Snacky Tunes

Michelle Doll was a graphic designer when she decided at the age of 30 to change careers and enrolled at the French Culinary Institute (now the International Culinary Center). For several years, she was a renowned cake designer in New York through her company Michelle Doll Makes; however, her skills extend far beyond cake baking and her true passion is educating the home chef. She now plies her sk...

For a guy who didn’t go to culinary school or set out originally to cook professionally, Royce Burke sure has built quite the career as a chef and restaurateur. He’s the culinary genius behind Los Angeles’ inventive late-night concept, Secret Lasagna , and Yarrow Cafe , which is reimagining what vegetarian cooking can be. Royce gives us a rundown of his circuitous path to professional kitchen life...

Thomas Raquel is the Executive Pastry Chef at New York City’s legendary seafood palace, Le Bernardin . The Los Angeles native entered culinary school at the tender age of 16, and has cut his teeth at some of the best restaurants on the planet including Pierre Hermé Paris and L20. Thomas has been wowing diners with his elegant, and sometimes whimsical dishes such as this apple dessert , which he pa...

Self-proclaimed “California Girl,” Gaby Dalkin grew up a picky eater, but learned how to cook in college, became a private chef and is now teaching the masses how to prepare delicious, fresh home-cooked meals via her popular blog and new cookbook, What’s Gaby Cooking: Everyday California Cooking . Gaby gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the world of food blogging, recipe development and cookbook...

For Chef Jeremy Salamon of The Eddy in the East Village looking back was the best way to move forward. Jeremy’s worked in some of the top restaurants in the city, including Locanda Verde and Buvette, but it’s the lessons he learned from his grandmother that inspires his cooking today. She successfully fled Nazi-occupied Hungary and emigrated to America, and taught him the magic of borscht, paprika...

We’ve got a pair of talented SoCal natives on this episode. Chef Jason Neroni grew up in Orange County, and began his culinary career as a teenager at the happiest place on Earth: Disneyland. Following his start at Disney’s famed Club 33 restaurant, Jason worked his way through some of the best kitchens in the country, including Le Cirque, Chez Panisse, Blue Hill and Spago. He’s now the owner of t...

Many folks remember Stephanie Izard as being the first woman to ever win Top Chef , but in the years since that victory she’s proven to be one of the most admired and successful chef-restaurateurs in the biz. Besides adding a coveted James Beard Award, Food & Wine “Best New Chef” and even an Iron Chef title to her mantle, Stephanie is best known for her critically acclaimed empire of Chicago r...

It’s an all-NYC show, and first up is Greg Proechel, executive chef of Ferris . Greg cut his teeth at some of the city’s best restaurants including Eleven Madison Park, Graffit, Blanca and Le Turtle. His fresh, creative take on new American cooking at Ferris has been garnering wide acclaim from both diners and the likes of the New York Times . Brooklyn rocker and singer-songwriter, TOMI , aka, Pam...

Few brands invoke immediate recognition, respect and fervor like TABASCO . Since 1868, the legendary hot sauce and its multiple condiment varieties have been produced exclusively by the family-owned McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana. We catch up with John Simmons, Senior Manager of Agriculture for TABASCO, who also happens to be a member of the sixth generation of the McIlhenny family i...

Keith Kreeger is an Artist, Designer and Maker who focuses on the singular idea that "Objects Matter"; and that his work reflect that simple phrase. His current collections exemplify clean, polished, modern design. His plate ware can be found all across America, at legendary restaurants like Alex Stupak’s Empellon. Keith currently sits on the board of the Austin Food and Wine Alliance , the adviso...

Chef Chris Kronner has been a Bay Area stalwart for more than a decade now. He first came on the scene working with Chad Robertson at his flagship, Tartine Bakery . He then bounced around for while with stints in NYC, Uruguay, Japan, England, Switzerland and Peru, among other locales, before opening KronnerBurger in 2015 in Oakland. Chris’ burgers are a something of a phenomenon, drawing acclaim f...

We catch up with Nic Adler, the festival director behind two of Los Angeles’ top eating-and-drinking experiences: Eat Drink Vegan and Arroyo Seco Weekend . Eat Drink Vegan--originally called the Vegan Beer and Food Festival--was started by Nic, a vegan himself, in 2009. That first year was a gathering of 400 people in the parking lot of his very own The Roxy Theatre. This year’s crowd of 10,000+ s...

Restaurateur Jonah Freedman opened his eponymous Jewish deli, Freedman’s , in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood in late 2017, and folks have been kvelling over the decor, vibes and Chef Liz Johnson’s cooking. In a very short time, Freedman’s has earned a slew of accolades from the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Eater and Food & Wine, who tapped Liz for its 2018 “Best New Chefs” class. Liz...

It’s an all-Windy City lineup for this episode. We begin with a conversation with Diana Dávila, recent winner of Food & Wine Best New Chef 1018. She is the chef-owner of Mi Tocaya Antojería , the Logan Square restaurant that’s the epicenter of contemporary Mexican cooking in Chicago. Diana grew up in a restaurant family, and realized that her true life’s calling was in the kitchen after “heari...

The Hmong are an indigenous people who’ve historically called Southeast Asia home. Following the ravages of the Vietnam War, many Hmong escaped to America settling in all places the Upper Midwest. In St. Paul, MN, Chef Yia Vang has been running Union Kitchen , a pop-up restaurant that specializes in Hmong fare, and he hangs with us to explain the nuances of his culture and its delectable cuisine....

Mark Rosati might have the most enviable job in the entire food biz. He’s the Culinary Director for Shake Shack , and when he’s not in the kitchen dreaming up new menu items, he’s traveling all over the globe opening new locations and collaborating with top chefs on special burgers. Mark joins us to talk all things Shake Shack, and lets us know if there’s a chance they’ll ever offer a Philly chees...

For our milestone 350th episode we stepped onstage in front of an audience at Los Angeles’ legendary El Rey Theatre for the first-ever Snacky Tunes Live show. It was an evening of soulful music, Italian-Jewish mashup food, Tony Soprano memories and we even tested people’s palates in a blindfolded game we call, “Super Tasters.” Many thanks to our partners on this incredible night: the mighty folks...

We travel back to the 70’s and 80’s, and the raucous heyday of American restaurants. Author Andrew Friedman delivers a behind-the-scenes look at the era in his new book, Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: How Food Lovers, Free Spirits, Misfits, and Wanderers Created a New American Profession . New York rockers, Sun Voyager , also drop by the studio. Renowned for their heavy, psych rock sound, the...

We're smack-dab in the middle of crawfish season, and to help us celebrate we meet up with Chef Mark Grandpre of Los Angeles' Beaucoup Crawfish Catering . Mark's a New Orleans native who migrated to the West Coast 20 years ago to pursue a career as a basketball coach and teacher. He's still working the court and classroom during the week, but on the weekends he's drawing in the masses with his del...

When Chef Greg Baxtrom opened his 50-seat Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, restaurant Olmstead in 2016, he envisioned it'd just be a casual neighborhood spot. Olmstead's certainly delivered on that initial promise, and become so much more. After receiving a cascade of rave reviews from the likes of Eater, the New York Times, the James Beard Foundation and the Michelin Guide, the restaurant's become a m...

Since its opening in 1957, St-Viateur Bagel Shop has ascended to legendary status that extends well beyond its Montreal borders. Vince Morena is the second generation keeping this family business running, taking it over from his father Joe who began working at the shop when he was just 15. We catch up with him to talk about the shop's history, and learn what makes St-Viateur's hand-rolled, wood-fi...

It’s wintertime in Montreal, and we warm up with lifelong locals Chef Emma Cardarelli, Lisa McConnell and Ryan Gray, the owners of Nora Gray . In the near seven years the restaurant has been open it’s garnered critical acclaim for its trailblazing modern Italian fare, savvy wine selections and superb vibes. The trio gives us insights into how they helped redefine their hometown’s notions of Italia...

Chef Nira Kehar hails from Montreal, and has spent a decade exploring India's culinary landscape. She joins us to discuss her new cookbook, OJAS, which features recipes inspired by Ayurvedic principles of wellness and balance. We keep things on the international scale with Danish drummer Mikkel Hess and his band, Hess is More. They join us in studio--with Mikkel dialing in from overseas--and give...

A sweet tooth, a passion for perfume, a healthy dose of early onset entrepreneurship and good ol' fashioned hard work all helped fuel Jeni Britton Bauer on her journey to the top. She's the founder of the eponymous artisanal ice-cream company, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, and she sits down with us to share stories of growing up in Ohio, how she launched her brand and how she dreams up the most crea...

We start the show in the Palmetto State by meeting up with Gillian Zettler, executive director of the popular Charleston Wine + Food Festival. Now in its 13th year, the five-day festival brings together some of the world’s best chefs for a myriad of events, and it also provides much-needed funding and opportunity for local culinary job placement programs. Gillian gives us the inside scoop on how t...