Radio Cherry Bombe

We’re launching a new Radio Cherry Bombe mini-series today—The Future Of Food Is You! Over four episodes, dropping each Thursday, host Abena Anim-Somuah will introduce us to emerging voices and innovative creatives in the world of food. For our first episode, Cherry Bombe founder Kerry Diamond welcomes Abena and learns more about her passion for community, her love for pop-ups and new food venture...

It took a little while before award-winning writer Osayi Endolyn answered her calling, but the food world is fortunate she did, as she’s put a number of thoughtful projects into the world. In addition to articles and essays for the likes of Time, Food52, and Oxford American, Osayi has co-authored two special books: The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food with Marcus Samuelsson, and Bla...

Jon Gray is the co-founder of Ghetto Gastro, a 10-year-old culinary-and-arts collective from the Bronx that has the goal of nourishing the world while celebrating Black food and culture. Their debut book, Black Power Kitchen , is one of the most anticipated cookbooks of the fall, but it is way more than a collection of recipes, as Jon explains. He also shares some stories from his own life, the in...

Janet Hayes started her job as CEO of Crate & Barrel Holdings in August 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. The retail industry veteran looked at it as an opportunity to connect with the company’s customers more deeply and leaned into the idea of “courage over comfort.” Host Kerry Diamond interviews Janet at her office in Crate & Barrel headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois, and the two disc...

When chefs and life partners Rita Sodi and Jody Williams opened their Greenwich Village restaurant Via Carota in 2014, they had no idea what was to come. They didn’t know folks would one day clamor to get in, The New Yorker would christen their spot “New York’s Most Perfect Restaurant,” or that their Insalata Verde would become the ne plus ultra of simple green salads. But just as Rita and Jody fe...

Professor, author, and food marketing watchdog Marion Nestle was a late bloomer. As she explains, she didn’t make her mark professionally until her groundbreaking book Food Politics was published in 2002. Marion was 66. “That’s kind of late to get started,” she tells host Kerry Diamond. In Marion’s new memoir, Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life In Food Politics , she looks at the societal and familia...

Molly Yeh has come a long way since starting her blog, My Name Is Yeh. She moved to Minnesota, got married, became a mom, and filmed 12 seasons of her Food Network show, Girl Meets Farm . She’s also penned two cookbooks, including her latest, Home Is Where The Eggs Are , a heartfelt and often humorous look at her life and the recipes she creates.  Molly’s grand adventure continues with Bernie’s, a...

One of our favorite guests, Nigella Lawson, stops by for a quick chat about her upcoming North American tour in support of her latest book, “Cook, Eat, Repeat.” Her 16-city tour kicks off Nov. 7th in Boston and you can snag tickets here . Nigella and host Kerry Diamond also talk dried herbs (they’ve gotten much better, swears Nigella), her Chicken in a Pot with Lemon & Orzo , and what books she’s...

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Maneesh Goyal are on a mission to share the rich culture, cuisine, and hospitality of India with everyone they can. Priyanka, the groundbreaking actor and UNICEF ambassador, and Maneesh, an entrepreneur and Planned Parenthood board member, joined forces last year to open Sona, a pan-Indian restaurant in New York City, but they didn’t stop there. They recently launched Son...

What’s it like running the pastry departments at two of New York City’s buzziest fine dining restaurants? We find out when Michelle Palazzo, director of pastry operations for Le Rock and Frenchette restaurants, and Mariah Neston, Le Rock’s executive pastry chef, join us for today’s episode. The two didn’t know each other before meeting in the kitchen at the critically acclaimed Frenchette, but the...

When Danielle Walker was 22 years old and a newlywed, she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The autoimmune disease was debilitating, and Danielle wasn’t sure she’d achieve any of the goals or dreams she had set for herself, from having a family to working in publishing or P.R. A medical emergency abroad helped her realize there could be a connection between her illness and diet, and so began...

Amber Mayfield doesn’t let much get in her way. The events she worked on at her corporate job were a little stale, so she launched her own events company, To Be Hosted. She thought Black culinary creatives deserved attention year-round, not just for Black History Month, so she launched her own print and digital magazine, While Entertaining. She wanted to pay homage to her grandmother’s recipes, so...

It’s two legends, one stage on today’s show as we dip into the Jubilee archives. Don’t miss this wise and warm conversation between Madhur Jaffrey and Padma Lakshmi from the Cherry Bombe Jubilee Conference in Brooklyn in Spring 2019. Madhur, says Padma, “is the greatest living writer on Indian food—ever.” Padma, the star of Top Chef and Taste the Nation and a best-selling author, interviewed Madhu...

Violeta Edelman’s fascinating journey begins in the Amazon. She was a curious 20-year-old from Buenos Aires looking for the answers to life and searching for a soulmate at, of all places, an ayahuasca conference. She found her soulmate, wound up in Washington, D.C., and launched a gelato business with lots of enthusiasm but zero experience. There were lots of tears, expensive mistakes, and a contr...

If you’ve watched the Netflix reboot of Iron Chef, you know one of the hardest jobs is held by… the judges! Sure, the chefs are under pressure to get their dishes done and to the judges’ table in record time, but someone has to eat all that food—and pass judgment on the country’s top culinary talent. Globetrotter and TV personality Nilou Motamed handled the gig with aplomb. The food and travel exp...

If Courtney Storer’s life sounds like an episode of The Bear , it’s no surprise. She’s the culinary producer of the hit show, which was created by her brother, Christopher Storer. The restaurant world has reacted strongly to The Bear and its portrayal of kitchen culture. Courtney, for her part, was drawn to the restaurant industry as a teenager but had to lie about her age to snag her first job. S...

Years ago, when Esther Choi was working behind the scenes of Iron Chef on the Food Network, helping procure specialty groceries for the competitors, she never imagined that one day she’d be battling the country’s best chefs for the show’s top prize. But there she was, part of the star-studded lineup of the new Netflix reboot, Iron Chef: Quest For An Iron Legend . We won’t say if Esther won, but ju...

When the former community organizer Reem Assil opened Reem’s California in Oakland, she knew she wanted to do things differently. But she never could have imagined what was to come. There were protests and death threats, but also industry accolades; a heavy mix for anyone, but especially a new mom and new restaurateur. Reem joins host Kerry Diamond to talk about the early days of Reem’s, her time...

After an unconventional childhood, Zoë François thought the structure of corporate America seemed very appealing. But once she got there, she realized a desk job was not her future and she started baking to deal with the professional doldrums. That led to a stint at the Culinary Institute of America and the start of a fascinating career. Today, Zoë is the star of Zoë Bakes on the Magnolia Network...

Sajani Amarasiri was born to launch her own business. She was entrepreneurial as a child growing up in Sri Lanka, studied supply chain management in college, and pursued numerous side hustles as a young adult. While working at Microsoft, she had the idea to launch the first networking and co-working space in Sri Lanka. Called Colombo Cooperative, the concept was embraced by the emerging entreprene...

Grace Young knew she wanted to cook from a young age. She was making Julia Child recipes at the age of 10 and as a teen and washed dishes in exchange for cooking lessons from a local instructor. Grace went on to work in test kitchens and write her own cookbooks, including two classics, The Wisdom of The Chinese Kitchen and Breath of a Wok . Before the start of the pandemic in 2020, Grace found her...

For the keynote conversation at this year’s Cherry Bombe Jubilee Conference, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kim Severson of The New York Times sat down with food TV superstar and best-selling author Rachael Ray for an honest chat about her life, work, and philanthropy. Introducing Kim and Rachael is Brittany Bradford, the actor who plays Alice Neiman on the HBO Max original series Julia . Racha...

The Bear might be the best TV show about restaurant life ever, and its emotional center is Jeremy Allen White, formerly of Shameless , who plays Chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzotto. Carmy, a rising star in the culinary world, returns to Chicago after the death of his brother in an attempt to save his family’s failing eatery. He’s supported and sometimes thwarted in his mission by family, his brother’s lo...

Christy Goldsby was helping a friend through a health crisis when she came upon a sweet but healthy treat that made her stop in her tracks. That discovery led to the creation of Honey Mama’s, the line of cocoa truffle bars—think better-for-you chocolates with nourishing ingredients—that you keep in the fridge. Christy joins host Kerry Diamond to talk about taking Honey Mama’s from local Portland,...

Summer’s here and we hope that means good eats for you this season. On today’s show, two folks who want to help: writer/actor/producer Stanley Tucci and The New York Times Food & Cooking editor Nikita Richardson. Stanley joins us in the second part of the show to chat about his summer plans, his summer reading list, and the San Pellegrino "Summer like an Italian" sweepstakes. (Pro tip: enter !) At...