Andrew Talks to Chefs

Last week, David Nayfeld chef-partner at San Francisco's Che Fico , wrote (with Larissa Zimberoff) a Business Insider piece that addressed--in uncommon, unflinching honesty--aspects of the restaurant industry that he believes need to change post pandemic. The article addressed everything from livable wages to the creation of a sanctioned apprenticeship program to the what the cost of a restaurant...

Jodi Liano, founder of San Francisco Cooking School, updates us on the state of affairs in the Bay Area, discusses the unique issues facing culinary schools as they prepare to reopen, and predicts the surprisingly bright prospects for soon-to-be-graduates. Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible. Please consider  supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon p...

Our quest for great chef- and food-focused entertainment continues, as it does every Friday, with an examination of the NBC series Hannibal. Allison and Matt Robicelli join Andrew to examine such questions as:  Why does the cannibal Hannibal Lecter remain such an enduringly fascinating character? How does Mads Mikkelsen compare with Dr. Lecters past? Is the show revolting, or beautiful? And how in...

In this two-episodes-in-one special report, Andrew visits with three chef-owners in three stages of lockdown in three different markets: Scott Varricchio of Citrus Grillhouse in Vero Beach, Florida, shares the precautions he's taken in preparation to partially reopen his restaurant tomorrow; Ian Boden, of The Shack  in Staunton, Virginia, discusses the challenges of being fully, temporarily shut d...

Lisa Abend, an American journalist and author based in Copenhagen, has been writing invaluable stories about the pandemic's effect on the chef and restaurant communities worldwide for Vanity Fair . Her recent articles have covered the initial shock and awe , the industry's humanitarian efforts , and the lessons we can take from Sweden's approach . Lisa joins Andrew to expand on her reporting, and...

Darren Underway, a sous chef at Somerset restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, has made the best of his shelter-in-place time by writing and producing The Stay-Put Cookbook: A Chef's Guide to Cooking Under Quarantine . The e-book offers recipes suited to home cooks at a time of limited shopping and sourcing options, with recipes most home cooks can successfully produce. A portion of proceeds of the boo...

It's Friday, which means it's time for our latest Shelter en Place movie review with our favorite critical culinarians, Allison and Matt Robicelli . This week, we get into the 2000 Bob Giraldi cooks and mobsters melodrama Dinner Rush , which plays out in one tumultuous night at a Tribeca restaurant. In a first, the Robicellis and Andrew find themselves at odds--Andrew loves, loves, loves the movie...

Longtime listeners will remember Jose Arroyo, who was the subject of an interview in summer 2019. On today's show, Andrew catches up with Jose to learn how the pandemic and lockdown are affecting the family restaurants where he works in Covina and Upland, California. Please consider  supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page –pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patro...

William Sitwell 's new book The Restaurant: A 2,000-Year History of Dining Out , examines the evolution of its subject worldwide, from ancient Rome to the Ottoman Empire to modern Britain and the United States to movements such as the coffee house revolution and fast food. Taking the book as a jumping-off point, Andrew and William--restaurant critic and food writer for The Daily Telegraph --attemp...

Dan Kluger of New York City's Loring Place restaurant reflects on the lessons he's learned during quarantine, and remembers his late friend, the great chef Floyd Cardoz, whom we lost last month to coronavirus-related complications. A conversation about considering how we spend our time, and appreciating the influence and impressions others leave on us, and that in turn we can have on others. Pleas...

Just a quick moment (ok, 3 minutes) of your time, please! We are delighted to announce that we have joined Patreon, offering listeners a way to support Andrew Talks to Chefs and enjoy extra benefits and content . Nothing about our regular, free content has changed. We will continue producing our nightly specials through the end of May, then return to our regular, longform weekly shows. And all of...

It's Friday, which means it's time for another Shelter en Place movie review with our friends Allison and Matt Robicelli. This week we take a look at the 1993 action flick Demolition Man , which the Robicellis contend is a food movie. Join us as we visit a world in which there's no toilet paper, people no longer shake hands, political correctness rules, and ... wait a minute, this all sounds a lit...

Chef Edouardo Jordan owns and operates three foodservice businesses-- Junebaby , Salare , and Lucinda Grain Bar --in Seattle, Washington, the first American city to have a full-fledged outbreak of the coronavirus. In this conversation, Edouardo discusses his efforts to lift up the industry at this time of crisis, including fighting for business interruption insurance support, participating in the...

You really don't want to miss this special double-header: Esquire 's Jeff Gordinier takes us inside, and expands on, his impassioned piece that tied restaurants, music, culture, and politics into a masterpiece of the moment that was circulated the world over over the past weekend. And Georgia-based chef-restaurateur Hugh Acheson responds to his state governor's decision to allow a cross-section of...

Chef Caroline Glover was on quite the career upswing since opening her restaurant Annette in Aurora, Colorado, in 2016--a spot in Food + Wine 's Best New Chefs class of 2019, a 2020 semifinalist nod for a James Beard Foundation Award, and plenty of local and national attention. But when the pandemic and subsequent lockdown came, the restaurant was forced to temporarily shift to a curbside takeaway...

Celia Sack owns and operates the beloved independent San Francisco culinary bookshop  Omnivore Books . Though the store is closed to walk-in customers for the lockdown, it continues to sell books via mail order to passionate veteran clients and new customers alike; she and her team have even created a  Quarantine Quenchers  section on their website.  Celia discusses how Omnivore has pivoted during...

It's been six years since Jon Favreau's movie Chef debuted. In our relatively new, ongoing, and perhaps ill-fated search for the great live-action chef movie, Andrew joins forces with Allison and Matt Robicelli to revisit this food truck road movie and evaluate its depiction of the pro-cooking trade. How realistic is the protagonist's kitchen life? His relationship with restaurant owner Dustin Hof...

Robert Simonson, spirits and drinks writer for the New York Times ; contributing editor to and columnist for Punch ; and author of many wonderful spirits-themed books joins Andrew to discuss the  impact of the pandemic on the bar business, how the industry has responded, and what he's been imbibing at home. An alternately serious and good-humored conversation that reflects the way many of us are e...

John Winterman came of age in restaurants ranging from Charlie Trotter's in Chicago to Gary Danko in San Francisco, to a near-decade as a front-of-house maestro in Daniel Boulud's empire. After successfully launching and shepherding his Bâtard through its first five years in Tribeca, John was close to launching his independent New York Brasserie Francie in Brooklyn, with chef-partner Chris Cipollo...

A welcome dose of normalcy: In an conversation recorded pre-pandemic, Ned Baldwin, chef-owner of Houseman restaurant in New York City, discusses his brand new and very useful cookbook How to Dress an Egg: Surprising and Simple Ways to Cook Dinner , written in collaboration with Peter Kaminsky. Ned, a former sculptor from Seattle, WA, took up professional cooking in his 30s, and became chef de cuis...

On the heels of her revealing New York Times editorial , chef Amanda Cohen of NYC's Dirt Candy and Lekka Burger, joins Andrew to discuss the emotions of owning temporarily shuttered restaurants, the creative challenges that await when restaurants are permitted to reopen, and non-obvious (and not strictly monetary) ways restaurant patrons can support the industry at this perilous time. Our great th...

Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper), we are told, is to cooking what the Rolling Stones are to rock & roll. For two hours, in the comeback saga Burnt (2015), we learn just how awful one can behave if they have a way with a whisk. Or can they? in a new, possibly recurring feature, Shelter en Place Theater, Andrew is joined by guest critics Allison & Matt Robicelli to dissect Burnt , both as a representatio...

Ashtin Berry is a top bartender and beverage consultant: Imbibe named her Best Bartender in 2019, and she was the lone woman of color on Observer 's 2018 55 People in Nightlife Power List. But her professional success is just one aspect of her blossoming career: Ashtin devotes a great deal of time and energy to raising awareness about power, opportunity, and benefit imbalances in the hospitality i...

Restaurant workers have never been more cordoned off from their professional kitchens and dining rooms, or each other. As the COVID-19 crisis continues to paralyze the industry, increasing anxiety over when restaurants will reopen and what the profession will look like mounts.  Katherine Miller, Vice President of Impact for the James Beard Foundation, joins Andrew today to discuss how restaurant w...

During normal times, Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York City, and Now Serving in Los Angeles, are popular independent bookstores where cooks and chefs routinely spend hour after hour perusing new and classic books and adding to their collections. During this time of sheltering in place, both shops are closed to in-person visitors, but remain open and vital as mail-order sources. Much as restaurant...