This Is TASTE

Today is all about ice cream, and we have two guests who know the business inside and out. Tyler Malek is the cofounder and head chef of Salt & Straw, a cult-followed ice cream chain with scoop shops across the country. Based in Portland, Oregon, Salt & Straw is known for churning out the most imaginative ice cream flavors around. In the new cookbook America’s Most Iconic Ice Creams, Tyler takes a...

We love catching up with Nicole Rucker. She’s a Los Angeles–based chef and owner of the wildly creative pie shops Fat + Flour. She’s also the author of a new cookbook, which covers some of the iconic pies at the shop and so much more. In this episode, we catch up about her favorite Los Angeles restaurants, have a blast debating fruit fillings, and cover all the big decisions a home baker needs to...

The meme can be funny, biting, poignant, and oftentimes ubiquitous. Eli Sussman, a talented chef and cookbook author, has mastered the art of the culinary meme with his IG account, @TheSussmans. Eli is a proud Michigander, and on this special episode, we talk about the state’s bounty and how Michigan’s sustainably farmed, artisanal spirits brand Thatcher's Organic Artisan Spirits is channeling the...

It’s so special having Rick Martinez on the show to talk about his very fun new book, Salsa Daddy. Rick is the author of the best-selling cookbook Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico, and Salsa Daddy is just as delicious. It’s a salsa-first approach to cooking, with more than 70 salsa recipes that anchor 24 meals, from torta de Milanesa to pozole verde de pollo, and I can alre...

Driven by her passion for food and travel, Rachel Simons traded her corporate law career for an entrepreneurial adventure, cofounding Seed + Mill, New York’s first store devoted entirely to sesame products. Located in the iconic Chelsea Market, the business quickly captured the hearts of locals and tourists alike, evolving into a nationally celebrated brand. Today on the show, we speak with Rachel...

We are excited to bring you this episode. Recently Matt headed out of the studio to visit Philadelphia, one of America’s great food cities, to check out the scene and report back on his findings. He visited bakeries and coffee shops and stopped by a really cool cookbook store. He felt the incredible spice and vibes at Kalaya and met a bunch of new friends along the way.  In this episode, we speak...

Eden Grinshpan is a Canadian chef and television host based in Toronto, Ontario. She has hosted Top Chef Canada since 2017, and she is the author of a very cool new book, Tahini Baby. In this episode, we talk about Eden’s career both on and off television. We dig into her New York City restaurant takes — the good, the bad, and the labneh — and how she developed her unique recipe style and vibe.  A...

On today’s episode, we talk about protein, one of the biggest topics in food today. First up is a really fun conversation with our friend Daniel Holzman. Daniel is the chef and owner of Danny Boy’s Pizza in Los Angeles and cofounder of The Meatball Shop in New York City. This is a guy who knows about cooking with beef while balancing his diet for optimal health. We also talk about the pizza game a...

The one and only Adam Richman joined us in the studio for a really memorable conversation. Adam has been a fixture of food TV for over two decades, and he is one of the sharpest minds in the game. His series The Food That Built America just returned for season six, and we talk about Adam’s career exploring the foods of the world on shows like Man v. Food and many other food TV hits. What an intere...

Roy Choi is known as one of the architects of the modern food truck movement through Kogi BBQ. He is cohost of the Netflix cooking series The Chef Show along with Jon Favreau and has written a terrific new book, The Choi of Cooking. In this episode, we talk all about Roy’s philosophy around cooking with foundation, balance, and compassion in mind. We hear about how he reinforces these concepts thr...

MacKenzie Chung Fegan is the restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, which has just released its top 100 restaurants list. It’s the first time in six years the publication has done a big list like this, and in this episode, MacKenzie goes over how she chose the restaurants and why the Bay Area food scene is absolutely on fire. We go over many of the picks, including the top ten.  Also o...

Sisters Danielle and Gabrielle Davenport are the cofounders of BEM, a bookstore and community space for Black food literature. After years of operating online and at pop-ups, they’re getting ready to open a permanent location in Bed-Stuy. It’s so fun to have Danielle and Gabrielle in the studio to nerd out on food literature, building a family business together, and more.  Also on the show, it’s t...

We’re pretty sure many of you have at least heard of Cava and have possibly ordered lunch or dinner from the wildly popular Mediterranean restaurant chain. In this episode, we have a really cool conversation with Cava’s cofounder, Ted Xenohristos. We talk about the company’s early days and how Ted’s Greek heritage and detail-minded approach have made Cava one of the biggest restaurant stories in y...

We’re excited to launch a special video podcast series: Food Writers Talking About Food Writing. It’s available on the TASTE YouTube channel, so make sure to subscribe! Every couple of weeks, cohost Matt Rodbard will invite a journalist or cookbook author to talk about some favorite recent food writing as well as their thoughts on the industry as a whole. Our first guest is a special one: Eric Kim...

We have such a great episode today. Shilpa and Miro Uskokovic are the husband and wife duo behind the amazing new New York City bakery Hani’s Bakery + Café, located in the East Village. First up Matt has an amazing conversation with Shilpa about her professional cooking career, which led to a job at Bon Appétit. Today Shilpa is BA’s senior test kitchen editor, and we talk about some of the stories...

Robert Sietsema is a longtime New York City restaurant critic and neighborhood wanderer who has written for the Village Voice and Eater and who, prior to that, ran the influential underground food zine Down the Hatch. He currently publishes a really great Substack, Robert Sietsema's New York. It’s dispatched in a purely Sietsema way - full of reporting, knowledge, and lots of undiscovered restaura...

It was really fun having Molly Yeh back in the studio for an absolute riot of a conversation. Molly is legitimately one of the funniest writers (and guests) that we’ve encountered in a long time, and has amazing recipe writing chops to boot. We get into all sorts of topics on the show including her latest book about Midwest baking, Sweet Farm. We talk about Minnesota's deep cookie salad traditions...

We recently headed out of the studio to visit Victoria, British Columbia, to check out the food and drink scene and report back on my findings. Listeners, this is a really exciting place, and we’re excited to speak with Andrea Alridge, the chef at a terrific new restaurant, Janevca, and Lori Joyce, owner of truly unique ice cream shop, Better Acres Ice Cream.  Victoria rests on the naturally stunn...

Today on the show we welcome Eric Adjepong to the studio, who, along with the writer Korsha Wilson, has released one of our favorite books this spring: Ghana to the World. It’s a wonderful collection of stories and recipes that captures Eric’s deep connection to Ghana and how the country’s cuisine has shaped his career. Eric has appeared on Top Chef and various Food Network programming, and he sha...

Zaynab Issa is a cookbook author, recipe developer, and content creator based in Brooklyn, New York. Formerly a food editor at Bon Appétit, she contributes recipes to a variety of publications and just released a great debut cookbook, Third Culture Cooking: Classic Recipes for a New Generation. It’s so fun having Zaynab in the studio to talk about blending her East African and South Asian roots wi...

Camilla Marcus is a chef, restaurateur, and founder of west~bourne, a wildly progressive restaurant and products company based in Los Angeles. Camilla is one of my favorite big thinkers in food, and I so enjoyed having her in the studio to talk about some important topics of the day, including the pioneering west~bourne, her career in and out of the kitchen, and how the government can help restaur...

Asmeret Berhe-Lumax is the founder of One Love Community Fridge, a network of ten community refrigerators across New York City and Seattle working to eradicate food insecurity. Its work is more urgent than ever, and it’s so special to have Asmeret into the studio to talk about fighting hunger and the stigma associated with it, and about One Love Community Fridge’s big plans for expansion.  Also on...

How fun is it having Paul Carmichael in the studio? Paul is the chef of Kabawa and Bar Kabawa, which is part of Momofuku and located in the former Ko space in New York City. Paul is a Momofuku veteran, having served as chef at Má Pêche in NYC and Seiobo in Sydney, Australia. In this episode, we hear about Paul’s career, from wd~50 to his leadership position working alongside David Chang. We discus...

Jaeki Cho and Brian Lee are the co-founders of Righteous Eats, a multi-platform media brand spotlighting small, immigrant-run food businesses in New York and beyond. They’ve racked up millions of views with thoughtful storytelling that goes beyond the typical food porn—and they’ve got ambitions for a whole lot more, hosting events and providing resources to empower business owners. Today on the sh...

Today on the show, we welcome Fany Gerson into the studio. Fany is the chef and owner of a diverse roster of New York City food businesses, including La Newyorkina, famous for ice cream and paletas, and Fan Fan Doughnuts, which was recently named a James Beard Award semifinalist. In this episode, we talk about her amazing career, her many cookbooks, and what it’s like to run a restaurant in these...