Andrew Talks to Chefs

On the occasion of the relocation of his eponymous restaurant to its new home in Tribeca, Marc Forgione sat down for one of our special conversations--and, man, did he bring it. In just 30 brisk minutes, he and Andrew discuss NYC restaurant rents, the possibilities of a new space, the crucialness of having a private dining room, and the media's portrayal of the industry. You don't want to miss this one!

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In their second literary collaboration, Koreaworld: A Cookbook, authors Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard take readers on an adventure to Korea, and to hubs of Korean food in the United States, to paint a vivid portrait of Korean food worldwide right now. On today's episode, Deuki and Matt share their impressions of modern Korea and its cuisine, and of some of is most important practitioners in the US. They also make the case for Korean ...

After a few lurches and false starts early in his career, Evan Funke connected with the Los Angeles area dining public in a big way with his Felix restaurant in Venice, California, and has followed it up with a series of successes: Mother Wolf, Funke, Tre Dita in Chicago, and others on the horizon. In this conversation, recorded last week in New York City, Evan shares deeply about his personal story, how Italy changed his life and ...

Between speaking on a panel at The Chef Conference in Philly and catching a flight back to New Orleans, chef Nina Compton took time to sit down with Andrew and share the milestones in her life and career to date. From a fondly remembered childhood in Saint Lucia to the Culinary Institute of America to stints working for and with chefs such as Daniel Boulud, Scott Conant, and Norman Van Aken ... to owning and operating her own Compè...

Austin Johnson has taken a circuitous route to NYC's One White Street and Rigor Hill Market. He's cooked or cheffed at institutions like Canlis, Noma, Eleven Madison Park, Frenchie, and others, as well as on an Alaskan fishing boat. (His blog from his time on the boat is still online, and is well worth your time.) He shares it all here, and takes time along the way to discuss kitchen culture, whether or not to go to cooking school,...

If ever there were a guest who needed little introduction, it's certainly Alain Ducasse. The great chef--one of the most influential, prolific, and successful in the history of Western cuisine--sat down with Andrew this week to discuss his new book "Good Taste: A Life of Food and Passion." The book is a meditation on Chef Ducasse's life and career so far, and in this conversation, he expands on many of the ideas and moments related...

The Taste of Things is one of the most celebrated films of the past year, a beautifully rendered love story set amid an important chapter in culinary history. On this ATTC Special Conversation, the film's writer-director Trần Anh Hùng joins us from Paris to discuss the genesis of the film, what attracted him to the project, the involvement of chef Pierre Gagnaire, and working with actors Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel. 

Our tha...

Friends of the pod Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, of Border Grill and other restaurants, check in from Los Angeles to discuss the evolution of chefs and other industry figures making a difference by devoting time, effort, and resources to a variety of causes. In addition to their own substantial work on behalf of organizations such as The Abundance Setting, the James Beard Foundation, The Los Angeles LGBT Center, The Sclerode...

This week, the chef and restaurant community suddenly lost one of its most talented and influential figures. David Bouley, who rose to prominence at Montrachet and Bouley restaurants in the 1980s, died of cardiac arrest at age 70. To remember this towering culinary figure, we are sharing a previously unaired interview recorded at Bouley restaurant in its then-current home in 2014. Our condolences to David's family and to the commun...

In October 2023, Max Natmessnig and Marco Prins returned to Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, where they once were cooks, as co-chefs of the celebrated tasting-menu restaurant. Four months into their tenure, they sat down with Andrew to share their individual and joint stories, describe their collaborative creative process, and explain their their attraction to New York City.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'...

MIami's Brad Kilgore displays an easygoing demeanor beneath which resides a precise and driven chef. When Brad and his colleagues hosted Andrew for a book event last fall at the Arlo Hotel Wynwood (home of Brad's MaryGold's Brasserie), the two of them sat down to record this interview. In it they discuss myriad subjects including Brad's adoption of the principles of Molecular and Modernist Cuisines, his time in some of the best res...

While visiting his hometown of Miami, Florida, during his recent book tour, Andrew finally  had the chance to meet and interview with chef Michael Beltran of Ariete, Chug's Diner, and Eva and The Oyster Bar--all in Coconut Grove. Michael is also the host of the excellent Pan Con Podcast, which you should by all means check out. After years of corresponding by Instagram messages, Andrew and MIchael sat down for a conversation that i...

Our fourth Mentorship panel was staged this past fall in Andrew's hometown of Miami, Florida, at the much-acclaimed  Maty's, part of the Itamae family of restaurants. As chef Valerie "Val" Chang and her crew prepared dinner for a full house of line cooks from around the city, her brother and business partner Nando Chang took to the mic along with his longtime protege Adriano Montano. Their unique story--both are musicians and Adria...

**Content warning – this episode (briefly) discusses attempted suicide.**

Sam Hart took a circuitous route to the professional kitchen. After a childhood in which cooking and food weren't especially central concerns, Sam was in a career in advertising when culinary inspiration struck, leading to jobs in such kitchens as  Alinea, and ultimately to becoming chef owner of Counter- and other concepts in Charlotte, NC. Andrew and Sam sat...

For the first time in three hundred episodes, we're turning the tables on Andrew and sitting him in the hot seat, a.k.a. the guest's chair, to take you inside his new book The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food. Fellow writer and author Chandra Ram, of Food & Wine, takes the helm to ask Andrew all about the book: where the idea came from, what the research entailed, how difficult it was traveling and interviewing du...

Cafe Mars, a six-month old restaurant in Gowanus, Brooklyn, has made quite an impression on guests and awards-bestowers alike with its unique brand of hospitality, which extends to both staff and guests, erasing many of the invisible boundaries long associated with dining out. Everybody on staff is cross-trained for the kitchen, dining room, and bar; the team closes out their preshift meeting with a stretching exercise; and guests ...

**Content warning – this episode (briefly) discusses suicidal feelings.**

Eli Kulp inspires us. By age 36, he'd graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, moved from his native Seattle to New York City, and worked in top kitchens before becoming the opening chef de cuisine of the original, fabled Torrisi restaurant. After moving to Philadelphia to take over the kitchen at Fork, a catastrophic Amtrak accident rendered him a qu...

We're delighted to share the third in a series of live discussions on the subject of Mentorship in the restaurant industry. The series is brought to you by our promotional partner S.Pellegrino, and each one is moderated by Andrew, staged in a different city, and builds on the one(s) that precede(s) it. This episode was recorded LIVE before an audience of Houston line cooks at an On the Line dinner at Bludorn restaurant and features...

Since quietly taking the helm of Union Square Cafe in New York City, chef Lena Ciardullo has been turning out some of the best Italian-based food in town ... not bad for a woman who majored in communications in college before deciding to pursue a kitchen career. Recently, Lena sat down with Andrew at Union Square Cafe to discuss her own Italian roots, the time she spent in Italy, the pros and cons of spending her entire post-school...