This Is TASTE

You’ve spotted their iconic squeeze bottle on the shelves of Whole Foods and seen it used by your favorite food influencers and chefs on Instagram. But do you know the story behind Spanish olive oil company Graza, one of our favorite upstart food brands around? On this episode, we speak with Graza’s charismatic cofounder Andrew Benin to talk about the ups and downs of running a quickly growing foo...

Christina Tosi is a chef and TV personality as well as Milk Bar’s CEO and CCCO (Chief Compost Cookie Officer) and the author of a new cookbook, All About Cookies (among many others). On this lively episode, we talk to her about all things cookies and cake, moving upstate, grocery shopping at dawn, baking David Chang birthday cakes every year, and Milk Bar life (as a mother). We always enjoy having...

Odette Williams is the author of Simple Cake and Simple Pasta, and she was really fun to have back in the studio. We talk about her journey from novice pasta maker to authoring a cookbook on the subject. We also discuss the art of simplification, and how her Australian upbringing has shaped the way she eats and cooks. Also on the show, Aliza and Matt talk about three things that are on their minds...

The social media 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, and we talk about it on this very special episode. Eli has been a friend of ours for years, and we had fun catching up about his journey from Michigan short-order cook to LA music marketer to NYC restaurateur, provocateur, and...

Jamie Oliver returns to the show, and we could not be happier to talk with him about so many things. For those who didn’t grow up watching food TV, here’s the deal. Jamie pioneered a form of food television that brought cameras into the home in a way not previously seen. When The Naked Chef debuted on BBC Two in the UK and the Food Network in the United States in 1999, home cooking on TV was a sta...

Frankie Gaw is the author of a new cookbook, First Generation, and one of the most original voices writing in food today. In this episode, we talk about his journey from working at Facebook to authoring his book, which is part recipe collection and part memoir. We also talk about his love of Costco, and cooking with Reese’s Puffs cereal (two things we can also get behind). We hope you enjoy this c...

Eunji Lee is a pastry chef running one of New York City’s most exciting new dessert spots, Lysée. Eunji was born in Korea and trained in France before working at some of the world’s top restaurants, including at Alain Ducasse’s Le Meurice in Paris and serving as the pastry chef at Jungsik in New York. Now she has her own dessert studio, Lysée, which has become one of the hottest tickets in the cit...

From Otafuku’s OtaJoy yakisoba to Maya Kaimal tikka masala to Hamburger Helper, the dump-and-stir sauté sauce has been part of our cooking vocabulary for a generation—and for good reason. Packed with powerful flavors and the vapors of nostalgia blowing through a kitchen within minutes, these pouches, bottles, and jars can transform a kitchen in Tulsa to a stove in Kerala, Osaka, Seoul, or Tuscany....

John deBary is a bartender extraordinaire, a cookbook author, and a great spokesperson for the bar and restaurant world. This being the start of “dry January” (for those who celebrate), we wanted to have John on to talk about the rise of the nonalcoholic (NA) movement and how spiritless drinking is hardly without spirit. We find out what it was like launching his own NA brand and what the future h...

"Slow down and have coffee” are some great words to live by, especially if you love coffee as much as Nigel Price—the owner and creative force behind one of the most exciting coffee operations in America: Drip Coffee Makers. On this very exciting episode, we catch up with one of the coolest guys in coffee. We talk about why Nigel loves pour-over coffee so much, as well as some of the big problems...

Today on the show, we have a great time catching up with Tammie Teclemariam. Tammie is a New York–based writer who, for the past year, served as New York magazine’s The Year I Ate New York columnist—which, as the name suggests, was a rigorous look at New York’s techno-colored dining scene. We find out how she pulled it off, talk about some of her best and worst meals, and learn what’s next for one...

Today on the show, we have a really amazing conversation with Zosia Mamet. Zosia is an actor, best known for roles on Mad Men, The Flight Attendant, and Girls. She’s also the editor of My First Popsicle: An Anthology of Food and Feelings, a really wonderful collection of short (sometimes very short) stories from a unique cast of characters—fellow actors, food writers, comedians, and novelists. The...

Today on the show, we welcome one of our favorite writers in the game, Jason Diamond. Jason runs the wonderful newsletter The Melt and has written two books, Searching for John Hughes and The Sprawl: Reconsidering the Weird American Suburbs. In this action-packed episode, we cover a great many topics: Spago Rock, time travel, forgotten foods of Chicago, burger night in the Diamond household, and t...

Since Cynthia Shanmugalingam was young, she has witnessed the food of her ancestral home, Sri Lanka, through her immigrant parents’ kitchen in London. In this really fun episode, we talk with Cynthia about living in both worlds, as well as how she transitioned from working in finance to writing a cookbook, Rambutan, and opening a restaurant, all in the same year. We also find out what it was like...

Today, we welcome Matt Sartwell into the studio. Matt is the owner of the legendary New York City bookstore Kitchen Arts & Letters, and he’s one of the biggest supporters of cookbook publishing in the business. On this episode, we find out what it’s like to run an independent cookbook store today, and we go over some of Matt’s favorite cookbooks of the year—including what is selling briskly in the...

Today, we welcome Rita Sodi and Jody Williams on the show. They are the duo behind some of New York City’s favorite restaurants, including Buvette, the Commerce Inn, I Sodi, and Via Carota—“New York’s Most Perfect Restaurant,” according to the New Yorker. In this episode, we talk about the couple’s new cookbook, a tribute to the West Village’s Via Carota. We also find out how the restaurant stays...

Ken Forkish is a legend in bread baking and the Ken behind Ken’s Artisan Bakery and Ken’s Artisan Pizza in Portland, Oregon. He’s also a prolific cookbook writer of favorites like Flour Water Salt Yeast, The Elements of Pizza, and his latest release, Evolutions in Bread: Artisan Pan Breads and Dutch-Oven Loaves at Home. In this entertaining episode, we find out about what it was like for Ken to le...

Fly By Jing is one of the most exciting brands in food, and we were lucky to have the company’s founder, Jing Gao, stop by the studio for a really cool conversation. We find out how the company has grown and grown, from a tiny Kickstarter selling chile crisp to a major player in the competitive condiment wars, now being sold in a great many Targets and Whole Foods in the United States. We also hea...

We welcome back our good friend Akira Akuto to the show. Akira is the co-owner of Los Angeles sandwich and pastry counter (and so much more) Konbi and one of the more clairvoyant voices in the restaurant world. We talk about many things on this entertaining episode, including lunch vs. dinner bias, paying for good coffee, his go-to LA restaurant rotation, and some strong opinions about New York Ci...

Jason Stewart is a DJ (playing as Them Jeans) and cohost of How Long Gone, a podcast that dips in and out of the food world with surprising and entertaining frequency. It was so great to have Jason stop by to talk about many things: punching up vs. punching down, cool email jobs, regional Mexican food chain Del Taco, breaking veganism, how Italian food in Italy is mid, Erewhon vs. Gelson’s vs. Ral...

Wow, we love David Tamarkin so much, and this is such a great interview. We’re old friends and have been reading David since he worked at Time Out Chicago and Epicurious—and he’s now the editorial director at King Arthur Baking Company. How did an award-winning journalist end up working for Big Flour? It’s easy. The guy likes to bake. We talk about the job, a new cookbook King Arthur Baking just r...

Today on the show, we welcome back one of the most interesting and entertaining voices in food, Lucas Sin. He’s a chef and creator, and he’s behind some of the biggest ideas in home and restaurant cooking. This conversation was recorded the day before Lucas left his longtime home of New York City for a planned multiyear trip around Asia. We get into those details and how this Yale grad and culinar...

Sonia Chopra joined Bon Appétit and Epicurious as executive editor in August 2020, previously working in various roles at Eater for nearly a decade. In this entertaining episode, we find out about Sonia’s journey through food media and how she and her colleagues are putting their own stamp on BA. We also talk about the world’s best toaster oven, as well as the magazine’s big Thanksgiving issue, an...

Tina Choi is the Seoul-based genius behind one of our favorite food YouTube channels around, Doobydobap. In this episode, we find out how Tina grew her incredible following through hard work, a lot of style, and many trips to Korean Costco. We also talk about her food science education at Cornell, and why one of Matt’s favorite cities to visit, Seoul, South Korea, is full of energy and innovation...

How cool it is to have Gregory Gourdet on the show. Gregory is a chef and cookbook author based in Portland, Oregon. Many of you may know Gregory from his memorable appearances on Top Chef—as both a contestant and a judge. In this lively conversation, we discuss his ambitious new restaurant in Portland, Kann, his '90s raver past, and vintage Nike fits in the Kann dining room. We also talk about hi...