Communal Table

When people in the restaurant industry worry that a friend is in trouble, they call Steve Palmer. He and fellow Charleston restaurant veteran Mickey Baskt formed the industry-specific recovery group Ben's Friends after the death of a dear friend, and they've vowed not to stop until there's a branch in every state. Palmer sat down for an emotional and honest talk about addiction and sobriety, suppo...

None of us loves talking about how we failed. We may obsess about these flubs, missteps, errors in judgment, and mortifying mistakes on constant loop in our heads, but generally, most of us aren't going out of our way to shine a spotlight on our biggest mess-ups. But how else would we improve as business people, artisans, leaders, partners, and human beings if we didn't examine where we stumbled,...

By the time you read this, Katie Button will be back at her restaurant and bagel shop in Asheville, NC, but she was away for a few weeks, in residence at Chefs Club in New York City. That's a terrifying thing to do when it's your own business, but Button trusts her staff at Cúrate Tapas Bar and Button & Co. Bagels, and they get to develop some new skills while she's away. It's important to her to...

When Kat Kinsman first interviewed Sean Brock in 2011, she couldn't imagine sitting onstage for a with him eight years later, because she honestly didn't believe he'd live that long. Since that first conversation, Brock has gone through illness, intervention, and the day-to-day work of recovery, and he's been speaking about the pain, reckoning, accountability, and self care that goes along with it...

Does Jamie Oliver ever sleep? He's a best-selling cookbook author, wildly famous TV presenter, passionate foodways activist, father of five children, and prolific product spokesperson, but in recent years has faced the collapse of his longstanding restaurant chain in the UK, as well as plenty of public scrutiny. On a jam-packed trip to New York to promote his newest book, Ultimate Veg, Oliver sat...

At Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN, many, many hands go into crafting magical moments for guests—many of whom return year after year, and plenty for whom this is a bucket-list trip. As executive chef, Cassidee Dabney is responsible for a major part of that experience, and while there's nothing she would rather be doing, the position comes with a lot of pressure. This past summer, Dabney sat down on...

On January 7, Trish Nelson and her former colleagues from the Spotted Pig gathered around a podium in the offices of New York State Attorney General Letitia James to announce the end of a months-long investigation that uncovered a hostile work environment and "severe and pervasive incidents of unwanted touching and unwelcome sexual advances" by majority owner Ken Friedman. While the settlement pro...

When Paul Finn was a touring musician, restaurant and bar gigs were a perfect fit for his ever-changing schedule, and his gregarious personality. He found it useful to approach the job as another form of performance, but worried about the toll that took. Finn heard over and over that servers and bartenders should just check everything at the door, but thought, "If you're not bringing your personal...

It took one civil law class for Jessica Craig to figure out that she didn't want to spend time behind a desk. Luckily for the sweets-loving diners of New York City, she's found her calling as the powerhouse executive pastry chef at L'Artusi, and a role model for young people in the industry. Craig sat down for a heartfelt talk about nurturing talent, the importance of Jamaican cuisine, the heartbr...

Opening just one long-lived, much-loved restaurant in a super-competitive city would be a dream come true for most chefs. Along with his One-Off Hospitality business partners, Paul Kahan has been keeping Chicagoans happily fed since 1997, with restaurants like Blackbird, Publican, Avec (and plenty others) each offering their own distinct menu, vibe, and area of particular expertise. Yet rather tha...

When life gave Josh Niland a second chance, he made a conscious choice not to waste a second of it. The Sydney-based chef underwent intensive cancer treatment as a kid, and from his teen years onward, he's devoted himself to his craft, revolutionizing the way that restaurants butcher, store, and serve every bit of a fish, and doing his best to spread the word through demos all over the world, his...

Big Gay Ice Cream may have started out as a joke, but over the past decade, it's become serious business. Along with business partner Brian Petroff, Doug Quint has turned a single "Oh, we'll just try this for the summer" ice cream truck with a cheeky name into a national brand with brick-and-mortar shops, a wonderfully anarchic cookbook, and pints bearing their signature unicorn and sparkles ethos...

You don't do Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism without asking tough, uncomfortable questions. New York Times food correspondent Kim Severson has made a much-lauded career out of finding the truth, beauty, and sometimes ugly humanity in the food system—and this time the tables are turned. Severson sat down for a deeply personal conversation about interviewing vulnerable people, deciding which stori...

It's a special edition of Communal Table recorded live onstage at The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY for the debut of Sean Brock's new book South: Essential Recipes and New Explorations. Brock went deep on his grandmother's sour corn and leather britches, learning to value the food he grew up with, and trying to get his infant son to be less picky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

If it's a day that ends in "y" Joe Kwon is probably out on tour. He's the cellist for the band the Avett Brothers, whose 10th album "Closer Than Together" recently came out, and that means hitting the road for days and often weeks on end. For a man who finds home and connection through food, this could be a hardship, but he's turned it into a pleasure. Kwon raced down from rehearsal for The Tonigh...

When Nancy Silverton brought a jar of sourdough starter from New York's Sign of the Dove back home to Los Angeles in the 1980s, she had no idea that she would use it to grow an empire. On the 30th anniversary of La Brea Bakery, the chef, author, and entrepreneur reflects on the evolution of American restaurants, how she learned to trust her instincts, and why 23andMe should track her bread's famil...

There are a few reasons why you might know Philip Speer's name. It could be that you're familiar with his long career in Austin restaurants, or the Comedor Run Club that he co-founded to keep the city's industry in balance. It might also be from the national news stories when he landed in jail after a fourth DWI. But he knows he has to talk about all of it—especially the uncomfortable parts—for th...

Life comes at you quickly, as Callie Speer well knows. She'd long dreamed of opening her own restaurant, but was in an uphill struggle to get her life in order. Then came the shock and opportunity of a lifetime. Within a couple of weeks of leaving rehab, a space became available in downtown Austin, and she was able to put together a business plan and find the funds to open Holy Roller—an always-bo...

Akhtar Nawab forged his reputation in the crucible of Gramercy Tavern and Craft in the company of Tom Colicchio, David Chang, Damon Wise, Karen DeMasco, Marco Canora, and other innovators who have shaped America's restaurant culture. When he left to open a place of his own at 28, he felt like he was ready. Hindsight is a powerful thing, and a decade after Elettaria's closure, Nawab has some powerf...

Not so long ago, it was in vogue to say that chefs are the new rock stars, but Steven Satterfield played that in reverse. The chef and co-owner of Miller Union released four records and toured the world with his band Seely before making the switch to full time restaurant life. Since then, he's won a James Beard Award, written a much-beloved vegetable-forward cookbook, gone through cancer treatment...

When news broke that executive chef Melissa Rodriguez was becoming a partner at the much-lauded Del Posto in the wake of Mario Batali's divestment, a cheer went up from folks in the know. Rodriguez has quietly, consistently, meticulously honed her craft in some of the most prestigious kitchens in the country, and earned the respect of her peers and colleagues. She's never sought the spotlight, but...

When Chintan Pandya and his business partner Roni Mazumdar opened Adda Indian Canteen in Long Island City a year ago today, they knew they wanted to do something vastly different than their modern Indian outpost in the West Village. They couldn't have known that their homage to Indian home cooks would earn then every accolade in sight, including being selected as a Food & Wine Best New Restaurant,...

When a friend told Antoni Porowski that a reboot of Queer Eye was in the works, he was instantly terrorstruck. He'd been working as an actor for a long time, as well as in restaurants and as an assistant to the original cast's food expert Ted Allen, so on paper, this seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime. But in reality, he was terrified of stepping into the spotlight and sharing the two thing...

Fate brought Nina Compton to New Orleans, and a smart business head and dedicated community kept her there. After a stellar turn on Top Chef, the St. Lucia-born, Miami-based chef had her pick of offers all over the country, but something about the Big Easy drew her back. Since opening the lauded Compere Lapin in the Old 77 Hotel and Bywater American Bistro in the eponymous NOLA neighborhood, Compt...

Even before Ming Tsai's oldest son was born with life-threatening food allergies, the chef and TV host was already on a mission to make his restaurants safer and more hospitable to diners who face these issues. He's determined to make that system (and mindset) universal, and along the way, has developed a deep understanding of the role that food plays in our overall health. Tsai opened up about hi...