Andrew Talks to Chefs

Few toques have made the leap from pastry chef to executive chef, but Emma Bengtsson of Aquavit in New York City did it in grand style, earning rave reviews and two Michelin stars since taking over the restaurant's kitchen in 2014. Andrew recently visited with Emma at the restaurant to review her early days cooking in Sweden, her love-at-first-sight relationship with New York City, her management style, and how she navigated the transition to her current role. Here's a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it's free) on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple's podcast store. Thanks for listening! Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

A first for the podcast: Andrew welcomes television's Phil Rosenthal, host of the Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil, as our inaugural Open Kitchen (i.e., non-chef) guest. As listeners surely know, Phil--who created the legendary CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond--has a passion for food and travel, which he explores on his series. He's also an investor in roughly 25 restaurants, and an unabashed admirer of chefs and cooks. Over espressos at New York City's Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria, Andrew and Phil discuss the creative process, the allure of travel, and myriad other subjects. During the interview, Il Buco's chef Garrison Price emerges from the kitchen with an Italian breakfast, and a spontaneous, audio variation of Somebody Feed Phil breaks out. Enjoy the first of what will be a periodic offering on the show! Here's a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it's free) on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple's podcast store. Thanks for listening! Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

One of the most accomplished chefs in the country returns to center stage this week as Jonathan Benno has just opened his Leonelli Taberna in New York City, the first of three planned Italian concepts he'll launch this year. Andrew, who's neighbors with Jonathan in the suburbs of Westchester County, paid him a visit during construction back in May to discuss the projects, the challenges of new openings, the first stirrings of his love of cooking and Italian food, and his time at such restaurants as Daniel and Craft, and as the opening chef of Per Se and then Lincoln Ristorante. Here's a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it's free) on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple's podcast store. Thanks for listening! Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

After some emotionally draining weeks, Andrew & Caitlin dispense with their usual introductory chit-chat and get right to this week's interview: a fun and free-ranging conversation with Chef Marc Forgione recorded recently at his eponymous restaurant in lower Manhattan. Andrew and Marc discuss the blessing/curse of being the son of a legendary chef; his formative days cooking for chefs such as Paticia Yeo and Laurent Tourondel; the origins and development of his restaurants Marc Forgione (which turns 10 this month), American Cut, and Khe-Yo; and what "New York food" means to him. Oh, and they also get into the Forgione family's premonitory gifts (seriously). Here's a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it's free) on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple's podcast store. Thanks for listening! Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Andrew recently had a chance to sit down with Midwestern chefs of two generations: Chicago legend Tony Mantuano, who was instrumental in bringing authentic Italian food to the United States, and has done an admirable job of adjusting to the ever-changing times in stride; and Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite, who riff on Chinese food at their Milwaukee restaurant DanDan, and recently announced plans for a forthcoming French restaurant. Two very different and complementary conversations. Here's a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it's free) on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple's podcast store. Thanks for listening! Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

The world lost one of the great representatives of the chef profession today with the tragic death of Anthony Bourdain. Andrew and Chef Bill Telepan got together to talk about this departed icon, and his influence on the industry and beyond. A quick, unedited commiseration on a very sad day. RIP Tony. Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

A special double-header with one chef from the Catskills and one who cooks there today: Ruth Rogers of London’s iconic River Cafe joins us to discuss her path to the kitchen, the restaurant’s 30-year trajectory, and her new cookbook; then Ryan Tate shares the story of how he almost joined the Army before discovering the kitchen, moving from Michigan to Manhattan, and slowly developing his own deceptively simple style. Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

In New York City, Andrew’s irked at the angle a restaurant critic adopted to review his book Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll in the New York Times. After he and Caitlin hash that out, we cut to a much happier scene: sun-drenched Los Angeles, where Andrew recently sat down with the super-talented Chef Timothy Hollingsworth of Otium restaurant, and before that, chef de cuisine of The French Laundry. Andrew and Tim have some history: Tim was the main character in Andrew’s book about the Bocuse d’Or competition in which Tim competed back in 2009. The two of them kick around Tim’s unique life and career (he spent most of his formative years—more than a decade—working at The French Laundry), his feelings about LA’s food scene, and other topics of life and work. An intimate conversation recorded in Tim’s LA home a few Saturdays ago. Here’s a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it’s free) on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple’s podcast store. Thanks for listening! Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

In what might quietly be one of our best interviews, Mary Sue Milliken--one half (with biz partner Susan Feniger) of TV’s legendary “Too Hot Tamales"--and one of the major characters in Andrew’s book Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll discusses cooking in LA; what a female-dominated industry might have looked like; her midwestern roots; and chefs and travel. Pull up a seat and listen in. Here's a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it's free) on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple's podcast store. Thanks for listening! Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Chef JJ Johnson and Andrew are both very much on the go this spring as they promote their respective books. (Pro tip: Check out JJ's From Harlem to Heaven--it's wonderful!) But they found a few minutes to comandeer a table at The Mermaid Inn and catch up--comparing notes on the book writing/publishing/promotion experience, discussing JJ's exploration of the African diaspora in restaurants and writing, and kicking around JJ's new restaurant concept and how he's enjoying a break from the pro kitchen. Pull up a chair and join them for a fast-moving hour of shop talk. Here's a thought: If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it's free) on iTunes or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple's podcast store. Thanks for listening! Andrew Talks to Chefs is powered by Simplecast THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!