The Future Of Food Is You

Adrianne Paerels, the artist and designer behind Hello Adrianne, is known for her charming illustrations of everything from tomatoes to tinned fish and the custom painter pants she covers in snack-inspired imagery. In this episode, host Abena Anim-Somuah chats with Adrianne about her art practice and her love of collaboration. Adrianne shares how her work with brands like Fishwife, San Pellegrino,...

Today’s guest is Ella Quittner, a journalist making a name for herself in food media with articles like “I Love You, but I Hate Your Cooking” in The New York Times and “The Bizarre Allure of Sexy Cakes” in New York Magazine. Before she started her freelance career and writing for prominent media outlets, Ella spent years working in finance. Host Abena Anim-Somuah chats with Ella about how she made...

Kelsey Armstrong is the artist behind Haricot Vert, the Brooklyn-based jewelry and accessories line. There’s a good chance the coolest person you know has an Haricot Vert earring or necklace or bag in their collection. Kelsey’s pieces, which she calls wearable poetry, feature whimsical charms in unique combinations. Think tiny radishes, sticks of butter, raspberry tarts, shrimp, and more.  Host Ab...

During the pandemic, Vivian Lin was a sustainably-minded young architect living at home in New York City with her parents. She was working for a top international firm and decided to launch a compost company on the side. In just a few months, Vivian left her promising career behind and dedicated herself full-time to her fledgling business, Groundcycle. At the time, New York City had canceled compo...

Stephanie Lau is on a mission to bring people together. A CPA by day, she started a monthly potluck called Cookbook Club out of her one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. Today, the Cookbook Club events draw dozens of attendees. In this episode, host Abena Anim-Somuah dives deep into the world of cookbooks with Stephanie. They discuss the titles Stephanie grew up with, including “Joy of Cooking” and M...

Today’s guest is Lily Geiger, founder of Figlia, a nonalcoholic beverage brand she founded with the mission of changing drinking culture. Having grown up with a parent who battled alcoholism, Lily says she started Figlia “for those who are going zero proof, for whatever reason.” Figlia is more than just a zero-proof drink option. The brand also aspires to help non-drinkers feel empowered to share...

Lauren Dozier’s cookies are more than just sweet treats. Incorporating influences from fine art, fashion, children’s books, and her ancestors, Lauren has delighted her followers and collaborated with the likes of Loeffler Randall and The Six Bells. She takes vintage and coquette aesthetics to a whole new level with her viral quilt cookies, gingham slice-and-bakes, and other confections, and it’s n...

Today’s guest is Amber Mayfield Hewett, the party planner and entrepreneur behind the companies To Be Hosted and While Entertaining Media. Amber joins host Abena Anim-Somuah to talk about the flagship WE Gala, her time as an NBC page, the media company she launched in her 20s, and why she’d love to plan events for Rihanna and 2 Chainz.  Don’t miss Amber’s voicemail to her future self. More on Ambe...

Today’s guest is Madeline Bach, the founder and cake artist behind Frosted Hag. Madeline’s cakes are colorful, maximalist creations, crowded with whimsical toppings that beckon you to lean in for a closer look. In this episode, host Abena Anim-Somuah and Madeline discuss the inspiration behind her cakes, her time working as a “gallerina” at a Lower East Side art gallery, and the special people and...

Gabrielle Chappel is a rising culinary star and current contestant on Fox’s “Next Level Chef,”the Gordon Ramsay competition show. Gabrielle cites her childhood in rural Pennsylvania as having sparked her interest in intentional ingredient sourcing, seasonality, and nutrition. After working odd jobs and grinding in the world of journalism, Gabrielle found her true calling in food. These days, she’s...

Cooking has always been at the center of Hailee Catalano’s world. She grew up watching The Food Network, inspired by cooks like Rachael Ray and watching the adults cook in her Sicilian-German home. Some of our guests have winding paths into the food world but Hailee was on a mission from day one. After attending the Culinary Institute of America, she started her career in restaurant kitchens. When...

Valeria Alvarez is on a mission to make something beautiful out of ugly fruit. After a trip to Indonesia that inspired her to start a smoothie bowl business, Valeria began researching the food system in earnest. She quickly discovered the monstrous amount of bananas that become trash every year and Peel Soft Serve, the banana-based soft-serve shop in Miami Shores, was born. Made of only two ingred...

For Gabriella and Giovanna Favilli-Vigoreaux, community is everything. After a temporary move to their home state of Florida became permanent, Gabi and Gio embarked on a journey to love the place they had once decided to leave. The transition from New York City food and media scene to Floridian farmers markets wasn’t seamless, but with the help of friends and family, the couple found their footing...

If former Cherry Bombe intern Chayil Hyland has anything to do with it, the future of hospitality is going to be bright and diverse. A junior at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, Chayil grew up in a Trinidadian-Guyanese family in Queens and fell in love with food while cooking with her mother and grandmother and watching “Chopped,” “Beat Bobby Flay,” and “Ratatouille.”  She later attended...

Today’s guest is Silvana Pijoan, a second-generation vintner producing wines on Pijoan, her family estate located in Ensenada, a coastal town in the Mexican wine region Valle de Guadalupe. Silvana grew up learning the process, from grape to glass, from her winemaker father, Pau Pijoan, and eventually convinced him to start bottling natural wines. Silvana joins host Abena Anim-Somuah to chat about...

We have a special episode this week coming to you from Mexico City. Today’s guest is Lorea Olavarri. Lorea is the chef, owner, and partner of three restaurants across CDMX: Nero, a pasta bar, Er Rre, a French-style bistro, and Margot, a daytime rooftop eatery offering classic French dishes. Lorea grew up between Mexico and France in a food-obsessed family. She graduated from fashion school and wor...

Today’s guest is Alice Jun, founder of Hana Makgeolli, the artisanal Korean rice wine producer based in Brooklyn. She was introduced to makgeolli at a young age, helping her father brew batches at home throughout her childhood. During her time at NYU, Alice began brewing rice wine on her own, a hobby that turned into a series of pop-up dinners, tastings, and parties. After graduation, Alice began...

Today’s guest is Chala June, the Congolese-American journalist who has made a name for themselves covering queerness in food and the intersection of cannabis and culinary for the likes of Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Cherry Bombe, and Edible Manhattan.  Chala shares how their love of food, magazines, and storytelling informed their career path; their thoughts on the future of journalism; what...

Nadine Ghantous is the sous-chef at Rolo’s, a popular neighborhood restaurant in Ridgewood, Queens. After completing a biology degree at Syracuse University, she moved to New York City and pivoted to restaurants, where she found herself hosting at one of New York’s hottest restaurants, Lillia. As she learned about the delicate dance required to run a successful restaurant, she started to dream abo...

The Future Of Food Is You is back! For the first show of 2024, host Abena Anim-Somuah is joined by Laura Katz, the founder and CEO of Helaina, a New York City-based biotech company specializing in “the next generation of nutrition.” Laura got the idea for Helaina after learning about the black market for breast milk and the surprise customer base. Not parents, but rather those looking to boost the...

Romilly Newman is not afraid to fail. As she tells us on today’s episode, it was events like dropping out of NYU as a freshman and being eliminated from “Chopped” in the first round at age 13 that have led to her greatest successes. A former Cherry Bombe intern, Romilly today is a rising star in the world of food styling and works with brands such as Tory Burch and west~bourne.  Romilly joins host...

Mehreen Karim is the founder of Reenie’s, a New York City pop-up series in which she showcases the “South by South Asian” flavors of her Bangladeshi heritage and Georgia upbringing. She joins host Abena Anim-Somuah to talk about her pop-up and lots more, from the cookbook series she’s working on dedicated to plant-based foods to the restaurant she hopes to open one day.  Mehreen, who was on Cherry...

Margaret Nyamumbo of Kahawa 1893 grew up on a coffee farm in Kenya and today is the first Black woman to own a nationally distributed coffee brand in the U.S. She joins host Abena Anim-Somuah to talk about her brand, her time on “Shark Tank,” and why she’d love First Lady Michelle Obama, Lupita Nyong’o, and Vice President Kamala Harris to try a cup of Kahawa.  Don’t miss Margaret’s voicemail to he...

When Zaynab Issa was younger, she loved watching TV and flipping between the Food Network and the Disney Channel. Eventually, Ina, Giada, and Rachael won out, but it would be years before Zaynab followed her heart and pursued a culinary career. Eventually, a college project turned into a recipe zine and Zaynab went on to work at BuzzFeed and Bon Appetit. Today, she’s a freelance recipe developer a...

This week we’re sharing a special rebroadcast of our number one episode of the year to date. We’re looking into the future with Odette Olavarri, the founder of Odette Cuisine, a bakery & pastry shop in the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. In this special episode recorded in CDMX, host Abena Anim-Somuah talks to Odette about her family, her baked goods, and her thoughts on what's n...