Cooking By Heart with Chris Sarandon

In this episode, 5-time James Beard Award Winner Dorie Greenspan remembers her non-cooking parents, learning to love food by going out to dinner and burning down the family kitchen! She discusses cookbook collaborations with Julia Child, Daniel Boulud, and Jean-George, how she cooks differently in New York and Paris, and her love of baking, calling it a generous act because it's always shared. Join my illuminating and often hilario...

In this episode, Sachi Parker, the daughter of award-winning actress Shirley MacClain, talks about moving at age 2 from LA to Japan with her father, producer and gourmet cook Steve Parker. She remembers harvesting sea urchin from the sea and eating them alfresco, and always accompanying her father as he cooked. Boarding school food was horrible in England and divine in Switzerland, after which came a shocking ultimatum from her mot...

In this episode, Peter McCrea, the son of Hollywood legends Joel McCrea and Francis Dee, talks about growing up on their ranch with cattle, chickens, an organic vegetable garden, wood stove cooking, and being exposed to the cycle of life. Living there also featured visits from movie stars Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, and Maurice Chevalier! He also discusses his work creating philanthropic funding and micro financi...

In this episode, TV writer/producer/showrunner Nancey Silvers describes her southern Mom’s grits and fried chicken, eating deli food with her father, the magnificent comedian Phil Silvers, being required to help with the household chores, & eating fresh, at her mom’s insistence, right from the stove. She remembers movie star tour busses stopping for lunch on their Beverly Hills front lawn and being served wine on holidays as a ...

In this episode of ‘Cooking By Heart,’ Griffin Dunne described this soup served by his mother’s Mexican family as being the go-to comfort meal choice throughout his life. All the food groups are represented, and the dish has been refined by his grown daughter since he first introduced it to her. Feel free to take a swing at your version of this basic recipe. 

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In this episode, award-winning actress Stockard Channing describes a privileged childhood, with bland food both at home and while eating out; surviving on lots of carbs in boarding school, followed by an early marriage; “competition” cooking as a young housewife, and a gourmand friend mentoring and honing her kitchen skills. Divorce, a decision to become an actress, and a move to New City became the genesis of an award-winning care...

In this episode, multiple Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton talks about his father’s digestive problems which led to lots of bland Irish food at home, food discoveries as a student and in his burgeoning acting career, being discovered by TV and Film, and our mutual friendship with Roddy McDowell. He also gives an impassioned shout-out to two amazing charities close to his heart and home. A riveting conversation with a great m...

In this episode, Award Winning actress Camryn Manheim remembers her teacher-mother’s faux gourmet cooking, her professor-father’s love of spicy food, & intellectual banter at the dinner table. She also relates how her mother’s skill at party food inspired her own parties of 80 or more guests while in grad school in NYC, with celeb guests like Jude Law and JFK, Jr. Then, a one woman show she wrote about being full bodied led to ...

In this episode, award winning actor Victor Garber talks about growing up with his local celebrity mom, his funny, depressed father’s amazing French toast, and his developing type 1 diabetes at 11. At 16, he leaves home & school to pursue a folk singing career, which leads to a hit record, and a subsequent stage, movie, and TV career and his life changing work with J.J. Abrams and Garber’s multiple award nominated role on 
‘Alias.’...

In this episode, former NBC/Universal vice-chair Bonnie Hammer remembers her mother’s “kosher” cooking as tasteless and uninspiring, eating college food featuring plentiful carbs (enhanced by ice cream and burgers), and an early marriage where she took up recipe cooking. There are inspiring and hilarious stories of her advancing at early jobs from picking up dog poop to becoming a producer, and ultimately being mentored by her boss...

From the time he could stand, James Beard Award winner Chef Paul Smith remembers helping his Italian grandfather cook, the presence of a large Italian contingent in the coal mines, & after school ‘butter steaks’ with his brother. He also discusses his extensive culinary training that led to his return home to communicate the food culture of Appalachia in his restaurants, seeing those restaurants as an extension of his childhood...

n this episode, award winning actress Jill Eikenberry talks about her peripatetic Midwestern childhood, her diet heavy on luscious meat and cheese dishes, frozen vegetables, visits to her aunt’s farm, and a bloodthirsty story about her grandmother’s chickens. She also recalls a story about a blind friend guiding her through the school cafeteria during a college blackout, her introduction to gourmet eating from her husband, actor/wr...

In this episode, Illeana Douglas talks about growing up in two worlds of food: that of her Hollywood Royalty Grandfather Melvin Douglas and her Queens, NY Italian/Romanian family. She describes her father’s creating a hippie commune and later her on-and-off-camera relationship with Martin Scorsese, along with an extraordinary evening with Scorsese and Marlon Brando. Join me for an audio or video conversation with this amazing Actre...

In this episode, Michael Urie remembers his mother’s delicious eclectic cooking and his often-frustrated efforts to recreate it. He also describes his roundabout career route, the serendipity of his acceptance into the prestigious Julliard Acting Program, being introduced to his Queens NY Italian family & their raucous meals, and his efforts to find the perfect neutral eating regimen while performing on Broadway 8 times a week....

In this episode, Rosanna Arquette remembers her peripatetic childhood, her working artist parents, and eating lots of ‘high quality’ fast food. A vegetarian menu follows at a commune, then leaving home in her teens, being 'discovered' in LA, and becoming a self-taught cook with her sights on healthy food. She describes her go-to salad and stuffing, and longs for more get-togethers with her siblings centered around creative ...

In this episode, multi-talented actor/author Ed Begley, Jr. talks about the family cook who changed his life, the startling family secret he learned at 15, his wild youth, and amazing stories about his friends Marlon Brando and The Beatles from his memoir "To the Temple of Tranquility...and Step On It! You can't miss this one!

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In this episode, Oscar Nominee and Golden Globe Winner Brad Dourif describes a bland culinary childhood diet until a wonderful cook joined his family and describes the southern cooking at his boarding school. Moving to NYC, he lived on fast food, became a movie actor (and the voice of Chucky!) and has, thanks to his actress daughter, moved on to cooking and eating a splendidly healthy diet. A fascinating conversation with this mult...