The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

This week, we talk to two longtime restaurant critics from different parts of the country about what makes their work so interesting and what they're excited to eat. First, Bill Addison, restaurant critic for The Los Angeles Times, talks about his approach to critical writing, his favorite restaurant experiences, and the evolution of California cuisine. He just wrapped up one of the most ambitious projects of his career, the list o...

This week, we’ve got suggestions to start your summer reading list. First, we sit down with bestselling author and poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil to talk about her upbringing and the nature of her poetry. She writes about her parent’s gardens and their food, and how she carries her childhood experiences with her today. Her latest book is Bite By Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees. Then, we learn about the life and legacy of...

This week, we spend an hour with award-winning chef and author, José Andrés. We talk about his illustrious career, his world travels, and his love of regional Spanish cooking, its products, and its people. José Andrés is the founder of World Central Kitchen and author of many books, including Tapas, Vegetable Unleashed, We Fed an Island, and his latest, Spain My Way: Eat, Drink, and Cook Like a Spaniard. He left us with his delicio...

We're celebrating our 30th Anniversary on the road, and this week, we make our fourth stop in Iowa City in partnership with IPR. We talk to bakers, chefs, restaurateurs, and farmers about the food of the heartland. First up, Shae and Anna Pesek of Over the Moon Farm and T.D. Holub of The Garden Oasis Farm talk about their personal experiences with farm life, from agricultural challenges to sustainability and the community and passi...

This week, we get some seasonal Italian inspiration and delicious Italian sweets. First, we sit down with chef and cookbook author Hillary Sterling to talk about some of her signature dishes, how her obsession with Italian cooking began, and what it takes to get an exquisite dish on the table. Famous for her Creamy Parmigiano-Braised Beans, Hillary Sterling is the chef of Ci Siamo in New York City and author of Ammazza! Culinary Ad...

Every week on our show, we celebrate the intersection of food and life. And this month, we’re highlighting some of the most iconic people in the food world. It’s a new collection called Culinary Masters. We revisit interviews with some of the people who have fundamentally changed how many of us cook and think about food. This week, the man who brought Chinese cuisine into the homes of millions of Americans, the one and ...

We're on the road celebrating our 30th Anniversary and this week, we bring you an eventful night in Seattle in partnership with KUOW. First up, Valerie Segrest, cofounder of Tahoma Peak Solutions, and Jeremy Thunderbird, owner of Native Soul Cuisine, about the diversity of indigenous food, carrying on traditional recipes, and food sovereignty. Then, Tan Vinh, host of KUOW's Seattle Eats podcast, and Melissa Miranda, chef-owner of M...

Every week on our show, we celebrate the intersection of food and life. And this month, we’re highlighting some of the most iconic people in the food world. It’s a new collection called Culinary Masters. We revisit interviews with some of the people who have fundamentally changed how many of us cook and think about food. This week, we're all about the iconic Claudia Roden, who helped introduce the food of the Middle Eas...

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This week, we’re excited to get cooking! First, two-time New York Times bestselling cookbook author and the internet’s favorite Italian, Dan Pelosi, joins us to staff the phone and answer your cooking questions. We get into his top hosting tips, the how-tos of building menus for all kinds of gatherings, and his favorite springtime recipe, Roasted...

This week, it's home cooking with the authors of Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts. Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard bust food myths about cooking with frozen meat, and extoll the beauty of letting butter brown in the pan. Then, we visit J. Kenji López-Alt’s home where he gives us a lesson on cooking his favorite childhood dish, a super quick Japanese take on the Chinese classic, Ma po T...

This week, we talk about Mexican street food and the sometimes surprising foods that make us happy. Masienda founder, Jorge Gaviria, gives us a quick lesson on Vitamina T,aka those delicious masa-based Mexican street foods. Jorge is co-author, with Fermin Nunez, of Vitamina T,Your Daily Dose of Tacos, Tamales, Tortas and More Mexican Street Food Classics.He leaves us with a delicious recipe for a soon-to-be classic, Beet and Avoca...

We're back on the road to celebrate our 30th Anniversary! This week, we’re headed to Los Angeles, in partnership with LAist, to talk about the world-influencing food scene in LA and the community that brings it together. First, we dig into howLA dining influenced the country and the world with KCRW's very own Evan Kleiman, Host of Good Food, and Gab Chabrán, Associate Editor of Food and Culture at LAist. Then we talk communit...

This week, we amp up your home cooking with nostalgic dishes, perfect recipes, and pro cooking techniques. First, we talk with Chef Ham El-Waylly about his favorite dishes that were inspired by his wildly international upbringing and what draws him to comfort foods. From his mom’s cheesy empanadas to his riff on cinnamon toast cereal, he gets imaginative with recipes like his Tahini Roasted Swordfish. Ham El-Waylly is the aut...

This week, we’re all about the diverse and delicious foods of Ghana and Nigeria. First, Food Network Star Eric Adjepong joins us from his childhood home to talk about the connection to food when eating with his hands, the community that happens around the Ghanain table, and his take on traditional dishes like his recipe for Roasted Banana Grits with Seasoned Shrimp. Eric is the chef and owner of Elmina in ...

This week, we get into the history, craft, and techniques of homemade Ramen with the brilliant author, Sho Spaeth. We talk about its origins in Japan, the introduction of ramen to the US, and the recent innovation that gave rise to what we know as instant ramen. We learn about the five elements that  go into a bowl of ramen: broth, tare, fat, noodles, and toppings, and how these have been refined over ...