This Is TASTE

Jodi Moreno is a chef, culinary consultant, and food stylist based in Mexico City. She’s the author of the James Beard–nominated cookbook More with Less and a new cookbook, Simple Pleasures. It’s so fun to have Jodi on the show to talk about developing Simple Pleasures in Mexico City, the joys of summer salads, entertaining, and more.

Also on the show is Tim Spector. He’s a professor of epidemiology at King’s College London...

This is such a great conversation with Max Shapiro, co-host of the Air Jordan podcast and a guy who knows what he likes. We’ve enjoyed Max’s very active, and sometimes blessedly candid, Instagram reviews of restaurants around the world. While he’s based in Los Angeles, his recent trip to Spain, particularly a dozen stops at legendary restaurants and new places around San Sebastián, got us interested. Max shares an action-p...

Leo Schaltz is a cofounder of BonBon, a Swedish candy store with five locations in New York City (six total) and a cult following on TikTok. The pick-and-mix bulk candy selection is entirely imported from Sweden, from salty licorice to sour strawberry cream skulls. Today on the show, Leo talks about growing BonBon’s candy empire, meeting viral demand, and building a candy library.

And before that, Matt shares some of his di...

Hailee Catalano is a trained chef, a former restaurant cook, a recipe developer, and one of our favorite voices in all of food. She is the author of a great new cookbook, By Heart. In this episode, we talk about her early years in Chicago, growing up in an Italian American household, and her later years working the line as a cook before launching her social media account on a lark. If you follow Hailee, you know her unique...

Aimee France is a cake baker and internet personality based in Brooklyn. Her distinctly bumpy cakes and elaborate eating habits have won over many fans online, and it’s so fun to have her in the studio to go deep on her singular perspective on food, from her three-drink-minimum breakfasts to her unexpected sources of inspiration.

And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Ma...

Jerry Williams Jr. has performed under the pseudonym Swamp Dogg since 1970 and has been described as “one of the great cult figures of 20th century American music.” I would agree, and it was an absolute honor to welcome the R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer to the studio to talk about visiting restaurants on the road while touring in the Jim Crow South and working with iconic artists like Patti LaBelle, Doris...

Norma Listman and Saqib Keval are the chefs and co-owners of Masala y Maíiz, a Mexico City restaurant rooted in a mestizaje exploration of culinary traditions from India, East Africa, and Mexico. It was great to have them in the studio to talk about creating a more equitable restaurant that puts their workers first, expanding into a new location, shooting an episode of Chef’s Table, and their favorite spots in Mexico City.

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We’ve all long been major fans of Ligaya Mishan, who last month was named co–chief restaurant critic at the New York Times. Working alongside Tejal Rao, Ligaya will be reviewing restaurants in New York City as well as around the country—and compiling the now iconic (and much-debated) 100 Best Restaurants in New York list. So what does it feel like to take over for Pete Wells? We went right to the source for this wonderful ...

Eddie Huang hardly needs an introduction, but here’s a shot. Eddie is a gifted writer, rap encyclopedia, film director, podcast host, best-selling author, and a pretty nice chef, too. Matt has known Eddie since his days coming up in New York City in the 2000s, running the iconic Baohaus and shaking up the food writing world in the process. Today he’s back living in New York after spending years in California, and we get in...

Today on the show, we have a great conversation with Austin Tedesco. Austin is head of business development at Substack, but we think of him even more as an infinitely curious restaurant superfan. He’s worked as a line cook and dines out with the frequency of our best critics. He writes about it all on his own Substack, Bangers & Jams, and we talk about his journey from NBA reporter to restaurant professional to helpin...

It was a lot of fun having Bill Oakley in the studio. Bill is a writer and “professional food enthusiast,” as he says. He’s also a former head writer for The Simpsons and has also written for The Cleveland Show and Portlandia and created the series Mission Hill. We loved talking with Bill about all kinds of food topics and his latest obsessions. We discuss writing food into memorable episodes of The Simpsons and his unique...

Kelly Mencin is the pastry chef and co-owner of Radio Bakery, a cult-followed destination for filled croissants and focaccia sandwiches with two locations in Brooklyn. Radio’s offerings—and its lines—are legendary, and today on the show Kelly talks about opening Rolo’s, transitioning to Radio, and their continued efforts to try and meet demand.

Get your tickets to our live event on July 23 at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Fea...

Noor Murad is a Bahrain-born, New York–trained, London-based chef and the author of the wonderful new cookbook Lugma. You may know her recipes from her time running the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen and contributing to the books Falastin, Shelf Love, and Extra Good Things. Now it’s time to get to know Noor herself through this delicious collection of traditional and re-imagined dishes from Bahrain and beyond.

Also on the show we ...

It was so much fun having Chris Morocco in the studio for a wide-ranging conversation about cooking, media, and his nearly two decades working at Condé Nast. Chris is the food director of Bon Appétit and Epicurious, overseeing the test kitchen team and the recipes they develop. In this episode, we go back to Chris’s early career working at Vogue before landing an assistant job in the BA Test Kitchen. We go over how he curr...

Dan Giusti is the founder and CEO of Brigaid, an organization bringing restaurant chefs to school cafeterias and senior centers. Formerly the head chef at Noma, he’s now dedicated to providing delicious and healthy meals to 40 institutions across the country. This year alone, Brigaid expects to serve over a million meals. It’s so special to have Dan in the studio to talk about growing up on Italian American classics, pivot...

Today’s episode is really special: an eating and drinking survey of the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon. Matt visited recently and shares all his dining experiences, which span regional Thai, tasting menus, incredible pour-over coffee, and some ’90s nostalgia. He also catches up with two legendary Portland chefs who share why their city is one of the nation’s best.

First up is Gabriel Rucker. He is the chef-owner of Le P...

Rebecca Firkser is a writer, recipe developer, and food stylist based in Brooklyn. Her debut cookbook, Galette!, celebrates the highly riffable, always buttery pleasures of free-form tarts. In this episode, Rebecca and Aliza go deep on developing foolproof pastry recipes for nervous bakers like me, making a debut cookbook after years of working on others, and more. 

Also on the show, Matt catches up with Mitchell Davis...

We’ve been covering the nonalcoholic beer scene at TASTE for a minute, and it was a lot of fun having one of the most exciting names in the industry, Tate Huffard, in the studio. Tate is the founder of Best Day Brewing, which makes one of our favorite NA beers available today. Tate shares the story of the company, and how he’s bringing NA versions of Kolsch and IPAs to the masses. We also zoom out and talk about the future...

It’s the return of a special video podcast series: Food Writers Talking About Food Writing. It’s available on the TASTE YouTube channel, so make sure to subscribe and check out the video version of this podcast. Every couple of weeks, Matt invites a journalist to talk about some favorite recent food writing as well as their thoughts on the industry as a whole.

On today’s episode, we have an amazing conversation with Tammie ...