Kochleffel (From Let's Talk About Food)

Karen Katz is a veteran executive TV producer and writer with over 1500 hours of television programming to her credit. Her illustrious career includes producing for networks such as Food Network, Discovery Networks, HBO Family, and more.  She has worked on competition, lifestyle, documentary, reality, children's TV, and music/variety programming both domestically and internationally. Karen was the...

Our guest today is Lisa Ekus, founder of The Ekus Group, a literary agency specializing in “representing a world of culinary talent.” She has over 40 years of experience representing a wide selection of food personalities, writers, cookbooks, restaurants, and food products. The agency she founded represents more than 350 authors and works with numerous leading publishers worldwide. A sought after...

We are thrilled that our very first guest on Kochleffel is none other than Joan Nathan, the doyenne, the epicenter of Jewish cooking. Joan is a frequent contributor to  The New York Times  and other publications. She is the author of twelve books, including  Jewish Cooking in America  and  The New American Cooking , both of which won both the James Beard Award and the IACP Award, and  King Solomon...

Welcome to Kochleffel, a special series about the remarkable contributions of Jewish women to the world of food.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

New England lost one of the greats recently, Jasper White ; chef, author, mentor, and trailblazer. He re-invented and re-invigorated New England cuisine and made it into a style of cooking that was a lot more than chowda' and lobster rolls. At 69, it was too soon to lose him. With great love and respect, and quite a bit of sadness, we re-broadcast a story he shared with us a few years back. Let’s...

Writer, chef, and mega blogger Phoebe Lapine ’s new book CARBIVORE is a paean to the joys and the nerdy science of carbs. She trashes the no-carb revolution and replaces it with easy-to-digest science -- and wonderful to ingest -- recipes that work whether you are a yes-on-carb or no-on-carbs freak. After her own challenging health issues, Phoebe studied herself and how her diet affected her body,...

Some people – rare people – have the knack of seeing the curves of the future and inviting the rest of us on the journey. Greg Drescher , the senior advisor for Strategic Initiatives at the CIA , Culinary Institute of America, is one of those people. A more insightful job title would be culinary visionary. Our conversation was fascinating as he traces his career arc from one insightful peak to ano...

Our guest today is Scott Grabau , CEO of Tanimura & Antle , one of the world’s largest produce growers. I know, the phrase “large produce” stops you, passionate as you are about buying local and supporting Farmer’s Markets. But what if it turns out that large “Legacy Agriculture” has deep expertise to share? And what if a company that farms thousands of acres, ships to across the US as well as...

Mary Ann Esposito is a legend. She is the star of Ciao Italia , a PBS show she produces in New Hampshire. Syndicated nationally for 31 years, it's the longest running cooking show in America. She has written over a dozen books focused on Italian regional cooking, and at 81, she still leads cooking tours to Italy. Fascinating, feisty, and down-to-earth, I just love her. Let's have a listen. Photo c...

Michael Crupain is an MD, an MPH, a passionate wellness advocate, and a terrific cook. When we first met, Michael was at Consumer Reports, which he then left to become the medical director of the Dr. Oz show (wow!). And now after 7 years there, he's writing fabulous cookbooks! Photo courtesy of Michael Crupain. Let’s Talk About Food is Powered by Simplecast . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.co...

Our guest today is Corky White , Professor of Anthropology at Boston University. Although her focus is on Japan, Corky has a deep and fascinating focus on food – both as an academic pursuit and as globe-trotting food lover. Today’s episode is just that. A global trot through Corky’s life, food, culture, and the impact of her own heritage on why food is so fascinating. Her newest book, written with...

Our guest today is one of my favorite members of the culinary elite: Martha Rose Shulman , an award-winning author of more than twenty-five cookbooks, including The Simple Art of Vegetarian Cooking , The Very Best of Recipes for Health , Mediterranean Harvest: Vegetarian Recipes from the World’s Healthiest Cuisine (named one of the 6 best vegetarian cookbooks of the last 25 years by Cooking Light...

We talk -- or mostly listen -- to the remarkable Barton Seaver ; recovering chef, prodigious advocate of all things seafood, TED talk alum, author of landmark books on American seafood (my favorite is For Cod & Country ), and quite possibly the most eloquent speaker we've ever met! Photo courtesy of Barton Seaver. Let’s Talk About Food is Powered by Simplecast . See Privacy Policy at https://a...

A 14 year old Minnesota boy wanted a motorcycle. He got a job as a dishwasher and it launched a stellar culinary career. We talked with Mark about himself, his outlook on the future of restaurants, and where the CIA is headed next. Photo courtesy of Mark Erickson. Let’s Talk About Food is Powered by Simplecast . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https...

Have you ever wondered how a food delivery business gets going? All the logistics, and the headaches and uncertainty of matching farmers to food and the fresh food to your home? Erin Baumgartner is the CEO and Founder of The Family Dinner . While working as the Assistant Director of the Senseable City Lab at MIT, she left her job after a drink with her husband in a local bar made her believe that...

Paul Sellew is the Founder and CEO of Little Leaf Farms . His "farm" occupies massive greenhouses in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and he expects that by 2026, he'll have 100 acres "under glass" and be able to offer sustainable crisp salad greens to over 50% of the American salad eating world. We'll all be crushing on Little Leaf's hydroponic and sunshine nourished salad greens. He's not the only...

A Conversation with Frank Lowenstein of RARE . Rare is the largest non-profit you've never heard of, and for 50 years it has been focused on using Behavioral Change to nudge people towards Sustainability all over the world. Now, RARE comes to the US. Frank, a lifelong environmentalist, talks about what we can do at the individual level to mitigate climate change. Photo courtesy of Frank Lowenstein...

Joanna James is a filmmaker, non-profit founder, mom of three girls, and the daughter of Val James , who against all odds created a successful restaurant company. Joanna’s film entitled "A Fine Line" documents her mother’s struggles, and those of other well-known female chef-owners in the restaurant industry. It tells the story of the barriers, financial and personal, that women face in the food b...

Thea Engst is a seasoned author, a bartender, and a serious student of Tarot. In her fourth book, Spirits of the Tarot , Thea develops a cocktail recipe to match each Tarot card. It's fun stuff. Especially for true believers. We spoke with her about Tarot and how a bartender goes about developing signature cocktails. Photo courtesy of Thea Engst. Let’s Talk About Food is Powered by Simplecast . Se...

If you have a wall of cookbooks (like I do) but only ever crack open a few–help is at hand. Jane Kelly is the founder of Eat Your Books , a service that lets you search your own library to find the perfect recipe. She was an executive in the music and TV world in the UK, and then, she had an idea.... Photo courtesy of Eat Your Books. Let’s Talk About Food is Powered by Simplecast . See Privacy Pol...

If there were royalty in the food world, Michael Jacobson would be a king. Or at least a duke. As the co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest ––CSPI––he notched so many wins in protecting consumers that he made advocacy look easy. After more than 40 years at the helm of the CSPI, he is onto his next quest; creating a National Food Museum . We'd be wrong to bet against his succe...

I have to confess to a long-term professional crush on Mike Moss , the intrepid New York Times investigative journalist who blew the lid off big foods’ research-based adeptness at engineering our Bliss Point–– finding the most exquisite balance of Salt, Sugar, Fat that renders us helpless faced with an open bag of Doritos. Or Oreo––or pick your poison. His new book, Hooked , unmasks the rigorous r...

Our eminent panel--Congressman Jim McGovern , Marion Nestle , Michael Jacobson , Dariush Mozaffarian , and Kirsten Tobey felt there's room for optimism that this conference can and will have a lasting impact on our American food system. Listen in and see if you agree. Let’s Talk About Food is Powered by Simplecast . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at h...

It began as a B-School class project. Our guest today is Kirsten Saenz Tobey . Kirsten co-founded Revolution Foods in 2006 while in graduate school at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Both she and her co-founder Kristin Richmond needed a project of a B-School class they were both taking. They bonded – and soared over the idea that school food could be both crave-able and healthy. Their schoo...

When an icon and role model in food policy and food studies writes a memoir, after writing more than a dozen policy-heavy books --you might expect it to be serious. Even a little preachy. But you’d be wrong here. Marion Nestle ’s telling of her life story is juicy and delicious. Eminently readable. In addition to her own journey, it is a surprisingly candid reflection about the difficulties of a s...