Culinary Characters Unlocked

Despite never having trained as a chef, Christopher Kimball has taught millions of Americans how to become better home cooks. He started a magazine devoted to perfecting recipes, turned that into the America’s Test Kitchen media empire, then moved on to found another, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, which includes a magazine, a TV show, a podcast, cookbooks, and more, and has expanded Kimball’s...

Born in Mexico, Marissa Gencarelli was working a corporate job and had never run a culinary business, when she and her husband opened a Tortilleria in Kansas City. Using traditional methods, combined with creative brilliance, their Yoli Tortilleria won the 2023 James Beard Award as America’s Outstanding Bakery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Budding academic turned touring musician turned chef turned restaurateur, Nicholas Bazik is striving for the top of the culinary world at his new restaurant Provenance, which is shaking up the food world in Philadelphia amid his audacious claim that there’s never been a restaurant like this in that city before, and where standards and equipment are so high that chefs are clamoring for a job there....

Chef Matthew Gray’s wild ride through life landed him in paradise. From touring with legendary rock bands in his youth, to studying at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in London, cooking for the stars in Hollywood, reviewing restaurants for Hawaii’s biggest newspaper, running food tours in Hawaii, and now hosting his own podcast, 50 tastes of Gray. Our conversation ranged from the real reason celebr...

Charleston Chef BJ Dennis is a rare voice in the food world, an authority on Gullah Geechee cooking. That’s the cuisine created by enslaved West Africans who were brought to the American coastal south to farm rice. Some Gullah Geechee dishes have become well known, such as shrimp and grits, but others are relatively obscure nationally. Chef Dennis explains the food and the cultural history behind...

Joe Busalacchi came to America from Sicily as a child and grew up to share his family recipes with a legion of fans through an empire of restaurants in his adopted hometown of San Diego. And it’s truly a family business, with Joe’s sons and nephew helping him continue his passion of serving the food he grew up with. And the menu is full of surprises, as was our conversation with the Busalacchi fam...

Born in southern India and with no culinary training, Preeti Waas is a two- time James beard award nominee for the Indian home cooking she dishes up at her restaurant Cheeni in Durham, North Carolina. And she says 90 percent of that menu consists of dishes that cannot be found at most Indian restaurants here. She also offers a history lesson on some of India’s most popular foods, and their roots i...

He’s won three James Beard Awards in a row—Best Cookbook, Best Restaurant, and the 2024 award as Best Chef in the Northwest. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America, was mentored by the legendary Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and cooked various Asian cuisines before opening Kann in Portland, featuring Caribbean cuisine and spotlighting the Haitian dishes he grew up on. Learn more about your a...

Born into a prominent delicatessen-owning family in New York and trained in London, where he worked at a Michelin three-star restaurant, Ziggy Gruber has become deli royalty in, of all places, Texas. His restaurant, Kenny and Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen, is among the very best in the country, serving up a massive menu of traditional deli and Jewish food, alongside his own take on American favori...

Classically trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Paul Smith won the 2024 James Beard Award as Best Chef in the Southeast for his work at his 1010 Bridge restaurant in Charleston, West Virginia. It’s the first James Beard Award ever brought home to that state, where Smith was born, then returned after cooking at a wide range of fine dining restaurants across the country. He combines t...

After law school and a stint as a sex crimes prosecutor, pregnant with her third child, and with no experience in the culinary business, Martha Sanders Hoover decided to open a restaurant. Now she has a dozen in and around Indianapolis. A pioneer in farm to table, with a deep commitment to employee happiness, and giving back to the community, she is a six-time James Beard semi-finalist, one of Foo...

Chef John Shields and his wife, Chef Karen Uri Shields, recently won a third Michelin Star for their Chicago restaurant Smyth, while their other restaurant (in the same building) the Loyalist has been cited as serving the best burger in that city. He discusses their journey together, the restaurant in a small Virginia town that put them on the map, and being mentored by both Charlie Trotter and Gr...

Sarah Simington has changed breakfast forever. She invented Cap’n Crunch encrusted French toast. And Cannoli French Toast. And a host of other breakfast and brunch creations she serves up at her Blue Moon Cafe (and spin-off Blue Moon Too) in Baltimore. Born into a restaurant family, raised—as she puts it—on a diner stool, she brings a rock-n-roll attitude to the food, and the experience. You may f...

Chicago chef Donald Young won a Michelin star before he turned thirty. Mentored by legendary chef Roland Liccioni, Young earned his chops at a variety of remarkable restaurants, including a stint at a Michelin 2-star in France. Young now stages surprise pop up dinners (diners aren’t told where they’ll be eating until shortly before the meal). He’ll even cook his superb cuisine at diners’ homes. He...

Daryl and Mindi Hirsch met over bagels, discussed his obsession with cheese, and as their relationship grew, they bonded over their shared love of food and got married. Eventually, they made food their jobs, traveling the world (now from their home base in Lisbon) to taste local cuisines and write about their experiences, on their website 2foodtrippers.com and on social media. On this episode, the...

Chef Jennifer Jasinski is a powerhouse restaurateur whose Denver restaurants offer French, Spanish, and seafood menus, and whose cooking has won a James Beard award. She worked for her mentor Wolfgang Puck for years, rising to head chef in charge of dozens of his restaurants before opening her own. She talks about her journey, her passions, and why local product is great but not always the best. L...

Tony Gemignani is one of the leading figures in the world of pizza. His pies were just named sixth best in the world by a leading Italian pizza guide. He has won countless international championships and runs a pizza empire from his San Francisco flagship, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana. He talks about all of it, including the pizza he’ll whisk away and replace if you take too long eating it. Learn more...

Chef Anne Quatrano is the Grande Dame of the culinary scene in Atlanta, where her restaurant empire includes Bacchanalia, which is among the most renowned restaurants in the south. Much of what she serves was grown on her family farm. She has mentored a bevy of rising star chefs and is a major and pioneering force in farm to table cuisine. And a charming and witty interview, who has plenty of grea...

David Standridge, who just won the James Beard award as best chef in the northeast, honed his skills under, among others, legendary chef Joël Robuchon, before opening his own restaurant, The Shipwright’s Daughter in Mystic, Connecticut, where he serves fabulous—sustainable seafood, shellfish, and even kelp! Yes, Kelp. It’s great! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first woman to win Top Chef, who also won Iron Chef and was named James Beard best chef in the Great Lakes region, Stephanie Izard has blazed culinary trails in Chicago and Los Angeles. She’s mastered various cuisines, from China to South America, her featured ingredient is goat, and she can still song the happy birthday song from her early days at the Olive Garden. Learn more about your ad ch...

He’s got the Michelin stars, he’s got the James Beard Awards, he’s been named by Time Magazine one of the most influential people in the world, and he’s fighting to change what and how we eat. Dan Barber says it isn’t about political correctness; no, you don’t have to stop eating meat; and he explains why flavor is disappearing from the American table. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

Fresh off her 2024 James beard Award as best chef in the Midwest, Christina Nguyen talks with David Page about her path to celebrated restaurateur—growing up in Minneapolis to immigrants from Vietnam; entering the food world with no experience by opening a food truck selling South American sandwiches; turning a notorious strip club into a Southeast Asian restaurant. And she discusses her restauran...

Legendary restaurateur Drew Nieporent is David Page’s guest. The New York Times said he may be the last old school American restaurateur standing. Founder of Nobu and The Tribeca Grill (with his partner Robert DeNiro) and dozens more highly acclaimed restaurants, Drew talks about an upbringing that included family visits to some of New York’s best restaurants, how revenge fueled his success after...

Winner of a Michelin star, and James Beard awards for Best Chef, Best Pastry Chef, and Best Restaurant in America, Chef Silverton has been—and remains—a huge influence on California cuisine, artisanal bread, and much more. She talks about her journey, discovering her profession by accident, working with mentors such as Wolfgang Puck, continuously pushing the culinary envelope, and what’s next for...

A sneak peek at our first episode, dropping August 27th 2024 with legendary Los Angeles chef Nancy Silverton, owner of Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza, winner of the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Best Baker, and Best restaurant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices