This Is TASTE

Banza is the chickpea pasta with the bright orange boxes that have become nothing short of a phenomenon, changing the way we think about gluten-free pasta forever. Matt is a legit fan of the rotini and the penne, as well as the brand’s expansion into pizza, and he invited Banza’s founder, Brian Rudolph, into the studio. They talk about the founding of the company, how Brian landed on the iconic branding, and what makes a great pasta sauce. We hope you enjoy this conversion.Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. MORE FROM BANZA: Olive Oil and Chickpea Pasta Got Cool. You Can Blame This Agency. [TASTE] Banza’s Founder Is Growing a Household Brand by Betting Big on Chickpeas [Forbes] Solving the Pasta Problem [Emory Wheel] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eunjo Park doesn’t necessarily need kimbap, but kimbap most certainly needs her—or fans of kimbap need her, at least. When Eunjo, a veteran of Per Se and the three-Michelin-starred Gaon in Seoul, was opening the first Momofuku restaurant to explicitly focus on Korean food, Momofuku Kāwi, located on the far west side of New York in Hudson Yards, one of the very first dishes she and her boss, David Chang, wanted to focus on was kimbap. And focus she did, which we talk about on this great episode. We also talk about her amazing career, and how she is thinking deeply about modern Korean cooking. We love Eunjo and hope you enjoy this talk.Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from youMORE FROM EUNJO PARK: BLT Kimbap [YouTube] One of Momofuku’s Top Chefs Is Leaving the Restaurant Group [Eater] Pre-order: Koreaworld: A Cookbook [Now Serving] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rie McClenny is a video host and cookbook author who rose to acclaim in the test kitchen at BuzzFeed, where she hosted video series including Make It Fancy. On this episode, we find out about her journey from Japan to professional kitchens in Los Angeles to YouTube stardom. We also talk about her terrific debut cookbook, Make It Japanese: Simple Recipes for Everyone. We hope you enjoy this conversation. Also on the show, Matt catches up with his old friend Evan Wittenberg. Evan is passionate about the Philadelphia food scene, the Netflix works of Phil Rosenthal, Cormac McCarthy novels, and playing the drums. He is also 13. It’s fun catching up with one of our younger listeners to find out what is good.Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. MORE FROM RIE MCCLENNY: A Japanese Homestyle Meatball Clinches the Comfort Food Crown [TASTE] Let’s Make Gyoza [TikTok] Phil Rosenthal vs. a 7-Year-Old [TASTE] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sana Javeri Kadri is the founder of Diaspora Co., an equitable—and highly useful—spice company paying an average of six times the commodity price to 150 farm partners across India and Sri Lanka. On this episode Sana unpacks exactly how Diaspora Co. has expanded their scope and scale while remaining true to their mission, plus moving back to Mumbai and much more. Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from youMORE FROM SANA JAVERI KADRI: In Los Angeles, an Indian Chinese Feast Celebrating Female Founders [New York Times] It’s 2023. Do You Know Where Your Spices Come From? [Afar] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Klancy Miller is the author of For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food, a fantastic new anthology pairing recipes and reflections that began as a magazine with the same name. Klancy is also a trained pastry chef, a recipe developer, and the author of Cooking Solo: The Fun of Cooking for Yourself. We’ve long admired Klancy’s work, and it’s a thrill to have her on the show to talk about creating the book she wished she had access to when coming up in the industry, her love of Paris, and much more.Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from youMORE FROM KLANCY MILLER: A Juneteenth Menu from Chef Klancy Miller [Vogue] Klancy Miller's Favorite NYC Spots Run By Black Women [The Infatuation] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kaitlin and Sarah Leung, creators of the food blog The Woks of Life, talk about their journey from cooking enthusiasts to professional bloggers. They discuss key elements of Chinese cooking, common mistakes when using a wok, turning vegetable scraps into stir fry, and the process of designing their cookbook. They also share their dream food project of exploring Chinese regional home cooking.

Dan Frommer, founder and editor in chief of the New Consumer, talks about 2023 consumer trends, big moves in consumer packaged goods and retail, and the future of the food industry. The hosts also discuss their cooking resolutions for 2024, food retail trends in Japan, the use of drug V for weight loss, the impact of TikTok Shop on shopping, challenges and successes in the CPG industry, favorite breakfast foods and desserts, and cooking resolutions for the new year.

Emily Sundberg has a knack for writing stories that get people talking. The freelance writer and mind behind the business newsletter Feed Me has an expert eye for trends in the food space and beyond, like the return of whole milk and the rise of the “shoppy shop”—you know, those cute, curated grocery stores that all seem to carry the same made-for-Instagram products. We wanted to have Emily back into the studio to talk about the year in food and drink retail—the products, the trends, and all the media that flows around them. We also talk about the future of Bon Appétit, and how food media is struggling to fight for your "time and your tabs." Emily is truly one of our favorite voices on the food internet (and really online as a whole), and we were excited to have her on the show. Also on the show, Aliza and Matt discuss the year in new (and kind-of-new) products and call out their favorites. These include Diaspora Co. pumpkin spice mix, Confusion Snacks popcorn, Cabi Foods dashi soy sauce, OLIPOP everything, Taiwanese soy paste, and Lexington Bakes brownies.        Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you.MORE FROM EMILY SUNDBERG: Welcome to the Shoppy Shop [NY Mag] Ultimate New York Beauty Black Book [Feed Me] The Dinner Party Is Over [NY Mag] Ranked: the 42 Secret Puppet Masters of Food [The Supersonic] This Is TASTE 253: Ben Leventhal [TASTE] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cake Zine is an independent print magazine exploring society through sweets, cofounded by Tanya Bush and TASTE contributing editor Aliza Abarbanel. Their fourth issue, Tough Cookie, presents a hearty batch of trials and triumphs, all in the context of cookies. On the show, Aliza and Tanya unpack how they made the issue, the many cultural connotations of cookies, and their latest trip to London. Also on the show, Aliza and Matt catch up about the trip to London and where Aliza ate and drank so well!MORE FROM CAKE ZINE: This Is TASTE 244: Cake Zine Fennel Fronds and Fine Lines: Food Tattoos Take Root Buy: Tough Cookie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A writer, editor, illustrator, cookbook author, children’s book author, and really fun guy to get to know, Joshua David Stein has got the goods, and we welcome him back into the studio. We catch up about all things cookbooks and food media, including his soon-to-be-published Korean cookbook, collaborating with Tom Colicchio, and his work on the wonderful Esquire Best New Restaurants list. It’s so great talking with JDS, and we hope you enjoy this conversation.Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We'd love to hear from you.MORE FROM JOSHUA DAVID STEIN: Three Days on a Boat with Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio [Esquire] The Best New Restaurants in America, 2023 [Esquire] How Lilia Chef Missy Robbins Is Reimagining the Restaurant Model [Fast Company] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices