Tinfoil Swans

In 1999, when Food & Wine named Rocco DiSpirito as one of its Best New Chefs he was only in his early 30s, but he'd already been in the industry for a couple decades. At 10 years old, Rocco started working at a local pizzeria – a natural fit for a kid whose Italian American family grew most of their own food and started talking about lunch before breakfast was over. His innovative cuisine at Union Pacific made him a darling of both industry peers and jaded New York diners, but it was his cookbooks and stints in front of the camera that made him a household name. In this episode of Tinfoil Swans, DiSpirito opens up about the pressures of being a public figure, what's changed in the restaurant world since he started, the dream restaurant he'd like to own, and what he'd tell that younger version of himself.

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In our tenth episode, executive features editor Kat Kinsman managed to find chef Stephanie Izard in a rare quiet moment when she wasn't fussing over the final details of opening a new restaurant (or two), in front of a camera on "Tournament of Champions" or "Hell's Kitchen", testing a new sauce for her This Little Goat line of products, or at work on one of the billion other projects she has going on at any given time. If you'd shared a snapshot of this future with Izard back in the days before her groundbreaking "Top Chef" win, James Beard Awards, and F&W Best New Chef accolades, back when she was playing "restaurant" with her childhood friends or working the host stand at The Olive Garden, she might have fainted — and it wouldn't be the first time. Izard reflected on her trajectory from competitive swimming, to owning a restaurant in her twenties, to becoming one of the busiest chef-restaurateur-author-entrepreneurs in the food world while still trying to find time for pickleball.

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In our ninth episode, executive features editor Kat Kinsman gets raw with Gregory Gourdet. You might know him from "Top Chef," "Iron Chef," or playing himself on "Portlandia." You might be a fan of his cookbook "Everyone's Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health." Perhaps you've read Korsha Wilson's profile of him in the August issue of Food & Wine or spent months scheming to get into his James Beard Award-winning Portland restaurant Kann. Gregory Gourdet is — and should be — at the forefront of restaurant cuisine in America. And he's pretty surprised to be here and takes none of his life for granted. Gourdet didn't hold back about being a chef in recovery, learning to swim, his nerdy passions, and why De La Soul is so important.

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Note: This episode contains mentions of substance use disorder and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org to connect with a trained crisis counselor 24/7.

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In our eighth episode, executive features editor Kat Kinsman checks in with Enrique Olvera as he's on the verge of expanding his international restaurant empire. There's a good chance you're picturing him in a "Chef's Table" glow, making the mole and tostadas and other dishes that has made his Mexico City restaurant Pujol into a global destination since 2000. That flagship was followed by New York outposts Cosme in 2014 and Atla in 2017, then Los Angeles in 2020 with Damian, and he's now adding more to the roster with Atla in Venice Beach, and Tacos Atla in Brooklyn. Fans and fellow chefs plan trips to Mexico City around their Pujol reservations and flock to his restaurants on America's coasts because he's got so much to teach them about the beauty and bounty of a cuisine that has long been undervalued outside of its country of origin. Olvera delves into what keeps him going, how he shares this motivation and passion and energy with the people he trusts to keep such a big empire alive, and the beauty of taking some time to sweat — in a good way.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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In our seventh episode, executive features editor Kat Kinsman gets personal with Padma Lakshmi. The author and TV personality had a stunning 17-season run as a host, judge, and executive producer on "Top Chef," has written multiple bestselling cookbooks and a memoir, and won both James Beard Awards and Emmys. Just days after this recording, it was announced that she was leaving the show, and will be diving full force into "Taste The Nation" – a show that she created for Hulu, focusing on the food culture of immigrant groups from across the nation. In this intimate conversation, Lakshmi opens up about her experience as an immigrant to America, the fear and bravery in calling herself a writer, the onesies she gives to guests, identifying as a dork, and how she's found purpose in using her hard-won platform to amplify marginalized voices.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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In our sixth episode, Food & Wine's executive features editor Kat Kinsman sits down with the multifaceted David Chang. In 2006, Food & Wine named him as one its Best New Chefs, but no one could have predicted the impact that his restaurants, books, consumer products, TV shows, podcasts, magazine, and more would have on food culture — least of all Chang, who didn't expect to live past 35. Ten years past that self-predicted end, the chef who was once as well-known for his volatile temper as his groundbreaking food is finding himself more comfortable in his own skin, but it's a work in progress. Chang opened up about anger, aging, letting go of being cool, being kinder to himself, and an unexpected apology he'd like to make. 

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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In our fifth episode, Food & Wine's executive features editor Kat Kinsman catches up with Maneet Chauhan, the chef and restaurateur behind Chauhan Ale and Masala House, and other excellent Nashville spots, as well as the author of "Chaat: Recipes from the Kitchens, Markets, and Railways of India". These days, Maneet is a force on shows like "Chopped", "Iron Chef America", and "Tournament of Champions", but before all that, she was a self-admitted "complete brat" as a kid, running from house to house in her small community in India, bugging the aunties to teach her to cook, and dreaming of the day she'd get to call herself a chef. Maneet shares her journey to the Culinary Institute of America, the art of running a restaurant empire with her husband, and how making mistakes is the best thing that ever happened to her.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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In our fourth episode, Food & Wine's executive features editor Kat Kinsman catches up with the eternally optimistic Shota Nakajima. Many people may know him from his incredible run on Top Chef Season 18, his appearances on Food Network shows like Tournament of Champions, his array of Seattle restaurants, or his extremely entertaining and educational Instagram feed. But before his rise to fame, Shota was a "punky looking" high school drop-out with his head deep in a sketchbook, or wandering into the woods looking for mushrooms and bugs, hoping to find his place in the world. Shota opened up about motivation, anime, moving a couch with his friends, never making a Plan B, and always valuing hospitality over food.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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In our third episode, Food & Wine's executive features editor Kat Kinsman speaks with her friend Antoni Porowski. His rise to fame may seem meteoric, with a star-making role as Queer Eye's food and drinks expert leading to bestselling cookbooks and tours, and a Netflix competition show of his own. But Porowski has been preparing for this moment since he was a multilingual, food-fixated, Martha Stewart-loving kid in Canada with his eye on the silver screen and beyond. Antoni and Kat chatted about panic attacks, Red Lobster, meeting his idol, and the beautiful, dog-and-chicken-filled future he's finally daring to dream.

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In our second episode, Food & Wine's executive features editor Kat Kinsman speaks with the inimitable Mashama Bailey. You may know her from Chef's Table. her James Beard Awards for Best Chef, Southeast and Outstanding Chef, or her book Black, White and the Grey, which she co-authored with her business partner Johno Morisano. You may have caught her on a screen on the back of an airplane seat, sharing the secrets of Southern cooking. Mashama Bailey is everywhere — as she should be! But before all that, she was going to cooking school and getting a degree in social work, but not quite feeling like she had found her place. And then a fateful trip came along that set her on the path to superstardom.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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