This Is TASTE

David Kinch is the chef-owner of acclaimed Northern California restaurant Manresa and a legend in American fine-dining circles. On this episode, we head back to New York City in the 1980s and talk about his time working at the influential restaurant Quilted Giraffe—and how his post-shift meals at Midtown izakayas back then reflected the city’s changing culinary landscape. We also discuss his upcoming opening, Menton, and how he’s been traveling around America researching pasta.Also on the episode is Isaac Toups, the James Beard Award–nominated chef-owner of Toups’ Meatery in New Orleans and the author of Chasing the Gator. We discuss the definition of Cajun cuisine and how it occupies such a unique place in American culinary history. Plus, we talk about a trip he took to Lyon, France and the surprising connections he made.Lastly, Max Falkowitz answers a burning reader question about the price of vanilla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Odette Williams is the author of Simple Cake and delivers on the book’s lofty promise: that baking cake can be simple! The book is organized into 10 base cakes and 15 toppings, and readers are encouraged to mix and match at their baking leisure. In this episode, we dive into what inspired the Australian bakeware designer to make the leap to publishing—and what is so rad about baking cakes for everyday snacking. Indeed, she’s a very big proponent of the snacking cake. What an idea.Also on this episode, photographer and author Austin Bush joins to talk about his incredible book, The Food of Northern Thailand. He shares stories of adventure and pork rinds, and what goes into the writing and reporting of a guidebooks. He’s currently working on editions for Laos and Vietnam. He also shares details about an upcoming book project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big ideas, strong opinions, and a deadpan Instagram. These are a few of my favorite things. Former pastry chef and current Empellon boss man Alex Stupak is a complicated—and incredibly sincere—dude, and in this episode we have a really spirited conversation about chicken sandwiches, aquafaba, his time at WD-50, Maggi seasoning, his cookbook, Tacos, and making Mexican food at home. Phew! It’s a really cool talk.Also on the show, we ask Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman a reader question. Hint: There are donuts involved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the cofounder of online restaurant watchdog/chronicler Eater, and reservations booker Resy, Ben Leventhal has been at the center of all things dining out for over a decade. On this episode, we go back to the early days of Eater and talk about the rapid shift toward food as pop culture—which is not to be confused with pop culture’s crossover with food. That is, society’s deep interest in New York City’s Taiwanese restaurant boom, and not what that Foodgod guy is guiding this week. We clarify the difference.Ben also tackles the state of the restaurant reservation, and how restaurant owners are making it work in a very competitive climate. Note: This interview was conducted before Resy was acquired by American Express on May 15.Also on today’s show, Max Falkowitz answers a burning reader question about figs and veganism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello summer, and hello vegetables! Michigan chef and cookbook author Abra Berens loves vegetables and has an inspiring new cookbook that presents them in the coolest way: braised, blistered, roasted, and raw. On this episode we talk about Ruffage, and Berens's journey from working the counter at Zingerman’s Deli to culinary school in Ireland to her current post cooking and farming in an exceptional way that recalls Dan Barber’s Blue Hill.Also on the show, TASTE’s Tatiana Bautista has a great conversation with Auria Abraham, the supercool founder behind Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen. They talk cooking with sambal and kaya, two amazingly diverse ingredients. And Auria makes the best around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Rice is culture”—the spiritual spine of a new restaurant in Harlem—is one of the many big ideas chef and award-winning cookbook author JJ Johnson tackles in this spirited episode. We also go over how the media covers African-American food and the economics of running restaurants in New York City, and he relives a recent trip he took to Puerto Rico.Also on the show, writer Maggie Hoffman talks about her new book, Batch Cocktails. Just in time for all of those backyard parties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holy smokes, Priya Krishna and her new book, Indian-ish, have had quite a spring. She appeared on Today, toured America, sold a few copies along the way, and maybe pissed off a few people along the way, too (never a bad thing). I catch up with Krishna, a journalist and frequent TASTE contributor, about a month after the book’s release, and we went over it all. We talk about her great saag feta recipe and why the technique known as chhonk (tempering) is key in Indian home cooking. Also, why you should buy some asafoetida today.In addition we talk about her recent TASTE stories diving into yogurt culture (ha!), budino, and sun-dried tomatoes. What a cool conversation we had. Also on the show, Max Falkowitz answers a reader question: What is the difference between ice cream and gelato? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So that thing about needing to rest your cooked petite filet for 20 minutes before slicing? The quest for cartoonish grill marks on your rib eye? Sous vide as the means to tenderloin glory? It’s all sorta false. Aaron Franklin has some strong opinions about all things steak (which he writes about in his new book, Franklin Steak), and we unpack many in this entertaining episode. Franklin, of waiting in a long line for barbecue in Austin, Texas, fame, also talks about the status of cutting that line and shares some thoughts on why a trip to Japan might just ruin him forever.Also on this episode, we had a great time speaking with some of the top minds in specialty coffee (jump to 21:34), including Christopher “Nicely” Abel Alameda (Menotti’s Coffee Stop), Kyle Glanville (Go Get Em Tiger), Bronwen Serna (Counter Culture Coffee), and Geoff Watts (Intelligentsia Coffee). Topics covered include farmer compensation, the pros and cons of espresso, the cost of a cup of coffee, and the rise of good coffee in Los Angeles, where this conversation was recorded at NeueHouse Hollywood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What exactly does it mean for food to be “modern”? Who better to ask than Anna Jones, the author of A Modern Way to Eat, A Modern Way to Cook, and most recently, The Modern Cook’s Year. In this conversation, we talk about what the word means to her, and she explains why she decided not to label any of her three books “vegetarian” even though none of them contain any meat.We also talked about why lettuces and salad greens are better when they’re charred, wilted, and a little bit warm.Also on this episode, Matt talks the stock market and the booming dumplings game with Hannah Cheng of New York’s Mimi Cheng’s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Soleil Ho isn’t like other restaurant critics. She doesn’t use a star system to rate restaurants. She doesn’t use terms like “up-and-coming” or “ethnic” or “addictive,” and there’s a reason for that. Since she became the restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle a few months ago, she’s been shaking things up, rethinking the system, and…yeah, pissing some people off.We talked about this approach and what a restaurant critic’s responsibility is to their city. We also got to catch up about some of Soleil’s writing for TASTE, about eating dogs, and about the difference between “fusion” and the food that results from assimilation.Later on the show, Matt asks Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman a question from a listener.\ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices