Bitefully

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...

Before she was a Top Chef champion, Chef Zuliya “Zuzu” Khawaja spent 16 years in high finance. But her story starts much earlier, in a Central Asian kitchen, learning at the elbows of her grandmother and aunties, and with one pot of soup she made at seven in an act of care. In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval and Zuzu dig into the childhood dish that made vegetables the star of her table, and a...

Chef Mawa McQueen was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the oldest of 21 children. She was raised in Paris, trained at culinary school there, and now runs six restaurants in Aspen, Colorado, including Mawa's Kitchen, Mawita, and Crepe Therapy Café. Her strongest food memory, though, is something she wouldn't share with anyone: the once-a-year school lunch of canned sardines stuffed into a fresh baguet...

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we're re-releasing our very first episode. 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 tr...

Top Chef finalist and James Beard-nominated author Chris Scott has spent nearly 40 years in professional kitchens, tracing his family's story to the intersection of Black Southern cooking and Pennsylvania Dutch Amish foodways. In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval and Chris remember a penny candy store in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, the grape-flavored Swedish Fish he's still looking for, and the s...

Six-time James Beard Award winner, Emmy-nominated host, and New York Times best-selling author Pati Jinich has spent her career proving that the food of the US-Mexico borderlands isn't fusion. It is its own permanent, ever-evolving place, full of stories most people never get to hear. Chef Claudia Sandoval and Pati trace their food memories back to a marbled pound cake eaten square by square in fr...

This episode of Bitefully is a little different. It's a Spanglish episode, with the majority of the conversation en español, as Chef Claudia sits down with Chef Adria Marina to talk food memories, life on both sides of the border, and the experiences that shaped her. Prefer to follow along in English? The full video episode is available on YouTube with English captions. Adria es la mujer y Chef de...

Chef Travis Swikard could have run one of the best kitchens in the world. Instead, he came home. Born and raised in San Diego, he left at 21 for culinary school in Vermont, then London, Paris, and New York, where he spent seven years with Daniel Boulud and rose to culinary director. But when the next step meant traveling as a corporate chef, he looked at his hometown and saw what everyone else mis...

Award-winning food writer and Food Network judge Troy Johnson never wanted to write about food. A born-and-raised San Diegan, he came up as a latchkey kid in the '80s making pizza rolls and Top Ramen that smelled, in his words, like "MSG, salt, and self-love." As his mom likes to say, he didn't learn to cook out of passion but in self-defense. In this episode, Chef Claudia Sandoval sits down with...

Financial expert Pattie Ehsaei was born in Iran and left on the last plane out during the revolution — the start of a life spent moving, rebuilding, and refusing to rely on anyone but herself. She began working at 10, taking out neighbors' trash for quarters, went on to become a criminal prosecutor, and then fell into finance, where she found her real mission: teaching women that financial freedom...

Chef Susan Feniger has spent more than four decades building one of the most beloved culinary partnerships in America: Border Grill, City Café, and a restaurant empire stretching from Las Vegas to the new Burbank Airport. But her food story starts much smaller — on a step stool in Toledo, Ohio, licking the fudge paddle while her mom worked her magic. Chef Claudia Sandoval has admired Susan's caree...

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...