Tinfoil Swans

From three-mile walks to school in Guyana and “punishment baking” with his aunt to becoming the first pastry chef named a Food & Wine Best New Chef, Tavel Bristol-Joseph has never followed the expected path. In this episode, he shares the chaos and music of landing in Brooklyn, the quiet ritual he keeps each birthday to honor his late father, and why he believes cooking is just the vessel for something much bigger.

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Food & Wine’s longest-serving editors in chief, Dana Cowin and Hunter Lewis, invite you into a revealing conversation about the history and impact of the Best New Chefs accolade since it started in 1988. From the early days of scouting talent with notebooks and stringers to today’s rigorous process shaped by mentorship, community, and culture, they share behind-the-scenes stories, heated debates, and the unforgettable moments that have defined the program — and American dining — for nearly four decades. Plus, can you beat them in a chef trivia quiz?

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Food & Wine editor in chief Hunter Lewis shares the untold story behind the magazine’s iconic Best New Chefs list and reveals the 2025 class. From the intense debates that shape each year’s BNC decisions to the lessons he’s carried from his days as a three-sport "prep jock," line cook, and local journalist, Lewis reflects on the long, strange trip that led him to the helm of Food & Wine. Along the way, he opens up about why he still calls himself a "glorified home cook," his upcoming cookbook, his brush with Anthony Bourdain, how he approaches leadership, and the future he sees for restaurants in America.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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From poring over cast-off food magazines in a Brooklyn laundry room to opening a New York restaurant at 25 and being nearly undone by a single New York Times mention, Edward Lee has lived through the exhilarating highs and bruising lows of the kitchen. On this episode, he goes deep about the worst lunch service of his life, how moving to Kentucky after 9/11 gave him the space to make mistakes and grow, and why revealing his Korean name on Netflix's Culinary Class Wars became one of the most important moments of his career. He also shares how he’s working to banish plastic from restaurant kitchens, why bartenders deserve more protection than they often get, and what he's hoping to teach his daughter about her Korean heritage.

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Samin Nosrat has changed the way so many of us think about food, cooking, and connection. You may know her as the bestselling author of Salt Fat Acid Heat, her joyful Netflix series of the same name, or her wildly popular podcast Home Cooking. But in this conversation, she goes far beyond recipes. Samin opens up about growing up as a book-loving outsider with a very particular notion of cool, the early fan mail she wrote, the lessons she learned in the fires of Chez Panisse, the unexpected weight of fame, and why more than ever, she sees food as the most precious gift we can give one another. She also shares stories from her newest book Good Things, the weekly dinners that ground her, how her journaling habit came in handy decades later, and her secret connection to a particular puppet.

See more about the episode on foodandwine.com.

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You know Regina King from her decades of extraordinary performances — from her teenage roles on the sitcom 227 and the movie Friday to Watchmen, The Leftovers, The Boondocks, If Beale Street Could Talk, and so many more. But a conversation at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen showed a different side of the Oscar-winning actress: the daughter, the sister, the mother, the cook, the traveler, the dreamer, and now the wine entrepreneur. She revealed how as a kid, she and her sister would put on performances, reciting poems and doing one-act plays. She talked about her grandmother's pound cake recipe she has framed on her wall, the extraordinary way her mom cooks vegetables, and the freedom she found traveling solo in France. And she opened up about her son Ian, and his unique talent for finding beauty in the most mundane things — bringing new life to forgotten objects, going barefoot and in shorts in the winter, and finding so much joy in a glass of funky wine.  With her new endeavor — an orange wine named for him, MianU — she's connecting with Ian, and sharing the gift of him with the world. Settle in, pour yourself a glass of something special, and take a moment to notice the light.

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2025 Food & Wine Game Changer Ayesha Curry is such a surprise of a human being. On paper, it's natural to wonder how someone can be an actress, cookbook author, restaurateur, founder of a skincare line and lifestyle brand, winemaker, and co-creator of a foundation that helps kids get fed in a million different ways. But as soon as she starts talking, it's easy to see that she's just always been this way. Live onstage at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Curry rewound the game tape to her childhood in a family where her Jamaican-born mom would make meals big enough to feed the whole neighborhood, her move to Los Angeles as a teenager where she had to figure out how to feed herself, her early days as a blogger, and the Food Network star who embraced her with open arms. She also opened up about the vital work her and her husband Stephen Curry's foundation Eat. Learn. Play. does for kids in Oakland, finding her place in the wine world, and the kind of old person she wants to be.

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 "Queer Eye" and "No Taste Like Home" star Antoni Porowski joins Tinfoil Swans live at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen for a heartfelt and humorous conversation about identity, vulnerability, and finding meaning through food. He opens up about his path from actor and caterer to TV host and storyteller, the emotional layers of cooking, navigating fame, and the gentle art of knowing when to leave the party. Along the way, he shares reflections on therapy, self-care, family dynamics — and what turning 40 taught him.

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Growing up in a military family, Tristen Epps moved around a lot. But no matter where he was living, Friday nights were sacred. He got to dress up, go to a restaurant, not order from a kids menu, and feel like he was getting to know the place he was living — for now. At home, when his mom taught him to scramble an egg, he was mesmerized by the alchemy; one simple ingredient could transform into so many things. It's that wonder and curiosity that transformed him into the leader, visionary, and Top Chef winner he is today. He joined Tinfoil Swans at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen to talk about his mission to “un-colonize colonized food,” the freedom he feels cooking in Air Jordans, why it's important to him to celebrate oxtails with Michelin-level finesse, and his belief that cooking has power to correct history.

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Growing up in Oklahoma, school was not Chris Shepherd's thing. Traditional classrooms just aren't the right fit for some brains — but it turned out that restaurants were. In junior college, he picked up a job as a dishwasher at a sushi restaurant and on the day the tempura guy didn't show up, his culinary journey began. The 2013 Food & Wine Best New Chef took time out from his extremely busy travel schedule to talk about finally finding his calling in the kitchen, the Disney cookbook that lives on a pedestal in his home, and the ingredient he just can't stand. Then his powerhouse wife Lindsay Brown joined to talk about why they founded the game-changing Southern Smoke to help restaurant workers in crisis, how 20 free therapy sessions can change a restaurant worker’s life, and the two-word question that makes all the difference.

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