great story in this terrific episode.

Also on the show we have a great conversation with journalist Mehr Singh, who speaks about her recent TASTE reporting digging into Gen Z cheesemakers. We also talk about her career, and some memorable stories.

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

MORE KOREAN FOOD EPISODES:

• This Is TASTE 391: Koreaword with Koreaworld with Cote and Coqodaq’s Simon Kim [Apple]
• This Is TASTE 390: Koreaworld with Eater LA Editor Matthew Kang [Apple]
• This Is TASTE 388: Koreaworld with Doshi's Susan Kim [Apple]

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In Cooking and the Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III, Tom Parker Bowles, award-winning food writer, restaurant critic, and son of Queen Camilla, blends history, monarchy, and gastronomy to provide a fascinating window into the world of royal tastes and traditions as far back as Victorian times. In this episode, we hear about Tom’s reporting on how the Royal Family really eats, and we dig into his long restaurant reviewing career. Finally, we get his take on the food scene in London, and we talk about some unexpected places to find amazing food around the United Kingdom.

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

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It was a lot of fun having J Lee into the studio. Lee writes for the terrific business and culture (and the culture of business) publication Feed Me and files unflinching restaurant reviews and observations about the state of the food world, from NYC, and points beyond. We wanted to have him in to find out a little bit more about his background, and what got him interested in writing about restaurant culture. We also go over some of his memorable writing, including a very funny takedown of a Midtown newcomer, some Buy/Sell grades, and lots of love for the places doing it right. You can read J in Feed Me, and follow along on IG: carry_bradshaw_

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

MORE FROM J. LEE:

• Meet Feed Me's Semi-anonymous Restaurant Critic [Feed Me]
• This Is a Review of a Restaurant with Personality Disorder [Feed Me]
• This Is TASTE 330: Emily Sundberg [Apple]
• This Is TASTE 479: Ryan Sutton [Apple]

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lisa Cheng Smith is the founder of Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry, an importer, online shop, and brick-and-mortar general store in Brooklyn offering premium ingredients for Taiwanese and Chinese cooking. Yun Hai has quickly established itself as a beating heart of the Taiwanese diaspora here in New York, and in this episode, we talk with Lisa about growing the business into making their own products, where to get great Taiwanese food in NYC, and more.

Also on the show, Clayton and Matt go over their favorite books of 2024, both new and less new!

Clayton's picks: The Stronghold - Dino Buzzati, Three Summers - Margarita Liberaki, In Love - Alfred Hayes, Speedboat, Renata Adler Mating - Norman Rush,The End of Vandalism - Tom Drury, Playboy - Constance Debre, Love Me Tender - Constance Debre, Permafrost - Eva Baltasar, Boulder - Eva Baltasar, Mammoth - Eva Baltasar, The Third Realm - Karl Ove Knausgaard, Long Island Compromise - Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Matt's picks: Great Expectations - Vinson Cunningham, Reboot - Justin Taylor, The Friday Afternoon Club - Griffin Dunne, Real Americans - Rachel Khong, Ghosts - Dolly Alderton, Hard Rain Falling - Don Carpenter, The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead, Chang-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Long Island Compromise - Taffy Brodesser-Akner

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

MORE FROM LISA CHENG SMITH

• 9 Recipes for a Vibrant Lunar New Year Celebration [Bon Appétit]
• Yun Hai Taiwan Stories [Substack]

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