Tip of the Tongue

The law of hospitality, especially as it is related to tipping is hopelessly convoluted. Add the tipping rules to the reduced minimum wage that tipped employers pay, and trying to keep within the law in a nightmare. Having a lawyer who actually understand the law is imperative. Listen to this conversation with John Reyna, managing attorney for the Texas Hospitality and Non-profit Law Center in Hou...

New Orleans residents pride themselves on living to eat, as opposed to eating to live. Beth D’Addono taps into that spirit in her new book: City Eats New Orleans. Her new book almost tenderly caresses the selected restaurants, the food, and the people. It is an outstanding and very personal review book that you will not want to miss. It is an insider look at the restaurants of New Orleans and what...

There isn’t a more beautiful and interesting book about cooking with spices than A Whisper of Cardamom by Eleanor Ford. Listen to our conversation about the issue of desserts being so sweet that you cannot taste them. The book is full of deep and complex uses of spices lightyears beyond cinnamon and vanilla. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. You can read more about Eleanor on her website. . . If...

What does it take to style and photograph food? Is it about the food proper or the story that the food represents? We can learn a lot about food and photography and cooking from this discussion. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. You can find Eugenia’s photograph’s everywhere in magazines. And as a person who writes recipes, I can attest to the fact that her food photographs make the recipes come...

Editors often toil in the background while assisting authors in making books better. Their work is crucial and usually unsung. Judith Jones was an extraordinary editor whose praises should be sung for the world is a better place for her efforts. We talk about it with author Sara B. Franklin. Her book is The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America. It’s on Tip of the To...

This is an encore chance to listen to a podcast with Celia Cerasoli. Celia writes a newsletter called The Perfect Artichoke. It’s full of great information and recipes. She leads cooking and travel opportunities to Italy. And is full of wisdom about Italian cooking and adapting it to the American table. I thought that you would enjoy hearing it again. She is not only all about food, but also about...

There is so much to talk about with Saffron NOLA’s Arvinder and Ashwin Vilkhu! They were nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef South. This is their second nomination. We talk about what makes a restaurant a success - family, talent, hard work, and the joy of happy diners. Listen! It’s on Tip of the Tongue. You can look at SaffronNOLA’s website. Ashwin and Arvinder Vilkhu Saffr...

Keeping kosher. Respecting the Sabbath with plastic utensils. Honoring our bodies. Many humorous stories. They are all in Judy Gruen’s book, Bylines and Blessings: Overcoming Obstacles, Striving for Excellence, and Redefining Success. We talk about these things. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Read more about Judy Gruen. Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at tipofthetongue.substack.com/subscribe

We all think about the meaning of food - the culture, the people, and the food itself. In this podcast we discuss these questions as they apply to the food culture of Appalachia. We discuss the complexity of the food culture as well as the resiliency of the people. Listen to the discussion with Ashli Quesinberry Stokes and Wendy Atkins-Sayre about their new book, Hungry Roots: How Food Communicate...

Why Not: Lessons on Comedy, Courage, and Chutzpah is a funny book about growing up, about becoming a comedian, and about living a good life. It talks about the bumps and the trips, as well as the fun parts of life. Listen to Mark Schiff discussing why he wrote this book, being funny, writing, and many more things. You can read more about Mark on his website . Want even more about Mark? Listen to h...

Establishing a food museum is a bold move. 20 years ago when we started the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans, we were in the wilderness with a bold idea and big ambitions. Rachel Waugh tells us about her dream for a food museum in Denver, Colorado. She and I are definitely kindred spirits. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Rachel Waugh Read all about Rachel’s bold vision on the webs...

Beth M. Howard and I talk about her experiences in pie. Her sharing attitude and the inclusiveness of the experiences that she creates for people make pie a carrier for supporting each other, regardless of our differences. It seemed the right time to revisit from October, 2022, World Piece and the role of pie in bringing out the best in us. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Get full access to Tip of the...

I can never resist the opportunity to talk with a food scholar about the food of New Orleans. I talked to Theresa McCulla, about her new book, Insatiable City: Food and Race in New Orleans. We still care so much about our food in the city that it is easy to understand its importance in the past. But the city’s past is not all rosy. Learning about it makes for a real discomfort, especially knowing...

A universal fantasy of abundance is often one that motivates hungry immigrants. Luisa Del Giudice talks with us about the search for abundance that is documented in stories and songs. We talk about it. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Learn more from the website . . . Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at tipofthetongue.substack.com/subscribe

Our seeds are a fragile connection between our lives and the lives of those who come in the future. We seem to forget this important fact. Perhaps the cautionary tale is the best way to illustrate this and make it seem real. We speak with author, Carla Seyler, about possible catastrophe. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at tipofthetongue.substack.com/subscribe

It would be wonderful to know that your cookbook will become a classic when you are writing it. Unfortunately it is impossible to predict what the zeitgeist will demand. But Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux? seems to have met the test of time. We talk with Marcelle Bienvenu, whose title is intriguing and so is her story. But the title also tells the story of south Louisia...

Allison Alsup has written a fascinating novel. It stems from the factual disappearance of Frank Meyer, of Meyer lemon fame, while an agricultural explorer for the US Department of Agriculture in China. The book is definitely worth reading, but I also think that the conversation with Allison about the Office of Seed and Plant Introduction, a part of the US Department of Agriculture, is also worth l...

Speaking about self-regulating toddlers, mindful eating, and teaching children the language of food, Hassan Merali and I go all over the map in our conversation. He is the author of a new book called Sleep Well, Take Risks, Squish the Peas: Secrets from the Science of Toddlers for a Happier, More Successful Way of Life. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. For mor information: Article: "Mindful Eating Lesso...

With a foot in Italy and one in America Luca Alessandrini is beginning a new business after beginning a career on Wall Street. He is matching Italian artisanal businesses with businesses in the US. This is a chance to talk about starting a food business that bridges cultural differences and different food preferences and habits. Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at tipofthetongue.substack.com/s...

The French 75 cocktail has an interesting history that has been embellished to suit the needs of the storyteller. John Maxwell Hamilton explains it all. We talk about his experiences writing the book and drinking French 75s along the way. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Join John Maxwell Hamilton for a meet and greet, book signing, and French 75 sampling at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum on April...

This festival, Paella, Pulpo, y Pan, is a celebration of Spanish New Orleans. Putting together this festival, year to year, making it better and more full of depth each year, reminds me of growing the Southern Food & Beverage Museum from an idea to what it is today, 20 years later. This festival is smashing. And the addition of the wood fired oven is going to raise it to a new level. We talk to Ga...

We talk to Corry Blanc of Blanc Creatives about his story establishing Blanc Creatives, as well as pleasure of working with beautiful heirloom quality tools. The story is fascinating, intermingling cooking and craftsmanship. We know that good working tools make the job of cooking or preparing a drink easier. But this is a chance to explore excellent tools that are beautiful, and to see how that af...

Chef’s often use food as the medium for helping. Join me in this conversation with Chef Angela Wilson who flies to Nepal to make momos with Nepali girls and women to help them raise money for their education and help them avoid being sold. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Learn more at EmpowerNepaliGirls.org Want to be part of the cook along class to raise funds for these young women? Get full access to...

For thousands of years rulers have eaten to represent their power and their culture. Menus listing the foods eaten have been memorialized on stone placards and papyrus. The importance of eating as a persuasive tool, as a representation of the wealth and attitudes of the leader and the people has a long history. We talk about Dinner with the President: Food, Politics, and a History of Breaking Brea...

It seems that no one has just one career anymore. We do live in exciting times. Listen to my conversation with Sharon Hudgins and her exciting peripatetic writing and lecturing career in food and foodways. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at tipofthetongue.substack.com/subscribe