Harry Tannenbaum is the cofounder and president of Mill, a tech company aiming to reduce food waste with a “food recycler” that turns kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich grounds. Prior to Mill, he led analytics and e-commerce at Nest and worked on Google’s hardware team. It’s so fascinating having Harry on the show to nerd out on sustainability, food waste, and more.

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 ABOUT HARRY TANNENBAUM:

• I’m a Private Chef, and I Saved 622 Pounds of Food Waste From the Landfill [Saveur]
• One Year Later Mill Has An Even Better Next-Gen Food Recycler [Forbes]

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

Steve Hoffman is a Minnesota tax preparer and food writer. And according to Steve, “When he dies, the tax-preparer-food-writer industry will die with him.” He is a French speaker and a shameless Francophile, and his love of France shines through in his terrific memoir, A Season for That: Lost and Found in the Other Southern France. Steve writes with great detail and care about uprooting his family to live in rural France and the many twists and turns—and disappointments and revelations—that came with this big life change. If you ever dream of moving abroad to live a different life, this is the episode for you. A cautionary tale? Perhaps. But Steve is such a delight in telling his story that it may have you considering moving anyway.

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.

The Four Horsemen is a restaurant in Brooklyn. Have you been there? Have you drank some wine there? Had some of the restaurant’s bread and cultured butter? It’s an amazing place up on Grand Street in Williamsburg, and it has marked ten years in the game with an incredible new cookbook. In this episode, we speak with the restaurant’s longtime chef, Nick Curtola. Nick is one of New York’s most consistent and skilled chefs and a real culinary force. We talk about the restaurant’s legacy and how its humble beginnings have led to greatness, and we dig into his own personal journey in the restaurant business.

Also on the show, Aliza and Matt pay tribute to the iconic Williamsburg wine bar and share some favorite memories from dining there over the years.

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 ABOUT THE FOUR HORSEMEN:

• Remembering Justin Chearno, Natural Wine Advocate [F&W]
• This Is TASTE 48: James Murphy & Nick Curtola [Apple]

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

Today is Christmas, and chances are that in the next week you will enjoy seafood of some kind—freshly shucked oysters, line-caught halibut, or perhaps some smoked salmon stacked atop a bagel. We love seafood to cook at home or to order at restaurants, but do we recognize the people who bring this incredible product to our fish markets and to Whole Foods? Enter Hannah Heimbuch, an Alaskan salmon fisherman with quite the story to tell. In this conversation, we find out about how she works tirelessly during the summer salmon run, and how wild-caught Alaskan seafood has a long journey to our ovens and grills. 

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.

We really enjoyed having our friend the chef Danny Lee into the studio. Danny is one of the most influential chefs and restaurant operators in Washington, DC, running some of our all-time favorite Korean restaurants in America, including Mandu and Anju, the award-winning restaurant he operates with chef Angel Barreto. In this episode, we talk about Danny’s journey and what it’s like to run a restaurant with his mom. We also discuss the rise of Korean American food and culture in the United States. It’s such a great conversation with one of the brightest stars in all of food. I hope you enjoy it.

Also on the show we have a terrific interview with Simon Kim. Simon is the guy behind some of the buzziest restaurants in New York, including Cote Korean Steakhouse and the new fried chicken palace Coqodaq. Simon and Matt go way back, and this conversation covers Simon’s rise through the restaurant ranks, having worked for Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Thomas Keller before debuting with the stellar Piora in 2013. We talk about how he grew up on Long Island and helped his mom open the pioneer Tribeca Korean restaurant Kori, while finding out what the rise of Korean food in America has meant to him. 

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.

Dan Keeling is the cofounder and editor of Noble Rot magazine, a restaurateur behind the Noble Rot restaurant group in London, and the cofounder of Keeling Andrew wine importer. He’s also the author of a great new book about wine: Who’s Afraid of Romanée-Conti?: A Shortcut to Drinking Great Wines. We spoke with Dan about his singular point of view on wine, his past life as head of artists and repertoire at Parlophone Records, and how to go about finding a great glass at the bar. 

Also on the show, Alana Yazzi tells us about her terrific new book, The Modern Navajo Kitchen: Homestyle Recipes that Celebrate the Flavors and Traditions of the Diné.

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 DAN KEELING:

• How I Learned That Serious Wine Doesn’t Have to Be Stuffy [Slate]
• All the Natural Wine That’s Fit To Print [TASTE]

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

It’s been a very busy year for our two guests, Chris Hansell of Chrissy’s Pizza and Brooks Headley of Superiority Burger. Brooks finally came back on the show! I really, really enjoyed this conversation with two big thinkers and, dare I say, dreamers. As former musicians, each is rooted in the punk-rock ethic and aesthetic, and we talk about how visual identity and dedication to craft dovetail with music and food in a unique way. Chris shares the story of his journey to pizza, from apartment pop-up to one of the buzziest openings in New York this year. And Brooks reflects on two years of Superiority Burger on Avenue A and his continued obsession for finding the highest-quality produce for his cooking in the East Village. What a fun talk!

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.

Kamal Kamal is a food collaborator and art director based in New York. He’s a co-owner of Baba’s Pantry, his family’s beloved Palestinian restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, which is a flourishing community space that has won fans and acclaim since opening in 2022. It’s so special to have Kamal on the show to talk about his family’s food traditions and plans for expansion. 

Also on the show, Aliza and Matt go over some of their favorite meals from 2024, featuring both new and established restaurants. These include: Strange Delight, Lola's, Familyfriend, Yang's Kitchen, Quarter Sheets, Ruen Pair, Shang Artisan Noodle, Win Kee HK BBQ and Noodle, Pantera Pizza Garbatella, Taqueria Ramirez, Mariscos El Submarino, Agi's Counter, Shree Thaker Bhojanalay, Jeju, Flavourtown, and Cafe Yen.

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 KAMAL KAMAL:

• It's 'Not Just a Middle Eastern Restaurant.' It's Palestinian [Bon Appétit]
• How One Family Dropped Everything to Help Their Father Open a Palestinian Cafe [Bon Appétit]

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

We’ve long been fans of the Big Green Egg, the kamado-style ceramic charcoal grill and smoker that has a legitimate cult following. The fans are called Eggheads (for real), and leading the company is CEO Dan Gertsacov, who joins us for a really great conversation. Dan is the rare corporate executive who is truly a home cooking and food geek, in the best way. We talk to Dan about how we became fans of the Atlanta-based company, and its unique approach to generating loyalty. We also get into Dan’s world travels and his previous time leading strategy at McDonald’s.

Also on the show, cookbook author Bryan Ford tells us about his terrific new book, Pan y Dulce: The Latin American Baking Book (Pastries, Desserts, Rustic Breads, Savory Baking, and More)

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.

Mahira Rivers is a freelance writer and restaurant critic based in New York City. Formerly an anonymous inspector for the Michelin Guide, she’s now writing the desserts-focused newsletter Sweet City and contributing to many publications, including TASTE. We had Mahira on the show to talk about her distinct point of view on food culture today, from her childhood in Hong Kong to challenging Eurocentricity in restaurant writing. It’s a great episode for anyone curious about food. 

Also on the show, Jordan Michelman stops by for an entertaining chat about how mineral water is bubbling up in the zeitgeist (though not fast enough), as well as thoughts on his recent profile of a tea influencer, the Chateau Marmont, modern coffee, and many other topics.  

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 MAHIRA RIVERS & JORDAN MICHELMAN:

• Turns Out Now Is the Golden Era for Fusion Cuisine [Resy]
• We Need More Shrimp Burgers In Our Lives [TASTE]
• The Extremely Online Tea Guy [TASTE]
• Mineral Water Gets the Silent Treatment [TASTE]

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