This Is TASTE

It was so great having Marcus Samuelsson in the studio. Marcus is one of America’s finest chefs, born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden before, at age 24, being named executive chef of New York’s Aquavit and soon becoming the youngest ever to receive a three-star restaurant review from the New York Times . That was 1995. Today Marcus runs restaurants around the world, including the iconic Red Roost...

It was so great having Marcus Samuelsson in the studio. Marcus is one of America’s finest chefs, born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden before, at age 24, being named executive chef of New York’s Aquavit and soon becoming the youngest ever to receive a three-star restaurant review from the New York Times. That was 1995. Today Marcus runs restaurants around the world, including the iconic Red Rooste...

Ifrah F. Ahmed is a Somali-born, Brooklyn-based writer, chef, and artist whose work centers around food, history, culture, memory, and migration. For years, she’s been sharing Somali food through her pop-up Milk and Myrrh and as a contributor to New York Times Cooking—and now, she’s releasing a gorgeous debut cookbook, Soomaaliya . It’s a pleasure to have Ifrah on the show to talk about the joys a...

Ifrah F. Ahmed is a Somali-born, Brooklyn-based writer, chef, and artist whose work centers around food, history, culture, memory, and migration. For years, she’s been sharing Somali food through her pop-up Milk and Myrrh and as a contributor to New York Times Cooking—and now, she’s releasing a gorgeous debut cookbook, Soomaaliya. It’s a pleasure to have Ifrah on the show to talk about the joys an...

Michelle Rabin is a Canadian food stylist and recipe developer who has worked as a culinary producer on shows like MasterChef Canada . She also appears in the terrific fever dream of a cooking show Just a Dash alongside Matty Matheson, now playing on Netflix. We love this show, and I love how Michelle speaks about making the leap from working behind the scenes to being on camera. Just a Dash is we...

Michelle Rabin is a Canadian food stylist and recipe developer who has worked as a culinary producer on shows like MasterChef Canada. She also appears in the terrific fever dream of a cooking show Just a Dash alongside Matty Matheson, now playing on Netflix. We love this show, and I love how Michelle speaks about making the leap from working behind the scenes to being on camera. Just a Dash is wei...

Elyssa Heller is the chef and owner of New York’s remarkable sandwich shop and slushie seller Edith’s , with locations in Williamsburg and the West Village. I love these restaurants for their singular point of view. They’re part modern Jewish deli, part downtown all-day café, and fully Elyssa. I really enjoyed catching up about her journey to opening Edith’s, her time working in professional candy...

Elyssa Heller is the chef and owner of New York’s remarkable sandwich shop and slushie seller Edith’s, with locations in Williamsburg and the West Village. I love these restaurants for their singular point of view. They’re part modern Jewish deli, part downtown all-day café, and fully Elyssa. I really enjoyed catching up about her journey to opening Edith’s, her time working in professional candy...

Alex Raij is the chef and co-owner of New York’s Txikito , Saint Julivert Fisherie , and La Vara , restaurants singular in their approach and wide reaching in their fandom. On this episode Alex takes the Resy Questionnaire, and we learn about her journey as a chef, what inspires her Spanish-inflected cooking, and her big hopes and dreams for the industry she cares so deeply about.  The views expre...

Alex Raij is the chef and co-owner of New York’s Txikito, Saint Julivert Fisherie, and La Vara, restaurants singular in their approach and wide reaching in their fandom. On this episode Alex takes the Resy Questionnaire, and we learn about her journey as a chef, what inspires her Spanish-inflected cooking, and her big hopes and dreams for the industry she cares so deeply about.  The views expresse...

Fidel Caballero is the chef-owner of Corima in New York City, a progressive Mexican restaurant located in Chinatown with one Michelin star. Fidel is also behind the hit burrito shop and bakery Vato , which has become the talk of brownstone Brooklyn and well beyond. In this episode, Fidel shares his journey from Mexico and El Paso to China, the Basque region, and finally New York City. Fidel is a r...

Fidel Caballero is the chef-owner of Corima in New York City, a progressive Mexican restaurant located in Chinatown with one Michelin star. Fidel is also behind the hit burrito shop and bakery Vato, which has become the talk of brownstone Brooklyn and well beyond. In this episode, Fidel shares his journey from Mexico and El Paso to China, the Basque region, and finally New York City. Fidel is a ri...

It was really great having Ben Liebmann in the studio. Ben is a television executive (we love his show Omnivore ) and writer who spent seven years as chief operating officer at Noma, growing the business from a single restaurant to a diversified hospitality group. We really respect Ben’s take on restaurant trends, hospitality tensions, and the media landscape. We talk about it all, as well as goin...

It was really great having Ben Liebmann in the studio. Ben is a television executive (we love his show Omnivore) and writer who spent seven years as chief operating officer at Noma, growing the business from a single restaurant to a diversified hospitality group. We really respect Ben’s take on restaurant trends, hospitality tensions, and the media landscape. We talk about it all, as well as going...

Eric Kim is a writer and columnist at the New York Times , and he’s working on some exciting new projects. Eric is one of our favorite guests, and we cover many topics of the day in our conversation, including some of his latest writing, what he’s cooking, where he’s dining out, and his essay collection Spaghetti Junction , which will be released next year. We also discuss Food52, which recently a...

Eric Kim is a writer and columnist at the New York Times, and he’s working on some exciting new projects. Eric is one of our favorite guests, and we cover many topics of the day in our conversation, including some of his latest writing, what he’s cooking, where he’s dining out, and his essay collection Spaghetti Junction, which will be released next year. We also discuss Food52, which recently ann...

Luca Servodio is a guy who knows his way around Los Angeles restaurants. In 2021, he reviewed 100 Los Angeles pizzas in 365 days through his LA Countdown Instagram account, and he followed up by taking on 100 taquerias in 2022, 100 epic LA sandwiches in 2023, 100 iconic LA noodle dishes in 2024, and 100 burgers in 2025. Today the LA Countdown is a community that is home to The LA Food Podcast and...

Luca Servodio is a guy who knows his way around Los Angeles restaurants. In 2021, he reviewed 100 Los Angeles pizzas in 365 days through his LA Countdown Instagram account, and he followed up by taking on 100 taquerias in 2022, 100 epic LA sandwiches in 2023, 100 iconic LA noodle dishes in 2024, and 100 burgers in 2025. Today the LA Countdown is a community that is home to The LA Food Podcast and...

Jerrelle Guy is an award-winning author and celebrated food photographer. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she received her master’s in gastronomy from Boston University and was nominated for a James Beard Award for her debut cookbook, Black Girl Baking . She is back with a terrific new book, We Fancy , and we hear about her interpretation of fancy, as well as how she thinks about...

Jerrelle Guy is an award-winning author and celebrated food photographer. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she received her master’s in gastronomy from Boston University and was nominated for a James Beard Award for her debut cookbook, Black Girl Baking. She is back with a terrific new book, We Fancy, and we hear about her interpretation of fancy, as well as how she thinks about de...

Scott Conant is a James Beard Award–winning chef, TV personality, and pasta sauce savant. Matt still dreams about the Scarpetta spaghetti. It was a lot of fun having Scott in the studio to talk about his time coming up in New York City restaurants and why he decided to launch a food company, Martone Street , and compete for attention on the highly competitive tomato sauce shelf.  Subscribe to This...

Scott Conant is a James Beard Award–winning chef, TV personality, and pasta sauce savant. Matt still dreams about the Scarpetta spaghetti. It was a lot of fun having Scott in the studio to talk about his time coming up in New York City restaurants and why he decided to launch a food company, Martone Street, and compete for attention on the highly competitive tomato sauce shelf.  Subscribe to This...

Brooks Reitz writes the wonderful newsletter A Small & Simple Thing , which has become one of our favorite reads. He also runs restaurants in Charleston and New Orleans, including Leon’s Oyster Shop , Little Jack’s Tavern , Melfi’s , and the Bell . In this conversation we talk about Brook’s unique worldview, built around restaurant hospitality, tastemaking (the not annoying kind), and design....

Brooks Reitz writes the wonderful newsletter A Small & Simple Thing, which has become one of our favorite reads. He also runs restaurants in Charleston and New Orleans, including Leon’s Oyster Shop, Little Jack’s Tavern, Melfi’s, and the Bell. In this conversation we talk about Brook’s unique worldview, built around restaurant hospitality, tastemaking (the not annoying kind), and design. We talk a...

Ella Quittner is a journalist, screenwriter, and humorist who writes about obsession, culture, and food. She’s the author of a terrific new cookbook, Obsessed with the Best: 100+ Methodically Perfected Recipes Based on 20+ Head-to-Head Tests. On this very fun episode we talk about those tests, and finding the absolute best recipes for biscuits, pancakes, cookies, yellow cake, roasted chicken, and...