Dirty Linen - A Food Podcast with Dani Valent

Deep in the Weeds and Dirty Linen are proud to present a special series in association with Tasting Australia, which celebrates South Australian food, drink and culinary culture from May 2 to 11. We’ll be sharing tales in the lead up to the festival as well as heading over to eat and drink the very best of the state. To launch the series, we talk to Festival Director Karena Armstrong, also owner o...

As Melbourne heads into food festival season, we catch up with food journalist and history boffin Richard Cornish. Dirty Dozen is Richard’s celebration of Melbourne street food through the ages, immortalised by ceramic artist Kenny Pittock. We talk Angasi oysters, dim sims, pies and layered histories in urban landscapes. Also food media: how do you tell long tales in short-attention-span times? Th...

Dirty Linen is not a jobs board…except for today. Hospo veteran Cameron Earl is opening Residence alongside Nathen Doyle (Sunhands). The Melbourne art gallery restaurant will have a new chef in residence every year - and applications are open now. We chat to Cam about nurturing talent, fostering new concepts and how he’s used his paramedicine skills at the dining table. APPLY NOW: https://www.resi...

Simon Toohey is a cook, host of the Freshly Picked TV show, Geelong resident and passionate advocate for plant-based eating - which isn't the same as being vegan or vegetarian. We talk recipes, eating styles, the importance of markets and the different ways of communicating about food. https://www.instagram.com/simon.toohey/?hl=en SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTICLES, NEWS, GIVEAWAYS...

James Thorpe is CEO of Odd Culture Group, a Sydney-based collective of pubs, bars, restaurants and bottle shops. He’s also president of a local business chamber and has just been to the Night Time Economy Summit in the UK. We talk vibrancy and the unseen levers that make or break neighbourhoods, poker machines as a ‘moral hazard’ and respectful and safe work culture. https://oddculture.group/ SUBS...

How hard is it to run an independent cafe, wine bar or restaurant these days? Dirty Linen is finding out with Illuminating Lumen, a new deep-dive series. Lumen People is a two-year-old cafe and wine bar in North Melbourne, run with an eye on community and valuing every step of the supply chain. Like many small businesses, Lumen is crunched between increased costs and decreased spend. In the first...

Growing food is fundamental so why does the act of gardening seem somehow counter-cultural? Today’s guest is Alice Crowe, gardener, lawyer and author of A Heide Harvest, a sumptuous new book that springs from the soils of Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. We talk about slowing down, appreciating beauty and whether my worm juice is doing the trick. https://shop.heide.com.au...

We check in with return guest Kim Currie, owner of The Zin House outside Mudgee. Kim is back in the kitchen, regaining confidence and wondering whether her food is too simple. We talk about holding onto values, the joys of summer produce and whether it’s ever OK to yell in a kitchen.  This is our third visit to The Zin House. Listen to all our podcasts here, covering biodynamics, Indigenous cuisin...

Who killed the pig that turned into the ham for your last sandwich? Who cleaned the floor where a lamb turned into your lamb chops? Who trucked the beef that ended up in the next pie you’ll eat?  The longer and more complex the supply chain, the easier it is to lose connection with the way food gets to us. What if it was brought by slaves? RMIT researcher Ema Moolchand studied Pacific Island worke...

Flour isn’t just the stuff that makes a loaf of bread stand up. It’s an ingredient of provenance, with its own flavour and backstory. At least, that’s how it’s done at Courtney Young’s Woodstock Flour. With husband Ian, she nurtures soil, grows and sources quality grain, and stone-mills it into flour of great character. https://woodstockflour.com.au/ https://growfestival.au/ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSL...

People running food stands often dream of opening a bricks-and-mortar restaurant but today’s guest did it round the other way, ditching a lease in favour of cooking at events. Why? Maria Viojan and husband John run The Filipino Project in Adelaide. We talk about the rise of Filipino food culture, strategies for making people fall in love with an unfamiliar cuisine, and Maria shares advice for othe...

What’s on my mind this Friday? I talk about fundraising for food-relief, sharing a stage with Hana Assafiri from Moroccan Soup Bar, kebabs and long journeys with Hamed Allahyari, and leading people around multicultural Clayton. There’s also a recap of my pod with Dwayne Bannon-Harrison, a shout-out to Namaste Haifa and their menstruation discount, plus a wrap of Lorena Corso’s Sicilian Smoke Out....

After working their entire careers in the corporate world, Caroline Kropack and her husband George decided to throw it all in and do something they love. After years of experimentation they took the leap and Brazen Brownies was born. https://brazenbrownies.com.au/ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTICLES, NEWS, GIVEAWAYS AND BEHIND THE SCENES https://deepintheweeds.us6.list-manage.com/su...

After years of planning and some big conversations, Dwayne Bannon-Harrison is bringing Gadhu Dining to the Sydney Opera House in June. The pop-up Indigenous dining experience is running alongside a season by Bangarra, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company. Dwayne is the Indigenous Ambassador for Trippas White Group, the catering company which runs Sydney Opera House’s food and bev...

When Rachael Boon told her old hospo pals that she was going to open a fun, profitable restaurant that offered flexibility, balance and professional fulfilment for owners and staff, they were a little bit sceptical. But at Jungle Fowl in Port Douglas, she seems to have the whole thing worked out. Rachael tells us how. https://www.junglefowl.com.au/ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE...

The summer holidays are winding up and the year has truly kicked off. It’s a good time to strategise about 2025. David Facciolo owns Tru Coffee in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. He shares insights into cafe life, both for fellow hospitality workers and for diners, and tells us why he approaches each day with anticipation rather than apprehension. https://www.instagram.com/thetrucoffee/?hl=en SUBSCRI...

Prolific author, cook and TV host Justine Schofield is our guest on today’s Dirty Linen summer series. Justine shares a cosy school camp memory and provokes a couple of not-so-nice memories of my own. We also talk freezers: are they the cook’s most underappreciated kitchen helper? Justine’s new book suggests the answer is yes. Cook Ahead: Freezer-Friendly Recipes For Every Budget aims to turn myst...

We continue our Journey to Barragunda with episode 3 of a special series that tracks the opening of an innovative, thoughtful restaurant on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Today is different: we visit the Cape Schanck location, observe the progress and sit down for a chat with chef Simone Watts and restaurant manager Marie Grasset. How are things progressing? https://www.barragunda.com.au/ SUBSCR...

Dirty Linen Summer Series! In this special series we catch up with fabulous food folk to hear about a time they realised how important food is to them. Gilava Pour is an Iranian cook with a passion for sharing her culture. She talks about her new business Exotic Bazaar, and shares a moving childhood story about picking her way through piles of herbs to find safety and connection. https://www.exoti...

Dirty Linen puts on the tennis shoes and heads to the Australian Open to see what’s cooking. Come with us to eat bagels, Filipino corn ribs, a chicken roll inspired by Australian tennis champ Alexei Popyrin and a dessert that looks just like a tennis ball. Game, set, match, napkin! https://ausopen.com/ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTICLES, NEWS, GIVEAWAYS AND BEHIND THE SCENES https:...

Dirty Linen Summer Series! In this special series we catch up with fabulous food folk to hear about a time they realised how important food is to them. Today we chat to Tezzi Daniel about Cooee Cookies, her allergy-friendly cookie brand, which is available at this year’s Australian Open. Tezzi is a Wiradjuri woman with a passion for native ingredients, inclusivity and working hard to make dreams c...

Dirty Linen Summer Series! In this special series we catch up with fabulous food folk to hear about a time they realised how important food is to them. Restaurateur and chef Brigitte Hafner shares the excitement of learning about the Slow Food movement as a young chef and the way it’s played into Tedesca Osteria, the intimate, fire-focused, produce-centred restaurant she and James Broadway have cr...

Dirty Linen’s summer series continues with Sydney writer Elana Benjamin, author of the new book Indian-Jewish Food: Recipes and Stories from the Backstreets of Bondi. Elana shares the backstory to this fascinating intermingling of culinary cultures, plus an easy summer recipe for a chickpea and potaot dish. https://www.instagram.com/elanabenjaminauthor/ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR EXCLUSIVE AR...

We see out 2024 with a fun, fizzy episode of Dirty Glass, the occasional crossover pod with Shanteh Wale from Over A Glass and Dani Valent from Dirty Linen. Shanteh and Dani share entertaining tips and tales, make a pledge to dine and drink together at Circl Wine House in Melbourne and set intentions for 2025. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTICLES, NEWS, GIVEAWAYS AND BEHIND THE SCENE...

Dirty Linen’s summer series continues with Joanne Lee’s moving tale of the time she cooked for her teacher as a small child in Korea. These days, Joanne is the Sydney-based executive chef of Butchers Buffet and Gyuniku but she has a long career in hotels behind her too. Listen in for K-BBQ tips too! https://www.butchersbuffet.com.au/ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTICLES, NEWS, GIVEAW...