Cooking By Heart with Chris Sarandon

In this SEASON 3 FINALE, I sit down with Emmy, Peabody, and Humanitas Award-winning writer and comedy icon John Markus. From memories of his mother's hearty Eastern European cooking to early joke writing for legends like Bob Hope and Joan Rivers. John shares his incredible journey through the world of comedy. Get the inside scoop on his breakout role with the hit sitcom Taxi, and how he rose t...

In this episode, SAG Award-winning actress Caroline Aaron shares what it was like growing up Jewish in the South, dining out gratis, thanks to her father’s work as a restaurant supplier before his untimely death, and the subsequent Southern meals lovingly prepared by her family’s African-American housekeeper—including fried chicken and a distinctive red/orange matzoh ball soup at Passover. She ref...

Director/Actor Nick Castle remembers growing up in Hollywood with his Italian-American family eating traditional ethnic fare, having his famous movie choreographer father home for dinner after working at a nearby film studio which young Nick would often visit, and meals with his extended family in Queens, NY. He also talks about his writing collaborations with fellow USC Film School director/alum...

In this episode, 5-time James Beard Award Winner Dorie Greenspan remembers her non-cooking parents, learning to love food by going out to dinner and burning down the family kitchen! She discusses cookbook collaborations with Julia Child, Daniel Boulud, and Jean-George, how she cooks differently in New York and Paris, and her love of baking, calling it a generous act because it's always shared. Joi...

In this episode, Sachi Parker, the daughter of award-winning actress Shirley MacClain, talks about moving at age 2 from LA to Japan with her father, producer and gourmet cook Steve Parker. She remembers harvesting sea urchin from the sea and eating them alfresco, and always accompanying her father as he cooked. Boarding school food was horrible in England and divine in Switzerland, after which cam...

In this episode, Peter McCrea, the son of Hollywood legends Joel McCrea and Francis Dee, talks about growing up on their ranch with cattle, chickens, an organic vegetable garden, wood stove cooking, and being exposed to the cycle of life. Living there also featured visits from movie stars Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, and Maurice Chevalier! He also discusses his work creating phil...

In this episode, TV writer/producer/showrunner Nancey Silvers describes her southern Mom’s grits and fried chicken, eating deli food with her father, the magnificent comedian Phil Silvers, being required to help with the household chores, & eating fresh, at her mom’s insistence, right from the stove. She remembers movie star tour busses stopping for lunch on their Beverly Hills front lawn and...

In this episode of ‘Cooking By Heart,’ Griffin Dunne described this soup served by his mother’s Mexican family as being the go-to comfort meal choice throughout his life. All the food groups are represented, and the dish has been refined by his grown daughter since he first introduced it to her. Feel free to take a swing at your version of this basic recipe.  Don't forget to follow all of the soci...

In this episode, award-winning actress Stockard Channing describes a privileged childhood, with bland food both at home and while eating out; surviving on lots of carbs in boarding school, followed by an early marriage; “competition” cooking as a young housewife, and a gourmand friend mentoring and honing her kitchen skills. Divorce, a decision to become an actress, and a move to New City became t...

In this episode, multiple Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton talks about his father’s digestive problems which led to lots of bland Irish food at home, food discoveries as a student and in his burgeoning acting career, being discovered by TV and Film, and our mutual friendship with Roddy McDowell. He also gives an impassioned shout-out to two amazing charities close to his heart and home. A r...

In this episode, Award Winning actress Camryn Manheim remembers her teacher-mother’s faux gourmet cooking, her professor-father’s love of spicy food, & intellectual banter at the dinner table. She also relates how her mother’s skill at party food inspired her own parties of 80 or more guests while in grad school in NYC, with celeb guests like Jude Law and JFK, Jr. Then, a one woman show she wr...

In this episode, award winning actor Victor Garber talks about growing up with his local celebrity mom, his funny, depressed father’s amazing French toast, and his developing type 1 diabetes at 11. At 16, he leaves home & school to pursue a folk singing career, which leads to a hit record, and a subsequent stage, movie, and TV career and his life changing work with J.J. Abrams and Garber’s multipl...

In this episode, former NBC/Universal vice-chair Bonnie Hammer remembers her mother’s “kosher” cooking as tasteless and uninspiring, eating college food featuring plentiful carbs (enhanced by ice cream and burgers), and an early marriage where she took up recipe cooking. There are inspiring and hilarious stories of her advancing at early jobs from picking up dog poop to becoming a producer, and ul...

From the time he could stand, James Beard Award winner Chef Paul Smith remembers helping his Italian grandfather cook, the presence of a large Italian contingent in the coal mines, & after school ‘butter steaks’ with his brother. He also discusses his extensive culinary training that led to his return home to communicate the food culture of Appalachia in his restaurants, seeing those restauran...

n this episode, award winning actress Jill Eikenberry talks about her peripatetic Midwestern childhood, her diet heavy on luscious meat and cheese dishes, frozen vegetables, visits to her aunt’s farm, and a bloodthirsty story about her grandmother’s chickens. She also recalls a story about a blind friend guiding her through the school cafeteria during a college blackout, her introduction to gourme...

In this episode, Illeana Douglas talks about growing up in two worlds of food: that of her Hollywood Royalty Grandfather Melvin Douglas and her Queens, NY Italian/Romanian family. She describes her father’s creating a hippie commune and later her on-and-off-camera relationship with Martin Scorsese, along with an extraordinary evening with Scorsese and Marlon Brando. Join me for an audio or video c...

In this episode, Michael Urie remembers his mother’s delicious eclectic cooking and his often-frustrated efforts to recreate it. He also describes his roundabout career route, the serendipity of his acceptance into the prestigious Julliard Acting Program, being introduced to his Queens NY Italian family & their raucous meals, and his efforts to find the perfect neutral eating regimen while per...

In this episode, Rosanna Arquette remembers her peripatetic childhood, her working artist parents, and eating lots of ‘high quality’ fast food. A vegetarian menu follows at a commune, then leaving home in her teens, being 'discovered' in LA, and becoming a self-taught cook with her sights on healthy food. She describes her go-to salad and stuffing, and longs for more get-togethers with her...

In this episode, Alice Waters recounts that as a child she didn’t look forward to going to the table to eat her creative mother’s pedestrian cooking, but began a life-long love of strawberries and anything garden-fresh. A trip to France changed her life and started a culinary revolution in America, and later provided the impetus for the creation of the Edible Schoolyard. A brilliant episode with a...

In this episode, multi-talented actor/author Ed Begley, Jr. talks about the family cook who changed his life, the startling family secret he learned at 15, his wild youth, and amazing stories about his friends Marlon Brando and The Beatles from his memoir "To the Temple of Tranquility...and Step On It! You can't miss this one! Don't forget to follow all of the social media!   @Sarando...

In this episode, award winning chef Rocco DiSpirito talks about his high spirited Italian family, 1st food adventures, his chef training at 16, & work in Europe with great chefs. He also speaks about his famous restaurants & answers questions from our live audience about his brilliant new cookbook, ‘Everyday Delicious. A fun & informative episode!

In this episode, Oscar Nominee and Golden Globe Winner Brad Dourif describes a bland culinary childhood diet until a wonderful cook joined his family and describes the southern cooking at his boarding school. Moving to NYC, he lived on fast food, became a movie actor (and the voice of Chucky!) and has, thanks to his actress daughter, moved on to cooking and eating a splendidly healthy diet. A fasc...

In this episode, singer/songwriter/producer/former record exec Billy Mann talks about his educated mother's moderate quality but volume-heavy cooking, formal meals with grandma (and her giant meat pies), his after-college road busking tour living in his car with Mom's gift of many cans of Chef Boyardee spaghetti while he discovered America and it's food...and his world travels as a rec...

In this episode, actress Catherine Hicks talks about growing up in the desert with her mother's indifferent cooking (and great desserts) but revels in her parents' glamorous cocktail hour finery. She further describes her rocket-like rise as an actress in New York and Hollywood, and frankly discusses the difficulty balancing work and family life while on the long-running series '7th Heaven'...and...

In this episode, legendary Broadway producer Emanuel  “Manny” Azenberg and I discuss his Bronx upbringing, his mother’s relentless cabbage and chicken soups, eating out in delis, and food and making friends for life in the army. We talk about his Broadway intro working for David Merrick, and a softball game with Neil Simon that led to producing 20 of Simon’s plays (while also producing Sondheim &a...