The Zest

You might have heard that Dalia wrote a cookbook. It’s called The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook, and it’s out today. It’s available through University Press of Florida , Amazon , Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. Dalia was recently a guest on Florida Matters , where she chatted with host Matthew Peddie about The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook and the latest season of The Zest. They also discuss...

This week, we’re chatting with foodie podcaster and author extraordinaire, Dan Pashman. Dan is the two-time James Beard and Webby Award-winning creator and host of The Sporkful , which he started way back in 2010, before many of us had even heard of a podcast. The Sporkful is still going strong, and Dan is just getting started. In 2021 Dan released cascatelli , a new pasta shape that he invented....

Today we’re getting to know the hosts of another food podcast we think you’ll enjoy: Florida Foodie . The show is produced by Orlando’s CBS affiliate, News 6 WKMG, and hosted by news anchor Lisa Bell and meteorologist/anchor Candace Campos. The ladies chatted with Dalia about Central Florida’s changing culinary landscape and their favorite places to eat. Related episodes: Chef Art Smith Talks Poli...

Cuba may be only 90 miles from Florida, but for Brenda Popritkin, the food experience has been night and day. After spending her early childhood on the island eating rationed eggs and rice, young Brenda moved to South Florida, where she discovered an abundance of steak, pastries and coffee windows. Now as an adult, Brenda is the brains behind The Whet Palette . It’s a blog and podcast covering foo...

This week we’re wrapping up our Couples in the Kitchen series with Darren and Danessa Domingo. The couple are the influencers behind the popular Instagram handle Food People Luv , in which they explore Tampa Bay’s diverse cultural cuisines. Darren’s family is Filipino, and Danessa’s is Haitian. In this conversation, they discuss the foods they grew up eating, how a mission trip led to love and the...

Pre-order Dalia's first cookbook, The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook ! This week, we’re continuing our Couples in the Kitchen series with the pair who inspired the series. By day, Bryce Hudson is an artist and his husband, Ryan Ahmann , is a real estate agent. But at dinnertime, the couple turn into gourmet chefs, spending hours cooking together and posting the mouthwatering photos on social media. D...

This week, we’re continuing our Couples in the Kitchen series with the ultimate foodie couple. Melissa Santell is a well-known Tampa food photographer, culinary marketing consultant and host of the podcast Sunday Sauce . Her boyfriend, Bryce Bonsack, is chef/owner of the Michelin-starred Rocca Italian Restaurant in Tampa Heights. Dalia sat down with Melissa and Bryce in their living room to learn...

This week, we’re continuing our Couples in the Kitchen series with a pair who both make their living in the food business. Stephanie Swanz is the founder of Empamamas inside Tampa’s Armature Works food hall. Her fiance, Felix “Bubba” Flores, is the founder of Wicked Oak Barbecue . Dalia sat down with the power couple at their Tampa office, from which they run their culinary empire. Stephanie and B...

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’re kicking off a series we’re calling Couples in the Kitchen. Each week this month, we’ll introduce you to a Florida foodie couple you oughta know. You’ll meet folks from the food world who are dating, married or engaged, from influencers to home cooks to professional chefs. First up: The Zest’s own Alexandria Ebron. As brand manager for the podcast , Alex hand...

This week, we’re digging into the roots of soul food with Adrian Miller , better known as the Soul Food Scholar. After a career at the White House, the trained attorney set his sights on researching African-American culinary traditions. Adrian is the author of several books on the subject, including Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue and The President’s Kitchen Cabine...

A generation ago, eating out was a special treat. But these days, Americans eat and drink a third of our calories away from home, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration . Splurging on foods laden with calories, fat, salt and sugar once in a while isn’t so bad. But doing so day after day can take a toll, says Shari Bresin, family and consumer sciences agent at the UF/IFAS Pasco County E...

Today, we’re getting dinner inspiration from Johnathan Rodriguez. He’s the executive chef and food and beverage director for the dual-branded Aloft and Element Hotel in Tampa’s Midtown shopping and dining district. Dalia met up with Chef Johnathan at Sal y Mar , the hotel’s rooftop restaurant and bar. In this conversation, he shares advice for coming up with new dinner ideas, how growing up in New...

A trip to Disney World will cost you upwards of $100 per person, per day—and that’s before you’ve eaten a single bite. But with some expert knowledge, you can eat like a king—or perhaps, a Disney princess—and still have money left over for a pair of Mickey ears. This week we’re chatting with Kristi Rada and Danae Allison, two of the co-hosts of the Happiest Plate on Earth podcast. Kristi is a Disn...

Today we’ll hear from someone who’s usually behind the scenes: Alexandria Ebron . As brand manager for The Zest, Alex handles the website and social media, among other things. We’ll listen in on Alex’s conversation with her grandmother Marva Jones, who lives in Orlando. They talk about Marva’s childhood food memories and what she likes to cook now for the holidays. We hope this conversation inspir...

While we’re cooking up new episodes of The Zest, we’d like to tell you about another podcast we think you’ll enjoy: Under the Influencer . It’s hosted by a brother sister-duo who are familiar names in the Tampa Bay area. Samantha Blowers, better known as St. Pete Sam, is a radio host on Magic 94.9 FM and 97X. Her brother, Max Blowers, is beverage director at Good Intentions, a popular vegan restau...

While we’re on our holiday hiatus, we wanted to let you know about another podcast we think you’ll enjoy. It’s called Tampa’s Table . The podcast is produced by Visit Tampa Bay and hosted by Jeff Houck, who is a repeat Zest guest and co-author of The Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers . The podcast is a companion to the Tampa’s Table Cookbook, which is now out in Vol. 2.  Be sure to follow The Z...

The holidays are a great time to gather family recipes, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tell you about the City of Tampa’s Soulwalk Community Cookbook . Tampa’s Soulwalk is a trail linking historic sites that tell the story of the city’s communities of color. The city is creating a companion cookbook, and they need your input. You have until the end of the year to submit recipes online a...

Picture a time when there was no barbecued pork in Florida—when there weren’t pigs at all. That was the scene more than 500 years ago. It wasn’t until Spanish settlers disembarked from their ships, along with the pigs they’d brought on board, that our state’s indigenous people ever laid eyes on hogs. Kevin Kokomoor, Ph. D. , details this history in his book La Florida: Catholics, Conquistadores, a...

It’s one thing to know how the sausage gets made. It’s another thing to buy the pigs that become the sausage. But that’s what former Zest guest Andrew Tambuzzo recently did. Andrew is the founder and owner of The Boozy Pig Butchery & Kitchen in Tampa, which has locations in South Tampa and Davis Islands. In addition to selling pork products to the public, Boozy supplies meat to dozens of resta...

Foraging food can be exciting: searching for provisions, maybe discovering some sweet berries or nutty salad greens you’ve never tried before. Eating wild plants is fun… but if you’re not careful, it can kill you. So when we wanted to learn the basics of foraging in Florida, we called Roger L. Hammer . He’s an award-winning naturalist, botanist, nature photographer and survivalist instructor for t...

A new exhibition at the Tampa Bay History Center explores what our state was like a century ago, from music and fashion to politics and social movements—including the banning of alcohol. It’s called Decade of Change: Florida in the 1920s , and it’s on view from Nov. 4 to July 14. Dalia spoke with the exhibition’s curator, Brad Massey, Ph. D. Related episodes: History of Beer with Rodney Kite-Powel...

When Huey Howard got into cattle ranching in 1963, JFK was president, the Beach Boys’ Surfin’ USA topped the music charts, and a white landowner could refuse to sell property to a Black man. But that didn’t stop the Leland, Mississippi, native from becoming one of Florida’s few Black cattle ranchers. Today, Huey and his family raise more than 400 head of cattle, and they’ve earned respect in Flori...

Tampa’s historic Ybor City district is known for its nightlife. But just a few blocks away, you’ll find a bar that’s reminiscent of another time and place. Bastet Brewing pays homage to the beer culture of ancient Egypt. And that’s the vibe you’ll get when you step inside, from the mural on the wall down to the smallest details. Friends Huston Lett and Tom Ross opened Bastet in November 2020. Desp...

Stone crab claws are big business in Florida, worth an annual $34.4 million, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission—and that’s in an industry that works just half the year. Few people understand the ins and outs of stone crabbing better than Kelly Kirk of Goodland. It’s a small fishing village in the southeast corner of Marco Island. Kelly and her family run Kirk Fish C...

This week, we’re getting a lesson in cooking with booze. No, we’re not talking about enjoying a spirited beverage while you cook, although that can be nice, too. We’re talking about using a splash of alcohol to enhance a dish. As chef and owner of three Tampa restaurants, BT Nguyen has found plenty of creative uses for beer, wine and spirits. Dalia recently sat down with the celebrated chef in the...