Andrew Talks to Chefs

The James Beard Foundation's Independent Restaurant Industry Report 2025 (which we highly recommend all listeners read), offers insights and possible solutions to a wide range of challenges and opportunities for American restaurants. Produced in collaboration with Deloitte, the survey is based on interviews with 50 independent restaurateurs and survey responses from more than 350 industry leaders. The JBF's VP of Impact Anne McBrid...

Author John Birdsall makes his return to the pod to discuss his new book What Is Queer Food? How We Served a Revolution—a deeply personal and sweeping look at the intersection of queer life in the United States, and food culture here. Zooming in from his home in Tucson, John reflects on the stories, people, and moments that shaped the book, and why food has always been central to identity and community. The conversation touches on ...

As longtime fans of the pod know, there's nothing we love more than a crossover episode with a show we're friendly with. It reminds us of when we were kids and Saturday morning cartoons did the same thing, with characters from one show appearing on another, and vice versa. (That's why the animated episode image today.) So we're thrilled to welcome Nidal Barake, a marketer by trade, whose One of Each podcast presents interviews with...

Ari Miller’s evolution from journalist to chef was anything but traditional. In this revealing conversation, he shares how food became both his creative outlet and medium for making sense of a dark and complicated world. From growing up in a dysfunctional household consumed with historical atrocities, to finding meaning in kitchens in Tel Aviv and Philly, Ari shares stories about the mentors who shaped him, the politics of sourcing...

Friend of the pod David Nayfeld, of Che Fico and other Bay Area restaurants, discusses his inaugural cookbook, Dad, What's for DInner--an outstanding first effort, and a perfect Father's Day gift. 

Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage...

Besha Rodell has written about food and/or reviewed restaurants for Creative Loafing, LA Weekly, The New York Times, Food & Wine, and other outlets, and is currently the restaurant critic for The Age. Today, she joins us to discuss her moving and entertaining new memoir Hunger Like a Thirst. The book tells the story of Besha's nomadic child- and adulthood, her migration from restaurant work to writing about restaurants, her approac...

For nearly a decade, the LA Chef Conference has been the gathering of Los Angeles chefs and industry professionals. After a one-year hiatus, the conference returns this October 6 in its new home at Redbird and Vibiana in Downtown LA. On this episode, conference founder Brad Metzger and host chef Neal Fraser join Andrew to discuss some featured topics, speakers, and chefs who will be cooking for the conference's always-impressive lu...

Before launching her hit modern-Japanese restaurant Lingo in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, chef Emily Yuen worked in some hardcore French kitchens in London and Singapore, then found her way to New York City. In this conversation, Emily shares her evolution from French to Japanese cuisine, how she developed her management chops, and the disparate influences in her food.

Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the rec...

Calvin Eng has had a busy and successful few years. His restaurant Bonnie's in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has become a hub of modern Cantonese-American cuisine, and now he's out with his first cookbook, Salt Sugar MSG: Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home. Andrew caught up with Calvin at his home in Williamsburg to discuss his path to his current projects, and the two are joined for part of the conversation by Phoebe Mel...

A few weeks ago, in record time, the good folks behind the LA Chef Conference, organized a benefit for victims of the recent, devastating LA wildfires. Dubbed Chefs ❤️ LA, the event raised more than$800,000, with all proceeds going to World Central Kitchen and Restaurants Care to support their work on behalf of those who lost their homes in the conflagrations. It was a restorative and emotional evening, and Andrew was honored to be...

Earlier this year, we lost one of the greatest and most influential chefs ever to ply his trade in the United States, when André Soltner passed away at age 92. On the day the culinary community pay their respects at a celebration of his life in New York City, we wanted to share this previously unaired conversation with Chef Soltner, recorded in 2016 as part of Andrew's research for his book Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll. André Solt...

Come for the industry insidership, stay for the great writing and unvarnished personal honesty. Author Laurie Woolever's new memoir Care and Feeding will attract many readers because of its promise of tales from her days as assistant to Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. And it delivers on that front, for sure. But Care and Feeding is also, and primarily, Laurie's story--the story of a writer finding her way in life, New York,...

At last year's Hot Luck festival in Austin, Andrew sat down with chef Alex Kemp, co-owner and chef of Philadelphia’s acclaimed restaurant My Loup for an honest and entertaining conversation. Alex shares his journey from his French-Canadian roots in Montreal to the vibrant culinary scene of Philadelphia. He discusses his diverse culinary experiences, including his time at Sugar Shack and Joe Beef in Canada, Moor Hall Restaurant in t...

At just 27 years of age, Rasika Venkatesa has already put herself in position to plan her first restaurant. Currently serving a tasting menu in her residency at Fulgrances Laundromat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (though March 1, 2025), Rasika attended hotel management school in India, worked her way up from commis to chef de partie at The French Laundry, and attained the position of chef de cuisine at Mourad in San Francisco. (As if th...

Recorded LIVE before an audience at the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy competition US regional finals in New York City. Five influential American chefs (the competition's jurors), Valerie Chang, Curtis Duffy, Aisha Ibrahim, Ayesha Nurdjaja, and Junghyun Park discuss how to shape the future of the industry, in a conversation divided into three parts: Identity, Working Environment, and  Teamwork. (S.Pellegrino is a longtime promotio...

Tomer Blechman's life has taken him from his native Israel to Los Angeles, the Far East, and finally to New York City. He also naturally progressed from a life of healing to cooking and hospitality, which are for him intertwined. This path has led him to founding three successful Brooklyn ventures: Miss Ada, Theodora, and Thea Bakery. In this deeply personal conversation, Tomer sits down with Andrew to discuss his training, pulling...

In this this second  installment of our conversation with Jenner Tomaska and Katrina Bravo, the couple behind Chicago's Esmé, the pair discuss  their time at MK and Next in Chicago, the process of concepting Esmé, and their working relationship..

Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  ...

Two guests demand two episodes! In this first  installment, Jenner Tomaska and Katrina Bravo, the couple behind Chicago's Esmé, talk about their childhoods in, respectively, Illinois and Florida, and the relationship with food and cooking that led Jenner to become a chef and Katrina to become a creative director.

Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals....

Adam Leonti discusses his New England upbringing, time cooking in Philly and living overseas, and the series of New York City projects that have led to his current success at Cucina Alba in NYC's Chelsea neighborhood.

Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth ...