This Is TASTE

Cake Zine is an independent literary food magazine cofounded by pastry chef Tanya Bush and TASTE contributing editor Aliza Abarbanel. The newest issue, Forbidden Fruit, explores how fruit fuels temptation, transgression, and fantasy. Today on the show, Aliza invites Tanya into the studio to talk about the editorial process behind this seventh issue and fruit’s many cultural meanings. Pre-order the new issue of Cake Zine: Forbidden Fruit Subscribe to This Is TASTE: ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, ⁠YouTube⁠  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was so fun having Jeff Gordinier in the studio. Jeff is a journalist, an author, and one of the more prolific writers in the food world. He’s currently Esquire’s food and drinks editor, leading their restaurants and bars coverage. Before that he was a reporter at the New York Times and held various roles at Entertainment Weekly. In this episode we have a great conversation about his work, the current dining scene, and his award-winning article in Food & Wine about rice in Charleston that he cowrote with George McCalman. Subscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny Meyer, the visionary restaurateur and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, shares insights on the 40th anniversary of his flagship, Union Square Cafe, recounting its storied past and legendary customers. Lena Ciardullo, the cafe's executive chef, discusses her journey, emphasizing seasonal cooking and community. They explore the challenges of relocating the beloved restaurant, the evolution of restaurant criticism in the digital age, and the unique identity of New York Italian cuisine, all while highlighting the importance of relationships in the culinary world.

Yasmin Khan is an author, broadcaster, and human rights campaigner based in London. After releasing The Saffron Tales, Zaitoun, and Ripe Figs, she has a new cookbook: Sabzi, a collection of over 80 vegetarian recipes drawing from her travels and her Iranian and Pakistani heritage. It’s so special to have Yasmin on the show to talk about adapting traditional recipes for a plant-based diet, motherhood and the power of culinary lineage. Shop: Canaan Palestine Subscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rosie Kellett is a chef, food writer, and supper club host based in London. She’s the author of a terrific debut cookbook, In for Dinner, and we really enjoyed catching up with her about the current London restaurant scene, her deep interest in pain au chocolat, and what cooking in a shared space in East London taught her about her own cooking skills. Read: Rosie Kellett on Substack Watch: London's Best Pain Au Chocolat Subscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fly By Jing is one of the most exciting brands in food today, and we were lucky to have the company’s founder, Jing Gao, return to the studio for a great conversation. We talk about the company’s incredible trajectory, and how growth (and expansion into new product lines) comes with its own challenges. We also tap into what it’s like to make chili crisps in China, and how the yo-yoing tariff dynamic is keeping the company on its toes. I have so much respect for what Jing is building at Fly By Jing. Also on the show we have a great conversation with Hailee Catalano and Chuck Cruz, recorded live at The Bell House. We talk about softboy foods, beach sandwiches, and what the DMs are looking like. Buy: The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp Subscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sami Tamimi is a Palestinian chef and cookbook author based in London. He is the cofounder of the Ottolenghi restaurant group and the coauthor of the award-winning cookbooks Jerusalem and Falastin, and now he has a new cookbook of his very own: Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from My Palestine. It’s a pleasure to have Sami in the studio to talk about his path to writing Boustany and the rich Palestinian traditions of agriculture and foraging.Read: The Musakhan Queens of RamallahRead: Sami Tamimi Wrote the Book He Wanted to WriteWatch: ForagersSubscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How fun it was to have Tejal Rao in the studio. Tejal is the co–chief restaurant critic at the New York Times, a role where she shares the mic with Ligaya Mishan. Newly elevated to this important job, we talk about how she views her role as a critic and go over many of her memorable stories. We also look back on her days working at the Village Voice and discuss how that era of internet reporting (or, dare we call it, blogging) informed her well-respected journalism career. Tejal is one of our favorite voices in food.And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Zimmi’s knows its way around aioli, Melissa King’s Cook Like a King is a true standout in a busy cookbook season, and Samin Nosrat knows how people want to eat with her new book, Good Things. Also: Ed Park’s new short story collection, An Oral History of Atlantis, is such a trip to the ’90s. Speaking of a trip, we made one to Edmond Hong’s restaurant pop-up, Stones, and it was impressive. Finally, Steak House, by Eric Wareheim with Gabe Ulla, is documentary cookbook writing at its finest.Listen: Meet Your New New York Times Restaurant Critic, Ligaya MishanRead: Omakase Isn’t Always Worth the Hype. Our Critic Says This One Is.Read: The Hard-Shell Taco Deserves Your RespectSubscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jinwoo Chong is the author of the novels I Leave It Up to You and Flux, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. We really enjoyed I Leave It Up to You. It’s a family story set in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and it features a Korean family working in a Japanese-Korean restaurant, with a family dynamic that feels quite realistic. Jinwoo talks about the research that went into writing so colorfully about restaurant culture as well as his own food memories from growing up in New Jersey. And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: David Lebovitz has revised Ready for Dessert, a visit to Pavé NYC, Coffee Project NY is roasting exceptional coffee. Also: One Love Community Fridge launched a CSA, Van Leeuwen is king of non-dairy, and Muteki Udon is serving one of our favorite salads.Subscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hunter Lewis joined us in the studio for an entertaining conversation about his career working in food media. Hunter has led Food & Wine as editor in chief since 2017, and before that he held editorial roles at Cooking Light, Southern Living, Bon Appétit, and Saveur. That is some résumé, and we talk through his various stops as well as digging into the terrific work currently being done at Food & Wine. We also asked him about the general health of editorial in 2025. It’s an interesting time to be doing what we do, and he doesn’t hold back.Subscribe to This Is TASTE: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices