Kitchen Chat

Chef Bill Kim and Yvonne Cadiz-Kim are both highly respected throughout the hospitality industry. Recently, Chef Jaime Laurita and I had a Kitchen Chat with this dynamic duo. As chef/owner of Urban Belly and chef/partner of Crate & Barrel's The Table at Crate, Chef Kim is navigating the new normal. Carry out is the main focus for Urban Belly, and Chef Bill and Yvonne have amplified the process for...

Today on KitchenChat your host Margaret McSweeney talks to Garry and Leslie Roark-Scott of Ubon's Barbeque at Chicago's "Windy City Smokeout". Garry died just a few weeks after this interview in 2018. I purposely held onto this video to let some time pass before reaching out to Leslie to ask her permission to share this special Kitchen Chat. Leslie encouraged me to share this to honor her father,...

Join Margaret McSweeney and Jaime Laurita as they talk with Serial Griller Matt Moore. Learn the secrets of grilling the ultimate comfort food. Matt traveled 10,000 miles to explore hot and fast grilling as documented in his new book, Serial Griller- Grillmaster secrets for flame-cooked perfection. Chefs Matt worked with include James Beard outstanding chefs Michael Solomonov, Ashley Christensen a...

Chef Bill Kim and Yvonne Cadiz-Kim are both highly respected throughout the hospitality industry. Recently, Chef Jaime Laurita and I had a Kitchen Chat with this dynamic duo. As chef/owner of Urban Belly and chef/partner of Crate & Barrel's The Table at Crate, Chef Kim is navigating the new normal. Carry out is the main focus for Urban Belly, and Chef Bill and Yvonne have amplified the process for...

How special for Chef Jaime Laurita and me to recently interview Alice Waters' daughter, Fanny Singer about her new book, Always Home: A Daughter's Recipes & Stories. This book reflects upon Fanny's childhood memories of life with her parents and of Chez Panisse. Fanny Singer is an accomplished editor, writer, and co-founder of the design brand Permanent Collection. Singer also earned a PhD. Fanny...

Restaurants are the hearts and souls of each community. Comprising 10% of the overall workforce in the U.S. with eleven million employees and adding $1 trillion to the economy, the restaurant industry is an essential player in the economic health and well-being of this country. This industry is feeling the brunt of COVD-19 pandemic, both for the employees and for the restaurateurs, and the effect...

Chef Carla Hall is a bouquet of sunshine. Her genuine kindness and enthusiasm for cooking are her hallmarks. During this challenging time, we all need a little sunshine and encouragement. Chef Carla Hall shares what she is cooking during the quarantine and has words of comfort from her kitchen. Get inspired to try your hand at baking bread or starting a family cooking night! Join Chef Jaime Laurit...

Let's connect in our kitchens! I know this is a difficult time, dear foodie friends. We can all feel a bit disconnected and discouraged. Please know that you are not alone. Please reach out to others in your community. My dear friend and co-host, Chef Jaime Laurita and I recently had a Kitchen Chat by phone in our respective kitchens. How odd this felt not to actually be in person recording. Just...

Julia Child always had that special "joie de vivre." I so wish that I had met her. Through Kitchen Chat, however, I have been able to get to know her through the stories and anecdotes shared by our guests. "Riding in Cars with Julia Child" will be the first in this special series. It features three wonderful chefs: Jim Dodge, Dorie Greenspan and Sanford D'Amato, each with a unique experience of ri...

Join me on a delicious and healthy journey with Deepa Thomas, author of Deepa's Secrets. As Deepa says, "It's not rocket science that we are what we eat." As many of you know, I am a five year breast cancer survivor and have been trying to embrace a healthier lifestyle. However, the constant challenge is trying to find the balance of delicious and nutritious. Deepa's kitchen chat has literally cha...

Join Cowboy Kent Rollins and his wife Shannon on the chuckwagon trail as they share recipes for life, love and delicious meals in the new book Faith, Family & The Feast: Recipes to Feed Your Crew from the Grill, Garden and Iron Skillet . Kent's parents taught him an important lesson at a young age; "Faith, love, and food will get you through anything in life that might happen to you."

The plant-based lifestyle is quite trendy these days; however it's now a way of life for me. After an unexpected detour in my health, I began this green journey and am grateful for Robin Asbell and Chef Dave Choi for being my GPS. Whether or not you are fully making the change to plant-based or just adding a little more plants to your plate, Robin Asbell has some delicious dishes for you. In her n...

Are you ready to keep it simple in the kitchen? Yasmin Fahr, author of Keeping it Simple will inspire and encourage you on today's Kitchen Chat. Yasmin is a food writer and recipe developer featured in Serious Eats, The Kitchen, Epicurious, Taste, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and The Los Angeles Times. Her new book will build your culinary foundation and will provide a more organized approach for cook...

Make holiday entertaining a little easier with tips from Rachael Hollis and Food Network's Michelle Buffardi. Rachel Hollis, celebrity event planner, entrepreneur and founder of www.thechicsite.com, and Hollis Co shares hacks for the hostess from her book Upscale Downhome. With clients including Bradley Cooper and many other stars, Rachel will help you make your guests feel like VIPs without break...

Vicky Bennison takes us into the kitchens across Italy to meet the beloved "Pasta Grannies" who share their time-treasured techniques and secrets to pasta making. From her home in Italy, Vicky started exploring the food of the area and discovered that only the Italian grandmothers were preserving the tradition of making pasta by hand. She began capturing this culinary this culinary history on vide...

The Joy of Cooking is a treasured cookbook with millions of home chefs following the recipes and creating taste memories for their families.

Chef Michael Kornick is a successful restaurateur, active in supporting the community. His culinary journey has taken him into some of the greatest kitchens in the world. He is a nationally recognized leader in the culinary arts. His inspiration began at home, cooking with his grandmother and mother. Chef Kornick recalls, "They took a lot of pride and passion in bringing family occasions to the ta...

As we know, charity begins in the kitchen. On today's Kitchen Chat, we are featuring Chef Didier Durand, Executive Chef of Marchesa and Chef James De Marte, Chef/owner of Pisolino along with his business partner, Rachel De Marte. These two chefs joined Chef Jaime Laurita and me in the Middleby Residential Showroom for cooking demos. Their restaurants are participating in CHILL on November 14, 2019...

On November 8, Chef Jaime Laurita and I will emcee the Celebrity Chef Ball for Meals on Wheels Chicago. It's extra special this year as the organization will be honoring the legendary Ina Pinkney. Ina is a dear friend and mentor. Her experience as a restaurateur, cookbook author, brand ambassador, a polio survivor and a woman entrepreneur is impactful. Ina's passion to share her knowledge with oth...

Do you want to be a hero in your kitchen? Marge Perry and David Bonom share the tips and recipes for one pan meals that will expand the palates with even more flavor for your family. Recently, I stopped by Read it and Eat in Chicago where this dynamic duo was preparing Ooey Gooey Mac and Cheese from their new cookbook Hero Dinners: One-pan Meals that will Save the Day. Their recipes will make you...

"If you preserve the food, you preserve who your family is."  This poignant quote by  Joan Nathan , an award winning author of eleven cookbooks including her latest  King Solomon's Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from  Around the World,  truly captures the essence of why recipes matter. It was an honor to meet Joan Nathan at Les Dames d'Escoffier conference in Washington, D.C. and...

Chef Dave Choi has a passion for a plant based lifestyle. He encourages us to consider a three day challenge of eating meals without sugar, yeast, dairy and animal protein which he explains are the sources of inflammation. He says, "After three days ask yourself, do I feel better?" His message to eat what is grounded to the earth is truly his life choice. Chef Choi opened the first vegan restauran...

With over 30 books, Anne Willan is truly one of the world's preeminent authorities on French cooking and she is one of the nicest and most gracious people you will ever meet. I first met Anne at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in Chicago during 2014 at a book signing for her outstanding memoir One Souffle at a Time. In February 2015, Chef Jaime Laurita and I enjo...

Chef Jim Dodge has deep culinary and hospitality roots.  Chef Dodge's family has been in the hospitality business in the White Mountains of New Hampshire since 1794.  He worked in every department of his family's New Hampshire resorts.  Although he didn't stay in the family business, Chef Dodge continues the art of hospitality with his impressive pastry chef career.   I first met Chef Dodge at the...

Over 16 million children in the United States experience hunger.  Common Threads is helping lead the way to empower and educate children across the country.  Recently, Linda Novick O'Keefe, the founding CEO of Common Threads joined Chef Jaime Laurita and me for a Kitchen Chat in the Middleby Residential Showroom in Chicago's Merchandise Mart. Linda shared with us her passion for educating school a...