Why Food?

This week, we are thrilled to welcome Daniel Gritzer, the Culinary Director of Serious Eats, into the studio! Daniel shares how his early passion for food — staging at legendary restaurant Chanterelle at the age of 13 in lieu of a bar mitzvah — influenced his culinary career path. He's had few twists and turns along the way, including nearly a year working on organic farms in Europe, where he harvested almonds and Padrón peppers in Spain, shepherded a flock of more than 200 sheep in Italy, and made charcuterie in France. After a few years at a small nonprofit devoted to the creation of Brooklyn Bridge Park, he threw himself fully into restaurant work, followed by editorial roles at Time Out NY, Food and Wine, and currently, Serious Eats. Please join us as we sit down with Daniel to talk about his adventures in food, how he transitioned from the kitchen to the editorial space and so much more.

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After spending 10 years as an investment banker and management consultant, Minh Tsai became frustrated that he couldn’t find the delicious tofu and yuba he grew up eating in Vietnam. He decided to embark on a culinary journey to take back tofu, combining deeply traditional and pure methods with innovative production for his artisan tofu, yuba and soy milk product. After creating Hodo Foods, he launched a farmer’s market stand in Silicon Valley, eventually growing Hodo Foods to more than 4,000 retailers and restaurants nationally, from Whole Foods and Target to regional specialty markets and co-ops.

Please join us as we sit down with Minh to talk about his entrepreneurial journey through the world of food, how he is revolutionizing the tofu industry and the evolution of plant-based eating!

Photo by Jen Siska

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"Join cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Catherine Piccoli, Curator at the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn. Catherine is a food historian and writer whose work focuses on the intersection of food, culture,

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This week, please join us in welcoming Lisa Curtis to the studio! Lisa is the Founder and CEO of @kulikulifoods, the leading brand pioneering the superfood moringa in the US market. She founded the company after working as a Peace Corps volunteer. Since then, she has grown her Peace Corps dream into a multi-million dollar social enterprise with products being sold in over 7,000 stores. Prior to Kuli Kili, Lisa served as the Communications Director of Mosaic, wrote political briefings for President Obama, served as a United National Environment Programme Youth Advisor and worked at an impact investment firm in India. ⁣

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Deepti Sharma is the CEO and Founder of @foodtoeat, an online food ordering and delivery service specializing in food trucks and restaurants. She started her company with the mission to connect immigrant, women and minority-owned food vendors to opportunities for growth - ultimately helping them strengthen their own business skills. She is also a Co-Founder of Bikky, a platform solving customer engagement for restaurants. Please tune in as we talk to Deepti about her incredible pioneering story, the different ways she is encouraging immigrant entrepreneurship through advocacy and how companies can modernize motherhood in the workplace.

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Please join us in welcoming restaurateur Rose Previte to the studio! Rose spent her childhood helping her mother run her Middle Eastern catering business and restaurant. She then later spent over a decade working in bars and restaurants while getting a master's degree in Public Policy from George Mason University. After meeting her husband and traveling around the world to 30 countries, her time abroad inspired her to open award-winning restaurant Compass Rose in 2014 and then her second restaurant, Maydan, which was conceived and designed over a three-week journey through Morroco, Tunisia, Turkey, Georgia and Lebanon.

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Join us this week for a conversation with Aneesha Hargrave and Ali Banks of Chopt Salads. Aneesha is Chopt's Executive Chef and left a career in auto parts sales to go to culinary school and become a chef, following a family passion for food and cooking. After building her foundational culinary skills and technique, she moved to NYC and found her dream opportunity at Chopt.

Ali Banks, Chopt's head of R&D, built on a background in architectural, a culinary education in Paris mastering the finer points of whole-animal butchery and Alaskan salmon fishing put her on the path to manage Chopt's Research and Development. Join Ethan & Jenny for a conversation about moving into and through the world of food, and what it's like to plan menus at Chopt!

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This week, we're joined by Adam Rosenbaum, CEO of the Meatball Shop. The Meatball Shop is known for their team first culture and aims to serve simple, sustainable, delicious food with no strings attached. Drawn to high-touch and community-focused communities, Adam joined the team in 2017 to strategically expand the business to major cities and markets. Prior to joining The Meatball Shop, he was the VP of operations for Patina Restaurant Group and SVP of Global Operations of Flywheel.

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We are so thrilled to have Mohammad Modarres of Abe’s Meats joining us! Mohammad is a former biotech entrepreneur, game designer and political cartoonist who moved to NYC to start Interfaith Ventures, an incubator that creates products and programming promoting unity and dialogue across religions. Abe’s Meats grew naturally out of Interfaith and has since become its flagship product — it offers meat products that are both #halal and #kosher so they can be enjoyed without worry with friends and family of all different backgrounds. Join us as we chat with Mohammad about his transition into this unique role, his upcoming TED Talk as a 2018 fellow and why Interfaith Ventures is more needed than ever in our current climate.

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Join us for a conversation with Alex McCrery and Jenny Goodman: husband and wife, and cofounders of the groundbreaking restaurant workwear line Tilit NYC. Alex is a former restaurant chef (as well as private chef for Jerry Seinfeld's family) and Jenny worked in the pharmaceutical industry. They met while working at the iconic New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace, and in 2012 launched Tilit NYC to supply the restaurant industry with high quality, intentionally designed aprons and clothing.

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