Andrew Talks to Chefs

** Content warning – this episode discusses suicidal feelings .** Greg Baxtrom, chef-owner of a quartet of New York City restaurants , recently opened up in a revealing Instagram post about his years-long struggles with alcoholism and bipolar disorder . In that post, he mentioned that he'd be joining Andrew for a discussion about his ongoing mental health journey. This is that conversation. Greg s...

We at Andrew Talks to Chefs are delighted to bring you the first in a series of live discussions on the subject of Mentorship in the restaurant industry. The series is brought to you by our promotional partner S.Pellegrino , and each one will  be moderated by Andrew, staged in a different city, and build on the one(s) that precede it. The inaugural examination of this topic took place recently at...

Manoella Buffara, also known as "Manu," has owned and operated her own restaurant, the eponymous Manu, in  Curitiba, Brazil, for more than a decade. The restaurant offers an expression of her life and mind in a tasting menu format. This week, she published a book-- Manu: Recipes and Stories from My Brazil --that, like the restaurant, is a summation of herself and her cuisine to this point in her j...

In a recent, impassioned social media post , Rob Connoley, chef and owner of Bulrush restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri , lamented the continued unwelcoming environment many queer cooks face in the pro kitchen, and the limited opportunities for advancement and ownership available to even accomplished queer chefs. We invited Rob to return to the pod and expand on his thoughts and observations on thi...

While in Los Angeles last month, Andrew had time for just one pod interview and tops on his list, based on an excellent dinner at their restaurant last fall, were John Hong & Kat Hong, chef-owners of Yangban (yes, they've dropped the "Society" from the name) in DTLA. In this comprehensive conversation, the couple discuss their respective biographies, how they met while working at Josiah Citrin's M...

It's been nearly 2 years since Travis Swikard opened his smash success Callie in his hometown of San Diego, California. Prior to returning to his native state, he spent several years in New York City, several of them as chef of Daniel Boulud's Boulud Sud. Andrew and Travis have been pals for some time, so when he was in NYC in December, Travis paid a visit to Andrew's Brooklyn home to talk about w...

One of the pod's good friends, Chef Dan Kluger (Loring Place, et. al.), joins us today to discuss the genesis and development of his new Greywind restaurant , accompanied by Caitlin Giamario , the project's Executive Chef.  Dan and Caitlin take us through the origin of the restaurant, which opens today , as well as its accompanying components (a bakery, chef's counter, and cocktail lounge), the ch...

On this date, the third anniversary of our losing chef Floyd Cardoz to COVID, we remember him and his legacy with his wife, Barkha Cardoz . A few weeks ago, Barkha generously invited Andrew to visit her home, even though they'd never met before, to enjoy a lunch prepared in part with the masalas she and Floyd developed several years ago (and which are still sold by Burlap & Barrell ). Barkha share...

As executive chef of Parcelle wine bar in lower Manhattan, Ron Yan serves a menu informed by myriad cuisines and some of the places where he's lived around the world. In this conversation recorded outside the restaurant in late 2022, Ron describes his initial interest in food and cooking, his gravitation to New York City, and his  experience in a range of New York restaurants, from the glitzy Le C...

What began as a labor of love for documentarian and former journalist Joanna James-- making the documentary A Fine Line , about her mother Val --turned into an organization, MAPP , that supports women in food organizations through mentorship and advocacy. After a recent kick-off event for their coast-to-coast programming and events for 2023 at New York City's Union Square Cafe, Joanna, Val, and th...

Thomas Allan , chef of New York City's The Modern , a Union Square Hospitality Group restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art, has achieved a lot in his thirty-five years. A young veteran of Per Se and Eleven Madison Park, and a former Bocuse d'Or competitor, he currently oversees a kitchen that has dependably earned two Michelin stars. In this deeply personal conversation, Thomas details a peripate...

Travis Petersen, a.k.a. The Nomad Cook , joins Andrew to discuss the rapidly evolving attitudes toward culinary cannabis, the growing culture of pop-up cannabis dinners and events, and what the future of cannabis in restaurants might look like. As the legal stance toward cannabis changes from state to state in the U.S., and country by country around the world, this is a fascinating conversation wi...

It's a rare thing for a restaurant, even a beloved one, to be reconstituted years after its original iteration, let alone after two prior versions. This weekend, in Orlando, FL, the legendary Norman Van Aken introduces the third rendering of his landmark Norman's to the world. On this Andrew Talks to Chefs Special Conversation, Norman calls in from Orlando to discuss what's new about this Norman's...

On a recent trip to New York City, Rob Connoley of St. Louis, MO's Bulrush restaurant , made time to sit down with Andrew and discuss his culinary career, which mingles elements of scholarship, history, and of course, cuisine. It all comes together at Bulrush, where he takes inspiration from the food and history of the Ozarks. We promise you: It's a fascinating conversation unlike any we've aired...

Our second Andrew Talks to Chefs Special Conversation : In recent years, there's been an intermittent debate in the industry about whether or not team members should be credited on restaurant menus for their contribution to dish ideation. Classicists wave away the notion, while more progressive cooks and chefs often express an openness to the idea, if not an outright endorsement of it. Regardless...

With this episode, we introduce a new recurring feature on the pod: Andrew Talks to Chefs Special Conversations . In these freestanding, short-form episodes, we'll be discussing news and topics that are on the minds of the industry with chefs, owner-operators, cooks, farmers, platform providers, and others. Our goal is a free, open, and honest exchange of ideas. In this inaugural episode, Angie Ma...

Gregory Gourdet has had quite the year: HIs new restaurant Kann opened in Portland, Oregon ; his cookbook Everyone's Table won a James Beard Foundation Award, and Kann was named the best new restaurant in the nation by Esquire . While in New York City last month to attend Esquire 's celebration, Gregory swung by Andrew's Brooklyn apartment for a free-ranging conversation about his long and winding...

In our humble estimation, the food Marc St. Jacques and his team serve at Bar Bête , is some of the very best not just in Brooklyn, but in New York City, especially in such a relatively casual bistro setting and at a relatively gentle price point. Marc recently opened what's shaping up as an American answer to Bar Bête, Ruthie's , just a block up Smith Street in Cobble Hill. The new restaurant has...

New York City listeners will no doubt recognize Michael Cecchi-Azzolina's face, if not his name. For several decades now, he's run the dining rooms of some of the most popular, acclaimed, and influential restaurants in Manhattan, including Raoul's and Le Coucou. Michael's first book, Your Table is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D' , which debuted just last week, is a no-holds-barred accoun...

Daniel Garwood is an ambitious and strikingly humble young chef whose career we look forward to following. The winner of the US regional finals of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition , and a sous chef at Atomix restaurant in New York City, Daniel has cooked in his native Australia, South Korea, and other culinary capitals, before coming to the United States in July. In this episode, Da...

If you enjoy Andrew Talks to Chefs, you also may already have discovered Emmanuel Laroche's terrific podcast Flavors Unknown . On today's episode, Emmanuel joins Andrew to discuss his new book Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door: 50 American Chefs Chart Today's Food Culture , a fascinating meditation on chefs, food, cooking, flavor, and creativity in the kitchen. (Pro-tip: It'd make a great holi...

How many of us can even name 50 countries? Well, Shannon Smith has traveled to more than 50 of them in her ongoing and very passionate quest to learn about the cuisines of the world, teach people living in poverty how to cook, fundraise for myriad causes, and pick up new techniques that she employs in the culinary experiences she produces at her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In this episode of the pod,...

Chef Charlie Mitchell is enjoying his first turn in the public spotlight, and the ripple effects of earning his first Michelin star, at Clover Hill in Brooklyn Heights, NY --a restaurant that Andrew recently lauded on the pod. On today's episode, Charlie discusses his young life and career to date, including stints at San Francisco's Benu, and Betony, One White Street, and Eleven Madison Park in N...

Gavin Kaysen , the chef behind Minneapolis' Soigne Hospitality , just published his first cookbook, At Home . While in New York City for a series of launch events, he found an hour to sit down with Andrew and discuss the book, his still-young career, and some milestones along the way. Gavin and Andrew have interviewed for books and online pieces in the past (see here , and here ), so have a long h...

Chef Bryce Shuman considered becoming an actor before course-correcting to the pro kitchen. Following culinary school, he worked in some acclaimed restaurants, including an executive sous chef position at Eleven Madison Park in its heyday, before opening his own Betony, which had a successful run in Midtown Manhattan. He recently fulfilled a dream of opening a live-fire restaurant, Sweetbriar , in...