This Is TASTE

Writer, podcaster, and cookbook collaborator Andrew Friedman has a unique vantage in talking about chefs and food writing as a profession. He’s worked with some of the more interesting voices in the restaurant world (particularly going back a decade and longer), including Daniel Boulud, Alfred Portale, Michelle Bernstein, Bill Telepan, and David Waltuck. In this episode, we talk to Andrew about collaborating vs. full authorship, and about his most recent work, Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll, a sweeping account of the chef world in 1970s and 1980s America. Andrew also talks about the chef “takedown” piece—a particular style of article that litigates a wide variety of behaviors in and out of the kitchen. Are they all merited? We have an open conversation about the responsibility of writers, chefs, and the many judgment calls being made by journalists and editors covering the industry. 

Also on the show, Clarkson Potter’s Bianca Cruz returns to talk about her journey in culinary school. We hear about her current section, pastry, and how one might study for an exam. We also discuss the recent book she worked on, As Cooked on TikTok. 

More from Andrew Friedman:

Listen to: Andrew Talks to Chefs

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Have you ever wondered how chefs rise from relative obscurity to the pages of your favorite glossy magazine or online publication? Longtime food writer Kate Krader has the answer. Kate worked at Food & Wine for over two decades and served as the magazine’s restaurant editor for years, overseeing the Best New Chefs program that spotted talent from New York City to Honolulu. We talk about Kate’s career, from studying at La Varenne in Paris to her current position as food editor at Bloomberg. Kate will soon be moving from New York to London, and we talk about some hot food topics, including Tesla moving into the restaurant business and why nobody can land a restaurant reservation these days. We also talk rivalries: Eater vs. Grub Street. Bon Appétit vs. Gourmet vs. Food & Wine. And with Kate’s pending move to the UK, naturally, Blur and XTC were discussed. It’s a great conversation.

More from Kate Krader:

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Today is Nicole Enayati Day on the TASTE Podcast, and we’re so happy to welcome one of our favorite voices in food to the program. Nicole is one half of the popular food podcast A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich, and she can be found all over the Mythical Kitchen YouTube page serving as senior culinary producer. We debate and discuss some of food’s biggest controversies, and we dig into her background as a young eater growing up in Los Angeles. We also talk about “geriatric cereals” and the book she wrote, Bake Up!, a baking cookbook geared toward teens and tweens. Nicole tells us the single recipe that can unlock the joy of baking for any young cook. It’s a wild ride with Nicole Enayati, and we’re really happy to welcome her to the show.

Also we are joined by chef Alon Shaya and 91-year-old Holocaust survivor Steven Fenves. The pair struck up a friendship over an effort to preserve and digitize the recipes of Steven’s youth before his family was taken to Auschwitz. The journey of this family cookbook is absolutely remarkable. 

More from Nicole Enayati: 

Buy: Bake Up: Kids Cookbook: Go from Beginner to Pro with Recipes and Essential Techniques

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Today, we have a really fun conversation with Jonathan Kung, a Detroit-based chef and TikTok creator we’ve fallen hard for over the past couple years. We wanted to reach out to Jonathan to talk a little bit about TikTok, but also to get to know a bit about his history with Chinese home cooking and with working and living in one of America’s great food cities: Detroit. We talk about the bounty of Michigan agriculture, which can be a chef’s secret weapon. We also discuss the cookbook he’s writing, the ownership of kimchi, and how Jonathan wrote a recipe that he calls a “solidarity dish,” which merges kimchi jjigae and mapo tofu. What? It’s such a great story. Please get to know this rising star in food!

More from Jonathan Kung:

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Today on the show, we have the pleasure of getting to know cookbook author and food TV icon Alton Brown. Brown is behind popular and pioneering food television shows like Good Eats and Iron Chef America, which has returned with a new season on Netflix. We talk about how Alton has evolved over the years as a writer and food educator, and what inspired his unique play-by-play announcer style. We also discuss his background in theater and how Pee-Wee’s Playhouse has inspired both his live shows and TV performances. What a great episode!

More from Alton Brown:

Buy: Good Eats: The Final Years

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Today is Jesse Sparks day on the TASTE Podcast. Do you know Jesse Sparks? Do you love Jesse Sparks? We certainly do. Jesse is a senior editor at Eater and the host of a really terrific new podcast, The One Recipe, a sister to the long-running Splendid Table. We talk about Jesse’s life growing up in Houston and how his college days in Chicago molded him as both a writer and an eater. We also discuss his weekend baking projects and what excites him about food and restaurants today. This is such a cool conversation!

More from Jesse Sparks:

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Today we have a really cool conversation with Andrea Nguyen, the author of many popular cookbooks, including Vietnamese Food Any Day, The Pho Cookbook, The Banh Mi Handbook, Asian Dumplings, and Asian Tofu. Andrea is a writer we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the years, and this conversation dives into her incredible history as a cookbook author and food educator. We talk about the story behind her first book, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, with then indie publisher Ten Speed Press, and her interaction with the enigmatic Ten Speed founder Phil Wood. We also hear Andrea’s candid thoughts on the loneliness of cookbook writing, and how her thirst for community inspired her excellent new podcast, Everything Cookbooks. It’s a really amazing chat.

Also on the show, we catch up with Bianca Cruz. Bianca is an editorial assistant at Clarkson Potter and also currently attending culinary school. We wanted to have her on to talk about the ins and outs of her culinary education and what it’s like to take an actual culinary school exam. 

More from Andrea Nguyen:

Buy Andrea’s books!

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Today we’re excited to welcome Dawn Davis to the show. Dawn is the editor in chief of Bon Appétit and Epicurious and a really fun person to get to know a little better. Before joining Condé Nast in August 2020, she was a longtime book editor, most recently at Simon & Schuster. So what was it like to move from the relatively glacial world of books to always-on digital and print media? It’s been a transition, no doubt. We find out how Dawn edits a modern food publication and what the modern home cook actually looks like (spoiler: there are many modern home cooks). We also find out about Dawn’s childhood in Los Angeles and what food was like growing up in one of the world’s most interesting food cities. Finally, what is Dawn’s go-to busy mom dinner? Find out.

Also on today’s show, we have a great conversation with Hanna Raskin, the well-regarded journalist behind The Food Section, a Substack covering the food and culture of the American South. We talk about the ups and downs of independent publishing, and how one food reporter is driven by scoops and sunshine laws over recipe aggregation.         

More from Dawn Davis and The Food Section:

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Today we’re so excited to be speaking with the Michigan chef Ji Hye Kim. We’ve followed Ji Hye’s incredible career in Ann Arbor, where she runs the wonderful Korean restaurant Miss Kim. Ji Hye is a Food & Wine Best New Chef and has been nominated for multiple James Beard Foundation Awards. But what makes Matt most excited about this conversation on Korean food is the chef’s deep knowledge of Korean food’s modern (and less modern) history. We talk about some of our mutual favorite Korean dishes—gamjatang certainly comes up—and we discuss how Ji Hye worked her way through the Zingerman’s training program and eventually opened her own place.

Also on the show, we catch up with Jane Kelly and Jenny Hartin, two dedicated cookbook fans behind the active online community Eat Your Books. We talk about some of their favorite books from the busy spring season and the types of books they wish they saw more of in cookbook publishing.

More from Ji Hye Kim:

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Today on the show, we welcome Molly Stevens into the studio. Molly is the cookbook author behind the “All About” trilogy—that would be All About Braising, All About Roasting, and All About Dinner. Molly is also a food educator and one of the cohosts of an amazing podcast, Everything Cookbooks, that covers the ins and outs of writing cookbooks—the highs, the lows, and the many edits. Stevens has great insight into the cookbook industry, and we were thrilled to share the mic with her.

Also on today’s show, we have a talk with Lorenzo Carcaterra, the writer behind the book Sleepers, which was adapted into a 1996 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. We talk about what food was like when he was growing up in Hell’s Kitchen and about his latest book, Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride.

More from Molly Stevens:

Buy: All About Braising, All About Roasting, All About Dinner 

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