Lunch Therapy

One of my all-time favorite cookbooks has always been The Gift of Southern Cooking, co-written by the iconic and legendary Edna Lewis -- who blazed the trail for black chefs everywhere with her cooking and her writing -- and my patient today, her friend and colleague, James Beard award-winning chef, Scott Peacock. It was such a thrill to get to talk to Chef Peacock about his time with Ms. Lewis (a...

In this very special Thursday episode of Lunch Therapy, my parents -- Heidi and Bradley Roberts -- talk about how they lost sixty pounds each (!!) during the pandemic. Hear all about what they ate, how they exercised, how they stayed the course, how they rewarded themselves on the weekends, and how they got back on the horse when they slipped. I found it inspiring, maybe you will too! See acast.co...

John deBary is the author of DRINK WHAT YOU WANT, a mixology book that demystifies the art of creating cocktails at home, a skillset that John perfected first as a bartender at New York's legendary PDT and then for nine years as bar director for the Momofuku group. In today's session, we talk to John about washing lettuce, serving others. vs himself, being "a courtly bartender," performance anxiet...

It's apple pie season... but what if you don't know how to make an apple pie? Let me be your apple pie therapist and walk you through it. There are lots of things to think about: butter vs. shortening, food processor vs. fingers, Granny Smith vs. an assortment of apples. In this session, I walk you through the entire process: from keeping your butter cold (I say that a lot), to peeling your apples...

Chelsea Peretti is a comedian, writer, actress (she played Gina Linetti on Brooklyn 99) and she's our patient this week on Lunch Therapy. in today's session, Chelsea talks about her dad's cooking, whether she's an extrovert or introvert, her issues with fish skin, her mom's tart and tangy salad dressing, and why she loves artichokes. We also talk about looking for something spiritual when hunting...

In this very special bonus episode of Lunch Therapy, I dig into one of my favorite topics: dinner parties. I've been throwing dinner parties forever and here I walk you through my most recent, a birthday dinner for three of my closest friends. How did I plan the menu? How did I approach the grocery store? When did I start cooking? How did I deal with dishes? How did I know how much food to make? W...

Zach Schiffman is a 25 year-old stand-up comedian in Brooklyn who's worked for Full Frontal with Sam Bee and currently works for Tooning Out the News. In today's session, we talk about the foods that Gen Z-ers eat, Zach's fear of knives, the Jewy food that his mom makes, and his love for dessert. We also cover the courage it takes to do stand-up comedy, feeling more Jewish than gay, his dad's obse...

Bonus episode alert! Recent Lunch Therapy patient Ben Mandelker and I went to dinner together this week at a new L.A. restaurant called Bari and, in this bonus episode, we walk through our meal course by course to render a verdict. We also cover topics such as: restaurant tops and bottoms, breaking the fast, how much to drink at dinner, how to pronounce fagiolini, digestifs, and our true feelings...

Food blogger and cookbook author Jenny Rosenstrach (Dinner: A Love Story, Dinner: The Playbook, How to Celebrate Everything) has a brand new cookbook out, The Weekday Vegetarians, which just hit #3 on the NYT bestseller list. In today's session, we talk about being a three-day empty nester (her youngest daughter just went off to college), how she goes about writing a cookbook, what she's been eati...

Today's Lunch Therapy patient is my friend Ben Mandelker, the co-host of one of the most popular podcasts out there: WATCH WHAT CRAPPENS, a pod that dissects nearly every detail of every show that airs on Bravo. In today's session, we talk to Ben about Jill Zarin (my favorite Housewife), how Giada DeLaurentis got him into cooking, the link between eating crappy food and watching crappy TV, and put...

If there were a Mount Rushmore of food bloggers, Molly Wizenberg would definitely be on it. Her food blog, Orangette, was pioneering in the way that she fused together personal storytelling, atmospheric pictures, and recipe-writing (it won the James Beard Award in 2015 for Best Food Blog). Since then Molly's written three books -- A Homemade Life, Delancey, and her most recent, The Fixed Stars (no...

Lisa Donovan is the James Beard award-winning author of "Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger," a widely celebrated memoir about her time in the restaurant industry. She's also equally acclaimed for her baking: food critic Bill Addison has called her "one of the South's best pastry chefs" for her work at City House, Margot Cafe & Bar, and Husk, where she was famous for her buttermilk chess pie. In today's...

Tara O'Brady is the multitalented food journalist (Saveur, Jamie Oliver, Bon Appetit) and cookbook author (Seven Spoons) who lives in Ottawa, Canada with her husband and two children. In today's session, we talk all about differentiating herself from her parents' cooking, the dish that she would make to best represent her, what she wants for her kids food-wise (it involves Pop-Tarts), and mixing w...

Jake Cohen is such a nice Jewish boy, my mom wishes I could be more like him! He's the author of the NYT bestselling cookbook Jew-ish, he's got hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram, and Katie Couric loves his matzoh ball soup. In today's session, we talk all about body image, being chubby as a kid, staying in shape, his Bar Mitzvah theme, and the purpose of ritual regardless...

Today's a watershed day on Lunch Therapy: we have our first couple! Byron Lane and Steven Rowley are both published authors; Byron's the author of A Star is Bored (now in paperback) all about his time working as Carrie Fisher's assistant. (It's a great read... I just finished it.) And Steven Rowley is the author of three widely-acclaimed novels: Lily and the Octopus, The Editor, and his newest, no...

Kishori Rajan is the producer of such shows as HBO's Random Acts of Flyness and Eater's Guide to the World and is currently the vice president of development and production for Tessa Thompson's production company, Viva Maude. In today's episode, Kishori talks about her mother's amazing cooking, how she can't quite master it herself, how she likes to cook for a dinner party, and how she overcomes d...

My patient today, Steve Sando, is the man behind everyone's favorite heirloom bean company, Rancho Gordo, which got many of us through the pandemic with their jewel-like bean offerings. In today's session, Steve talks about, well, beans: how to cook them, when to salt them, why they make so many of us so gassy. We also get personal, talking about Steve's childhood in Sausalito, his dad's diving fo...

Kristin Johnson (no, not Kristen Johnston from 3rd Rock from the Sun) is a delightful, whip-smart therapist-in-training who lives in Bellingham, Washington and happens to be my sister-in-law and this week's lunch therapy patient. In our session, Kristin talks about why she wanted to come on the podcast, cooking for her parents, her theory about why people are obsessed with their food choices, and...

Today's patient, Mayukh Sen, is something of a wunderkind in the food world. At 29, he's the winner of a James Beard award for best profile, the author of the upcoming book "Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America," and a professor at NYU (!!), plus he writes about film for outlets like The Atlantic, Film Comment, and the Criterion Collection. In today's session, May...

Colu Henry is a hugely accomplished food writer, with articles in The New York Times and Wine Spectator, and a beloved cookbook that's right up my alley: Back Pocket Pasta. In today's episode, we learn all about Colu's background as a cabaret performer, her transition into food writing, working for chefs like Scott Conant and Marcus Samuelsson, and growing up with an Italian grandmother. We also c...

Noah Galvin is a star of stage and screen. You may have seen him on Broadway in Dear Evan Hansen or Waitress, or maybe you know him from his stints on ABC's The Real O'Neals (where I was a writer for two seasons) or, his newest gig, The Good Doctor. In today's session, Noah talks all about cooking Thanksgiving in a closet in Vancouver, growing up on tour as Gavroche in Les Miz, and how he balances...

Celia Sack is the owner of one of the most beloved and important cookbook stores in the country and maybe the world: Omnivore Books in San Francisco. In today's session, Celia talks about her childhood adventures digging through other people's stuff, eating a roast beef sandwich on the way to an animal rights rally, her background selling rare books (with a specialty in golf books), and coming out...

There are very few people who don't love Cole Escola, whether it's from their viral videos or as Chassie on "Cooking at Home with Amy Sedaris" or as Chip on Season 3 of "Search Party." In today's Lunch Therapy session, we get into Cole's neuroses, which all began with an episode of Oprah about the germs on the top of a soda can. We cover protein powders, acid reflux, veganism, whether or not they...

One of my desert island cookbooks is The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook (based on recipes from the Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia), so imagine my delight that Cheryl Day -- who co-wrote it with her husband Griffith Day -- allowed me to analyze her lunch on this week's Lunch Therapy. Cheryl, a James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef and a cofounder of Southern Resta...

Surprise! Here's another episode for you this week, featuring one of my best friends, Jonathan Parks-Ramage, author of a brand new novel that's out today called YES, DADDY. In today's episode, Jonathan shamelessly plugs his book (just kidding: I read it, and it's soooo good), talks about his time as a waiter in a gaystaurant, the notorious pork chop incident at the beginning of our friendship, and...