The Splendid Table

It's our annual entertaining show and we've got tips from the experts for when you have little time and energy but want to entertain with style, simplicity and fun. Caterer Ina Garten, proprietor of the Barefoot Contessa specialty food store in the ultra chic Hamptons, creates take-out and party food for the likes of Steven Spielberg and Martha Stewart. And she has plenty of down-to-earth advice f...

We're off for a look at New Orleans bars this week with resident historian and photographer Kerri McCaffety, author of Obituary Cocktail: The Great Saloons of New Orleans. The Big Easy has more bars per capita than anywhere else in the country and each of these architectural and cultural treasures harbors true stories more fascinating than folklore. Try the recipes for a Sazerac, the brandy concoc...

According to history professor Rebecca Spang, author of The Invention of the Restaurant, it used to be that going out to eat was not something anyone did by choice, and in 18th Century Paris restaurants weren't about eating at all. It's an intriguing bit of history that Ms. Spang will share. Jane and Michael Stern report from Fairfield, Connecticut where they're eating Super Duper Weenies from wha...

This week Faith Popcorn, consumer trends forecaster to the Fortune 500 and co-author of EVEolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women, gives us a look at how food will be marketed in the future. Ms. Popcorn has always been ahead of the curve with trends like "cocooning" and "the pleasure revenge." Now she brings us EVEolution, and it's all about a new power base in consumerism. She claims the...

We're off on an adventure this week to places you may not get to on your own. John Willoughby sweeps us away to Istanbul for Turkish food and a stay at the charming Empress Zoe Hotel, then world traveler and tea purveyor Sebastian Beckwith takes us trekking into the backcountry of Laos in search of the birthplace of tea. Jane and Michael Stern are raving about the impeccably fresh and lush seafood...

We're taking you from the cosmos right down to your coffee cup this week with Sidney Perkowitz, professor of physics at Emory University and author of Universal Foam. Professor Perkowitz will explain how foam is the link between your cappuccino and the cup you drink it from to the chair you sit in and the stars in the night sky. It's quite a trip. Jane and Michael Stern are eating Five-Way Chili a...

They've been linked to some pretty serious temptation and trouble—they did, after all, play a key role in that messy Garden of Eden business—but the illustrious apple still came out on top as the world's most popular fruit according to our guest Frank Browning. As the author of Apples and co-author of the cookbook, An Apple Harvest: Recipes and Orchard Lore, Frank has studied nearly every dimensio...

Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, is considered one of the top restaurants in the world, and today we've a conversation with its creator Alice Waters about how she runs a dream restaurant. Naturalist Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of the Senses, talks truffles, wine wit Joshua Wesson is back with his wine bargains, and Michael Ruhlman, author of The Making of a Chef, tells us what...

A culinary revolution is happening in Ireland these days due, in part, to a thriving economy, a new confidence among the Irish people, and the availability of superb local ingredients. Anya von Bremzen, Contributing Editor for Travel & Leisure magazine, stops by to tell us about some of therestaurants, inns and pubs she recently discovered on a trip into the Irish countryside. You'll want to p...

We're taking a look at olives this week with Ari Weinzweig, founder of Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ari will go anywhere to find high-quality, handmade foods and he knows all when it comes to superb olives. He has the scoop on some luscious and exotic varieties that bear little resemblance to those pitted black ones that appear on most Thanksgiving tables. Jane and Michael Stern are at...

It's that time again. The tomatoes are ripening and Lynne has been observed making unusually frequent stops at the farmers' markets, gathering up the beloved and luscious heirloom varieties that inspire her to rush into the kitchen and cook. Her recipe for the puglia streetwalker came from a similar tomato frenzy a few years ago and its uncooked sauce is just right for these hot summer days. Tomat...

We're off to France and one of Europe's great cooking schools to hear about life and learning in the beautiful Burgundy region. Anne Willan, owner of École de Cuisine La Varenne and author of From My Château Kitchen, takes us behind the scenes of her famous school and shares travel tips and tales of life in a rambling old chateau in the French countryside. This week's recipe for Patrick Gautier's...

We're talking American cheeses this week but we won't be including those ubiquitous, shrink-wrapped, orange blocks seen in every supermarket dairy case. There's a new breed of artisan cheesemakers now turning out luscious, award-winning, handmade varieties and Laura Werlin, author of The New American Cheese , introduces us to the folks who started this renaissance. Think California Teleme so ripe...

We're dropping in at diverse locales this week as we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July. Southern food historian John Martin Taylor, author of the newly reissued Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking, takes us to South Carolina's coastal plain for boiled peanuts, Pimiento Cheese and Frogmore Stew. We'll go down east with Jane and Michael Stern for that epitome of summer, boiled Maine lobster righ...

If you tune in regularly to The Splendid Table you know that tofu doesn't appear on Lynne's table often. In fact, it never appears. But Deborah Madison's new book, This Can't Be Tofu, inspired us to take another shot at making Lynne a fan of this latest wonder food. Will we succeed? Stay tuned. In the meantime, try Deborah's tantalizing recipe for Lacquered Tofu Triangles with Green Beans and Cash...

Best-selling author Diane Ackerman, of A Natural History of the Senses fame, joins us to talk about our sense of taste; the Sterns take us to Chicago for great steak; tea merchant Bill Waddington discusses the merits of bag vs. loose teas; minimalist cook Mark Bittman introduces us to the easiest of sauces, roasted red pepper puree; and John Willoughby, coauthor of License to Grill, has an eater's...

New York Times restaurant reviewer Ruth Reichl joins us with a conversation about her hilarious new memoir, Tender at the Bone, Growing Up at the Table. Jane and Michael Stern take us to Tea, South Dakota, cheesemonger Steve Jenkins shares his list of the great stinky cheeses,and, Lynne samples jam with grocery guru Al Sicherman in their monthly tasting. Broadcast dates for this episode: April 3,...

We're taking a look at the cultural history of alcoholic beverages in the United States with Andrew Barr, author of Drink: A Social History of America. Jane and Michael Stern take us to Duarte's in the heart of California artichoke country, wine maverick Joshua Wesson advises us on wines to grill by, cheesemonger Steve Jenkins talks cheeses from Auvergne, and legendary cooking teacher, Marion Cunn...

Did you know that graham crackers were named for a preacher and that lobster newburg got its name as the result of a drunken brawl? We've a look at how foods got their names with Martha Barnett, author of Ladyfingers and Nun's Tummies . The Sterns talk gooey butter cake, minimalist cook Mark Bittman has the last word on sun-dried tomatoes, Joshua Wesson is back with wines to drink with the "proble...

This week we're talking with maverick winemaker Randall Graham of California's Bonny Doon Vineyard. Forget the usual Cabernet and Chardonnay ­ Randall says they aren't even compatible with California's climate. Instead, he grows grapes from France's Rhone River Valley to produce his award-winning wines with zany names like "Il Fiasco," "Old Telegram," and "Wine of the Ice Box." Jane and Michael St...