Top Chef recently crowned Melissa King the winner of Season 17 after an epic showdown in Italy. As a returning finalist from Season 12, Melissa competed among the fiercest group of All Stars yet. She snagged both the $250,000 prize and the Fan Favorite award. It was a powerful moment for Melissa, a freelance chef and proud representative of both the LGBTQ+ and Asian-American communities. Melissa joins us to talk about her win, how she’s changed in the six years between her two Top Chef appearances, and how she’s building her business with intention and community in mind. We also talk about those small-batch sauces of hers that sold out in literally two minutes.

Top Chef All-Stars Winner Melissa King

Radio Cherry Bombe features interviews with the most interesting people in the world of food. Each week, host Kerry Diamond, founder and editor of the indie magazine Cherry Bombe, talks to the chefs, bakers, creatives, and entrepreneurs making it happen. Follow @cherrybombe on Instagram for show news and more, and visit cherrybombe.com/radio-cherry-bombe for transcripts and past episodes. Thank you to Tralala for our theme song, "All Fired Up." 

Produced by The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network

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Best-selling author and former Gourmet Magazine editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl is our guest on today’s episode. Ruth joins host Kerry Diamond to talk about her latest book, “The Paris Novel,” a tale of self-discovery set in 1983 and filled with food, fashion, and art. Ruth shares the real-life inspiration behind some of the people, places, and meals, and talks about her writing process. “I took a long time writing this because I didn’t want to let go of the characters,” she says. 

Ruth, who has a Substack and a podcast today, also shares her take on food media, dishes out some career advice, and discusses whether her books will ever be adapted for movies or streaming. 

Thank you to Kerrygold and Veuve Clicquot's La Grande Dame for supporting our show. 

Hosted by Kerry Diamond
Produced by Catherine Baker and Elizabeth Vogt
Edited by Jenna Sadhu
Content Operations Manager Londyn Crenshaw
Recorded at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center

Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Subscribe to our newsletter and check out past episodes and transcripts here. 

More on Ruth: Instagram, Substack, Three Ingredients podcast, “The Paris Novel”
More on Kerry: Instagram

Ruth Reichl On “The Paris Novel,” Her Newest Book

Today’s guest is Nadia Caterina Munno, the glamorous Dolce & Gabbana-wearing gourmet known to millions of fans as The Pasta Queen. She’s built a following for her fashion-forward, high-energy recipe videos in which she shares the secrets to one classic Italian dish after another.

In this episode, host Kerry Diamond speaks with Nadia about the “blasphemous lasagna” recipe on TikTok that inspired her to share her own videos, her love for Marcella Hazan, the grandmother who inspired her entrepreneurial journey, and why she’s a fan of Martha Stewart. 

They also talk about Nadia’s new line of pasta sauces, her recipes and tips for pastina, gnocchi, and pasta al sugo, and her advice for c-suite executives (Nadia was in marketing and PR before becoming The Pasta Queen). 

Thank you to Johnnie Walker and Walmart for supporting our show.

Join the Jubilee 2024 waitlist here.

Hosted by Kerry Diamond
Produced by Catherine Baker and Elizabeth Vogt
Edited by Jenna Sadhu
Content Operations Manager Londyn Crenshaw
Recorded at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center

Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Subscribe to our newsletter and check out past episodes and transcripts here. 

More on Nadia: Instagram, Pasta Queen sauces, website 
More on Kerry: Instagram

The Pasta Queen, Nadia Caterina Munno, Holds Court

Today’s guest is Chef Karla Hoyos, a long-time volunteer for World Central Kitchen and the founder of Tacotomia in Miami. The interview took place several weeks before the tragedy in Gaza in which seven of Karla’s World Central Kitchen colleagues were killed (if you’d like to contribute to the World Central Kitchen GoFundMe for the families of those killed, visit here).

Karla herself was in the region last year with the organization. Over the past several years, she has worked as part of World Central Kitchen’s disaster response teams in Bangladesh, Poland, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Spain, and beyond. 

At the same time, Karla was working to fulfill her dream of opening a spot in Miami that would pay homage to her Mexican upbringing. Last year, she opened Tacotomia in the Julia & Henry’s food hall and has used the opportunity to hire women and immigrants in need of work. Experience is great, she says, but not entirely necessary. Karla has three questions she asks her job candidates: “Are you a good person? Do you want to learn? Can I trust you?”

Stay tuned to learn about Karla’s roots in Mexico, how she became involved with World Central Kitchen, and what Tacotomia is all about.

Hosted by Kerry Diamond
Produced by Catherine Baker and Elizabeth Vogt
Edited by Jenna Sadhu
Content Operations Manager Londyn Crenshaw

Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Subscribe to our newsletter and check out past episodes and transcripts here. 

More on Karla: Instagram, World Central Kitchen, Tacotomia
More on Kerry: Instagram

Chef Karla Hoyos Of World Central Kitchen And Miami’s Tacotomia

We’re in a Jubilee state of mind here at Cherry Bombe HQ! Jubilee 2024 is taking place on Saturday, April 20th, in NYC (join the wait list here), so we’re bringing you a taste of last year’s talent: the lively panel with the food all-stars from the Magnolia Network. 

Radio Cherry Bombe host Kerry Diamond moderated a discussion with Casey Corn of “Recipe Lost & Found,” Zoë François of “Zoë Bakes,” Jamila Norman of “Homegrown,” Elizabeth Poett of “Ranch To Table,” and Samantha Seneviratne of “Everyday Cooking.” Tune in and learn more about these inspiring women and their shows. 

Thank you to Johnnie Walker and Walmart for supporting our show.

Hosted by Kerry Diamond
Produced by Catherine Baker and Elizabeth Vogt
Edited by Jenna Sadhu
Content Operations Manager Londyn Crenshaw
Recorded at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center

Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Subscribe to our newsletter and check out past episodes and transcripts here. 

More on Casey: Instagram, website
More on Zoë: Instagram, website
More on Jamila: Instagram, website
More on Elizabeth: Instagram, website 
More on Samantha: Instagram, website 
More on Kerry: Instagram

Magnolia Network Food Stars! Zoë Bakes, Casey Corn, Jamila Norman, Elizabeth Poett & Sam Seneviratne From Jubilee 2023

Italians take snacking seriously. In the first part of today’s show, we’re talking about “spuntini”—Italian snacks—with chef and recipe developer Anna Francese Gass, author of the new cookbook, “Italian Snacking: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Every Hour of the Day.” Learn why the book is like a trip to Italy in book form, Anna’s Italian vacation tips, and why Italian street food is not eaten on the street. 

Next, we’re flashing back to Jubilee 2023 with an inspiring talk from Maya-Camille Broussard of the Chicago bakery Justice of the Pies and the Netflix series “Bake Squad.” 

Thank you to Johnnie Walker and to Walmart for supporting our Women’s History Month spotlight. 

Click here to learn more about Cherry Bombe’s annual Jubilee conference, taking place Saturday, April 20th, in Manhattan. 

Hosted by Kerry Diamond
Produced by Catherine Baker and Elizabeth Vogt
Edited by Jenna Sadhu
Editorial Assistant Londyn Crenshaw
Recorded at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center

Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Subscribe to our newsletter and check out past episodes and transcripts here. 

More on Anna: Instagram, Italian Snacking book, website
More on Maya-Camille: Instagram, Justice of the Pies
More on Kerry: Instagram

Top Chef All-Stars Winner Melissa King

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