This Is TASTE

Katherine Lewin is the founder of Big Night, an entertaining-focused home goods store with two locations here in New York City. She’s also the author of Big Night, the cookbook, which is a truly excellent new back-pocket hosting companion, with recipes and menu ideas. It’s so fun to have her on the show to talk about summer cooking, entertaining as an introvert, and more.

Also on the show, Aliza and Matt discuss three things they each are interested in right now. These include: The vibes at Greenpoint’s Million Goods, Korean drinking food at Bushwick’s Orion Bar, The Old Town Bar, a legend in Manhattan, Achilles Heel has a great new chef, Carolina Gellen’s debut cookbook Pass the Plate, The Bean Book by Rancho Gordo’s Steve Sando.       

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Today on the show we welcome Steven Rinella. He’s an American outdoorsman, conversationalist, writer, and TV personality responsible for introducing the outdoor lifestyle to millions of fans. It was great talking with Steven about his latest work, the MeatEater Outdoor Cookbook, and how he likes to think about summer outdoor cooking. It’s not what you expect.  

Also on the show we have a great talk with Darin Bresnitz. He’s the co-host of the long-running podcast Snacky Tunes, and a great guy to know in Los Angeles. We talk about his career working in early food television, and how he’s been at the center of food and drink for nearly two decades. 

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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Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten is the owner and head baker of Loba Pastry + Coffee, a beloved Chicago café. Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Valeria worked in pastry at several lauded spots across Chicago before creating her very own bakery with delights like green mole croissants and pineapple sourdough muffins. It’s so fun to have her on the show to talk about her pastry perspective, the struggles and successes of opening a small business, and more.

Also on the show, Aliza and Matt chop it up about three things they are excited about in food and drink, including: The new Cake Zine issue is dropping, Minhwa Spirits is opening a tasting room in Atlanta, the gelato carts are out in NYC, Peskesi Farm in Crete, Queer Aperitivo pop-ups, Mathimata Mageirikis cooking school in Athens.     

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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On this very special episode, it’s all about beef, and we have a number of experts talking about the subject. First up is George Motz, the chef-owner of Hamburger America, the wildly successful burger counter in New York City. George knows a thing or two about beef, but we didn’t only focus on the hamburger. We talked about all sorts of beef cuts and how George likes to shop for rib eyes and shoulders all summer long. We even got some expert advice for preparing beef before it hits the grill. 

Also on the show, we have a really great conversation with Dr. Phil Bass, a meat science professor at the University of Idaho. Dr. Bass has worked as a meat cutter and, later, in higher education, researching and teaching about the science of beef. We speak about innovations happening in the world of beef, as well as some brand-new cuts(!) that you will be finding in the grocery store in future. Finally, Matt and Clayton talk about how they like to cook with beef, including Korean stews, tacos, and slow-braising adventures. It’s a really fun episode that will certainly raise your beef IQ.

This special episode is supported by Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner on behalf of the Beef Checkoff. Beef should be cooked to a minimum of 145°F as registered by a meat thermometer. For help determining doneness, visit beefitswhatsfordinner.com.  

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Tony “Tonx” Konecny is on the show today and we talk about the coffee company he founded with Sumi Ali. It’s called Yes Plz Coffee, and if you’ve listened to this show, you know how much love we have for what Tony and Sumi have built—the bag is part of our show’s logo too, which tells you something. On this episode we talk about how Yes Plz is bringing exceptional blends and single-origin coffees to subscribers each week. It’s a really smart business model, and we get into how it all works, and how, in the end, it’s the coffee fans who win. 

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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Alice Jun is the founder and brewer at Hana Makgeolli, an artisanal Korean rice wine producer based in Brooklyn, New York. She’s dedicated her life to uplifting sool as an artisanal drink here in the US by using only organic rice, nuruk (fermentation starter), and traditional brewing methods to achieve complex flavors, and it’s so fun to have her on the show to go deep on this special, rising beverage category. 

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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Dennis Lee is the iconoclastic Chicago-based food writer and newsletter daddy behind two great sends: Food Is Stupid and the Party Cut. On this episode, we have a great talk about the Chicago restaurant scene, Dennis’s unique place in food media, and how his Korean-American heritage informs so much of his work. We also dig into the Chicago hot dog and how it might just be one of the world’s most perfect foods. Also on the show, Matt, Aliza, and Clayton pay a visit to the legendary Chicago hot dog stand Superdawg for a This Is TASTE field report. What a fun, tube-steak-centric episode with a true original.

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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How cool was it to have Joan Nathan into our studio? Joan is a longtime chronicler of Jewish food culture around the world and the author of many cookbooks on the topic, including her latest (and final) book, My Life in Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories, which she put out this spring. In this episode we talk about Joan’s long journalism career, including working at the Washington Post and the New York Times, and writing across the world of food. We also get into some of her favorite lasting recipes from Jewish households discovered through her world travels.

Got a question, comment, future guest idea, fact to share, fun fact to share, less-fun fact to share? Send us a voice memo and we will listen to it, and may feature your message on the show!

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Mike Lata is chef and co-owner of the restaurants FIG and The Ordinary in Charleston, South Carolina, and one of the most respected voices in Southern cooking. It was really exciting to have Mike into our studio to talk about his journey to opening FIG more than 20 years ago and how he defines Southern cuisine in 2024. It’s so great catching up with Mike, and we hope you enjoy this conversation.

Also on the show it's the return of three things, where Aliza and Matt talk about three things that gets them excited. On this episode: Jim Meehan's new book, The Bartender's Pantry, the new modern Korean diner Kisa in NYC, the amazing pizza at Chicago's Milly's Pizza in the Pan, the summer of granita, hop water is getting even better with St. Elmo and others, and horseshoe crab festival was incredible. 

Got a question, comment, future guest idea, fact to share, fun fact to share, less-fun fact to share? Send us a voice memo and we will listen to it, and may feature your message on the show!

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Our great Wisconsin Cheese road trip continues! We caught up with iconic Wisconsin chefs Tory Miller of L’Etoile and Graze in Madison and Luke Zahm of Driftless Cafe in Viroqua about how they harness the power of Wisconsin Cheese to make distinctly local cuisine. We also talked with Ken Monteleone of the beloved Madison cheese shop Fromagination about selling craft cheese on the Capitol Square for over 17 years. And, we put our cheese-tasting skills to the test with American Cheese Society–certified cheese professional Shannon Berry. Finally, it’s three things, Wisconsin cheese edition.  

This very special episode is supported by Wisconsin Cheese

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