Driven by her passion for food and travel, Rachel Simons traded her corporate law career for an entrepreneurial adventure, cofounding Seed + Mill, New York’s first store devoted entirely to sesame products. Located in the iconic Chelsea Market, the business quickly captured the hearts of locals and tourists alike, evolving into a nationally celebrated brand. Today on the show, we speak with Rachel about her growing business and her terrific new cookbook, Sesame: Global Recipes + Stories of an Ancient Seed.

Also on the show, Aliza chats with fashion writer Emilia Petrarca about the rise of the resSTOREaunt, aka restaurants attached to luxury brands in NYC and beyond.

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We are excited to bring you this episode. Recently Matt headed out of the studio to visit Philadelphia, one of America’s great food cities, to check out the scene and report back on his findings. He visited bakeries and coffee shops and stopped by a really cool cookbook store. He felt the incredible spice and vibes at Kalaya and met a bunch of new friends along the way. 

In this episode, we speak with Tyler Akin, the chef of Bastia, an exciting tribute to the food of Sardinia and Corsica. We also catch up with Muhammad Abdul-Hadi, who runs the mission-driven Down North Pizza and is the author of a terrific new cookbook, We the Pizza. Throughout the episode, Matt and Aliza chat about some exciting food and drink discoveries.

Mentioned on the episode: Bastia, Down North Pizza, Fork, New June, Mighty Bread, Kalaya, Isgro Pastries, Loratta's, Binding Agents.

Save our Google Map of all the places mentioned in the episode.

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Eden Grinshpan is a Canadian chef and television host based in Toronto, Ontario. She has hosted Top Chef Canada since 2017, and she is the author of a very cool new book, Tahini Baby. In this episode, we talk about Eden’s career both on and off television. We dig into her New York City restaurant takes — the good, the bad, and the labneh — and how she developed her unique recipe style and vibe. 

Also on the show we have a terrific conversation with Gena Hamshaw, author of the new book, A Grain, a Green, a Bean. We talk about her work as a nutritionist, and how her book cracks many codes when it comes to eating a plant-based diet.

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On today’s episode, we talk about protein, one of the biggest topics in food today. First up is a really fun conversation with our friend Daniel Holzman. Daniel is the chef and owner of Danny Boy’s Pizza in Los Angeles and cofounder of The Meatball Shop in New York City. This is a guy who knows about cooking with beef while balancing his diet for optimal health. We also talk about the pizza game and the creative ways he cooks to maximize his daily protein intake.

Also on the show, we have a fascinating talk with sports dietitian Christina Chu. Christina works with professional athletes and actors on building programs to balance their diets and compete at the highest level. We talk about Christina’s favorite sources for protein (beef included) and how she likes to think visually about the plate, balancing carbs, vegetables, and protein.    

This special episode was brought to you by Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. On behalf of the Beef Checkoff. USDA recommends a safe minimum internal temperature of 145ºF for steaks and roasts, and 160ºF for ground beef.

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The one and only Adam Richman joined us in the studio for a really memorable conversation. Adam has been a fixture of food TV for over two decades, and he is one of the sharpest minds in the game. His series The Food That Built America just returned for season six, and we talk about Adam’s career exploring the foods of the world on shows like Man v. Food and many other food TV hits. What an interesting guy!

Also on the show we have a great conversation with Lyndsay C. Green. She's the restaurant and dining critic at the Detroit Free Press and discusses here recent feature on the top 10 new restaurants in Detroit.

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Roy Choi is known as one of the architects of the modern food truck movement through Kogi BBQ. He is cohost of the Netflix cooking series The Chef Show along with Jon Favreau and has written a terrific new book, The Choi of Cooking. In this episode, we talk all about Roy’s philosophy around cooking with foundation, balance, and compassion in mind. We hear about how he reinforces these concepts through smart recipes, and about his connection to the rise of Korean food in America. (For you dakdoritang lovers out there, this is the episode for you.)

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Buy: The Choi of Cooking

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MacKenzie Chung Fegan is the restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, which has just released its top 100 restaurants list. It’s the first time in six years the publication has done a big list like this, and in this episode, MacKenzie goes over how she chose the restaurants and why the Bay Area food scene is absolutely on fire. We go over many of the picks, including the top ten. 

Also on the episode, Aliza and Matt talk about a recent trip to San Francisco and a number of exciting restaurant discoveries. Some of the places were on the Chronicle’s list, while others may have slid under the radar. Matt visited bakeries and coffee spots and had a number of memorable meals. Places visited include: Bodega, Neighbor's Corner, The Coffee Movement, Hi NRG, El Mil Amores, Che Fico, Outerlands, Aziza, Maison Nico, Timbri Hotel.

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Sisters Danielle and Gabrielle Davenport are the cofounders of BEM, a bookstore and community space for Black food literature. After years of operating online and at pop-ups, they’re getting ready to open a permanent location in Bed-Stuy. It’s so fun to have Danielle and Gabrielle in the studio to nerd out on food literature, building a family business together, and more. 

Also on 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: Cake Zine x Seeyousoon hosted a pop-up, Breadivore is doing really great bread and viennoiserie in South Brooklyn, and some thoughts on Girl Scout cookie season. Also: A review of Graydon Carter’s memoir, When the Going Was Good, checking in at Wu’s Wonton King, The Studio is a great new show on Apple TV+.

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We’re pretty sure many of you have at least heard of Cava and have possibly ordered lunch or dinner from the wildly popular Mediterranean restaurant chain. In this episode, we have a really cool conversation with Cava’s cofounder, Ted Xenohristos. We talk about the company’s early days and how Ted’s Greek heritage and detail-minded approach have made Cava one of the biggest restaurant stories in years. We discuss the group’s broad expansion, how the company’s IPO changed everything (and nothing at all), and how Ted looks at developing culinary ideas that are accessible, a little exotic, and pretty darn delicious. 

Also on the show we have a great talk with actor Alexandra Metz. She plays Dr. Yolanda Garcia on one of our favorite shows of the year, the medical drama The Pitt. We talk about filming the intense emergency room scenes, and what it’s like to hit craft service after sawing off a patient’s limb (act sawing, of course). We also hear about all the food in her life growing up in a Jewish and Latina household. Follow her Instagram: @metzaballsoup.

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We’re excited to launch a special video podcast series: Food Writers Talking About Food Writing. It’s available on the TASTE YouTube channel, so make sure to subscribe! Every couple of weeks, cohost Matt Rodbard will invite a journalist or cookbook author to talk about some favorite recent food writing as well as their thoughts on the industry as a whole. Our first guest is a special one: Eric Kim is a writer and columnist at the New York Times and a great consumer of food writing. In this episode, we talk about Eric’s media diet, discuss a few favorite stories, Eli Sussman taking over as NYT restaurant critic, and ask the big question: What would you pitch 1997 Graydon Carter? That is, Eric considers his dream no-budget reporting assignment.

You can check out the full episode on YouTube now.

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