This Is TASTE

Adam Weisblatt has opened seven restaurants with Last Word Hospitality, the LA group behind Hermon’s, Barra Santos, and Rasarumah. His terrific new book, ⁠For the Love of Restaurants⁠, colorfully traces the arc of building a restaurant—from location scouting, lease negotiations, financing, hiring, and opening night—through the story of the group’s first and smallest restaurant, Found Oyster. Adam joins the show to talk about why he wrote the industry playbook he wishes someone had handed him, and why sharing hard-earned knowledge is good for operators and restaurant fans alike.Also on the show, Matt talks about some recent restaurant visits in Los Angeles, including stops at ⁠Rustic Canyon⁠, ⁠Mírate⁠, ⁠Soban⁠, and ⁠Little Fish⁠.Subscribe: ⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel Gurjar, a Mumbai-born Brooklyn chef and author of East to East, explores the food, memories, and creative ties between Mumbai and New York. She discusses cookbook design, recipe testing, reclaiming curry, and cooking for Madhur Jaffrey. Kyle Beechey, a writer, actor, and playwright, shares the story behind The Restaurant Diaries, an intimate play staged inside a downtown restaurant.

Elazar Sontag published a cookbook at 18, ran Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants list in his mid-twenties, and (last fall) succeeded Tom Sietsema as the Washington Post’s food critic—with no disguise required. He joins us to talk all about his inaugural ⁠best restaurants list⁠, which is firmly an Elazar list and likely causing some debate in and around DC. We also talk about bringing back star ratings, his many travels to Virginia and Maryland, and much more with one of my favorite voices in modern food writing. It was a real treat to have Elazar in the studio. Read: ⁠The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around Washington D.C.⁠Subscribe: ⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eric Sze first joined the show amid research for his debut cookbook, Taiwanese?. The book will be released later this month, and I speak with the Wenwen chef about his deep research around lu rou fan, what “authentically inauthentic” really means on the page versus the plate, and how his sparkling book brings fresh perspective to both Taiwanese food and culture. Also on the show, Matt shares some of his recent restaurant visits in northern California, including stops at Valley, El Molino Central, and Flour + Water Pizzeria.Subscribe: ⁠⁠Apple, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clarissa Wei is a writer and cofounder of HEYDOH, a single-origin Taiwanese soy sauce brand. Her debut cookbook, Made in Taiwan, was a cultural exploration of the island she calls home. Now she’s following it up with Sitting the Month, a study of postpartum cooking and care informed by Chinese medicine and her own experiences with zuò yuè zi. Clarissa stopped by the studio to go deep on this fascinating ancient practice and its contemporary evolutions as well as to share updates from her life as a single-origin soy sauce founder. Subscribe: ⁠⁠Apple, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kendal Mitchell is a chef and biomaterials designer based in Brooklyn. Her Instagram series Bringing Food Waste Back to the Table turns often-wasted ingredients like eggshells and oyster shells into stunning tableware, and she’s constantly exploring new ways to create circularity with organic materials. Today on the show, she talks about training in sushi, her design work with groups like Ghetto Gastro, and the infinite potential within food waste. Subscribe: ⁠⁠Apple, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clara Lee and Eddo Kim are the co-founders of Queens, the San Francisco Korean American food company that started as a delivery-only deli in 2018, became a beloved Inner Sunset superette, and now makes gochujang, doenjang, and gochugaru from Northern California–grown ingredients. Their debut cookbook is Korean Soups: Recipes for Soups and Stews That Nourish, Restore, and Delight, and we absolutely love it. Today on the show, Clara and Eddo join Matt to talk guk versus tang and what closing a storefront taught them about building a brand.Subscribe: ⁠⁠Apple, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Justin Bolois has spent over a decade helping build the iconic First We Feast media company—from features editor to VP of programming and development, shepherding popular shows like The Burger Show, Tacos Con Todo, and Hot Ones within the media empire. Off the clock, he’s chasing something equally cool: vintage restaurant staff shirts, forgotten diner ephemera, and the last physical traces of beloved restaurants that no longer exist. That’s Restaurant Relics, a side project we absolutely love that’s part museum and part store. Justin joins Matt to talk about everything from his work on Hot Ones to the virtues of a well-worn JG Melon tee.Check out: Hot Ones Game Night.Subscribe: ⁠⁠Apple, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kenta Goto is a bartender and the owner and operator of two acclaimed cocktail bars: Bar Goto on the Lower East Side and Bar Goto Niban in Brooklyn. Born and raised in Tokyo, Goto moved to New York and worked at the lauded cocktail bar Pegu Club for seven years before opening his own bar. Now he’s sharing his considerable wisdom in a debut cookbook: The Goto Bartender’s Guide. Today on the show, we chat about developing his cocktail skills and his signature approach toward drinks and how home bartenders can do the same. Subscribe: ⁠⁠Apple, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everybody loves Carla Hall. Carla Hall is a chef and TV host who has appeared on many of our favorite food programs over the years, from Bravo’s Top Chef to Fox’s Next Level Baker. Her latest cookbook is also her first baking book—Carla Bakes: Sweet, Savory, and From the Heart. Today on the show, Carla stops by the studio to chat about all things baking, and what makes this book so special. Subscribe: ⁠⁠Apple, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.