Bitefully

Chef Chris Valdes was born into a family restaurant in Miami. Before he could do homework, he was watching his mom stuff a five-hour boliche with chorizo, walking the dining room alongside his dad, and getting what he calls his "pre-training" in the family business of catering to others. In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval sits down with her friend Chris to trace his strongest food memories, st...

Chef DuVal Warner grew up in Danville, Virginia, surrounded by strong women, Southern cooking, and a community rich with history. From his Aunt Margaret's legendary mac and cheese to his Aunt Shanita's smoked neck bones and collard greens, food was always home. In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval sits down with Ranch 45's Chef DuVal to talk about the memories that shaped him: what Juneteenth me...

She made history as the first Native American and Mexican American woman to win a televised cooking competition, but Chef Pyet DeSpain's food story doesn't start with a garden or a grandmother's recipe. It starts with struggle meals. Government commodities. A childhood spent moving from city to city. And a grandfather in Kansas City who put a bowl of beans in front of her and made her feel like sh...

Charlie Boghosian, better known as Chicken Charlie, came to America at 11 from Damascus, Syria, with his family, a produce store, and a work ethic that never quit. What started as a 14-year-old's summer job turned into a 30-plus-year career feeding tens of thousands of people a day across California's county fair circuit. Oh, and somewhere along the way, he invented the deep-fried Oreo. In this ep...

Actress Angélica Celaya grew up straddling borders: Tucson and Mexico City, Spam sandwiches and slow-cooked pozole, margarine and manteca. On screen, she's played everyone from Spanish-language telenovela heroines to unapologetic women on English-language TV. In this debut episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval and Angélica trace their food memories back to the dishes that shaped them: a father's refried...

What happens when a single bite unlocks a buried truth or a complicated family history? Bitefully is a new podcast hosted by Claudia Sandoval — the first Latina winner of MasterChef — tracing personal food pathways back to culture, land, and the stories traditional food media rarely tells. With guests spanning hospitality, entertainment, wellness, and beyond, every conversation is real, raw, and d...