The late Pulitzer Prize-winning L.A. food writer Jonathan Gold once wrote about Kevin Bludso's BBQ: “The brisket that issues from those battered smokers is a paradigm of meat, beef that disappears so quickly that, if it weren't for a feeling of satisfying fullness, you might swear that you had less eaten it than dreamed it.” Kevin Bludso is a BBQ legend and now, with the help of my pal Noah Galuten (a James Beard-nominated cookbook author and co-host, with his wife Iliza Schlesinger, of Don't Panic Pantry on Instagram) he's authored a cookbook: The Bludso's BBQ Cookbook. The book is unique because, in addition to it's extremely useful recipes for making BBQ at home (and it's very doable: just listen to the podcast!), the book also tells Kevin's unique story of growing up in Compton and spending his summers in Corsicana, Texas. It's a beautiful portrait of his family and his community and it's as much a great read as it is a great culinary resource. I could go on and on, but I think the interview speaks for itself! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I don't know about you, but I'm insecure when it comes to wine. It's just so overwhelming. What's the difference between natural wine and regular wine? Why is some super expensive wine not worth it and some cheap wine a great bargain? How do you learn all of the things you're supposed to learn about mouthfeel and terroir and structure? Welcome to Wine Week, my attempt to clear things up for you and me and anyone else confused by wine. I've invited two wine professionals with wine podcasts on to walk me through all of the things that I don't understand about wine Elle Clifford hosts The Wine Situation, a delightful podcast that I once appeared on the day that Elle found out she passed the tests to become a certified sommelier. With her expertise and approachability, I ask her all about her obsession with wine, how she affords drinking the good stuff, how she got interested in all of this in the first place, the way she chooses the right words to describe what a wine tastes like, and how she retains so much information about so many different types of wine. But first, I invited on Mike Stone of The TallMikeWine Podcast on to talk about his job as a tasting room manager at Nicholson Ranch Winery. How do you go from being a DJ to a tasting room manager? Mike has the story (and voice) for you. He also explains what he does every day at his job, how he motivates others in the tasting room to describe the same wines in different ways, and what he's currently drinking that he recommends. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's my favorite time of year: spring! So many delicious things to eat (fava beans, artichokes, strawberries) and so many ways to prepare them. That's why I've invited two notable food writers on to the podcast to talk about their favorite spring cooking strategies. First, L.A. Times cooking columnist Ben Mims swings by to tell us about his newfound love for radishes, his savory approach with rhubarb (peppercorns and olive oil!), and how he turns spring flowers into syrups that he can stir into sodas. Then, NYT contributor and author of the new cookbook, I Dream of Dinner (So You Don't Have To),Ali Slagle stops by to talk about her spring cooking approach: from boiling artichokes and eating them with store-bought mayonnaise to doing nothing with spring strawberries (“I just eat ‘em raw.”) We also talk about her growing up in LA, her grandmother who lives near me and apparently makes amazing food for her neighbors that they don't eat (hello! I'm right here), how she pitches stories to The New York Times, her decision to leave Brooklyn with her boyfriend after the pandemic to travel the country, and who tastes her food to give her feedback. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the debut of The Amateur Gourmet Podcast! Fans of Lunch Therapy: don't worry. You'll still get all of the in-depth interviews that you loved before, only now we're doing it on a theme. And this week's theme is FOOD TV. Natasha Leggero, host of the brand new TBS cooking competition show Rat in the Kitchen, comes on to talk about judging a cooking show, talking about food on TV, traveling with Ludo, what she cooks at home, her dad sending back his pasta, and being married to someone who keeps kosher (comedian Moshe Kasher). Before that, though, my good pal Jonathan Parks-Ramage comes on to talk about his love for Top Chef (we dish on who's the hottest) and, more importantly, Kids Baking Championship on Food Network. Is it a celebration of youthful obsessions with all things culinary? Or is it a new way for stage parents to force their kids into the limelight? Hope you enjoy the new format… And please don't complain about the yodeling. I love it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So excited to have Dan Souza on the pod today! Not only is he the editor-in-chief of Cook's Illustrated, he's a regular on one of my all-time favorite cooking show's: America's Test Kitchen on PBS. Today our conversation covers everything from his responsibilities as editor-in-chief, how difficult it was to make changes to the Cook's Illustrated format when he took over, what he makes when he doesn't feel like cooking, his love for seafood, and his obsession with tea. We also talk about his perfectionism, what it means to make “the perfect” version of something, how he wants to empower people with techniques, and how he uses cookbooks to move away from his perfectionistic habits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you like musicals, you've gotta listen to today's episode of Lunch Therapy. My patient is none other than Ben Rimalower, the only person I know who loves Patti LuPone as much as I do — so much so, that he wrote and performed a one man show about it called Patti Issues (which was a NYT Critic's Pick!). He's since gone on to write and star in another one-man show, Bad with Money, as well as writing for outlets like Vulture, Out, and Time Out New York. You may also recognize him as Countess LuAnn's cabaret director on The Real Housewives of New York. With his friend and frequent collaborator, Daniel Nolan, Ben is currently hosting Cast Offs, a weekly show on Monday nights at 8 PM at Club Cumming in New York where they play games like Dolly, Concert, Kill (who you'd want to see in a revival of Hello, Dolly, who you'd want to see in concert, and who you'd want to kill) and “Name That Belt.” In today's session, Ben talks all about his dislike of mayonnaise and blue cheese, his relationship with Patti LuPone (she made him veal meatballs!), his world famous salad, his obsession with Trader Joe's peanut butter cups, and the impossible meat Bolognese he made for a dinner party. We also cover his complex relationship with his dad (who came out to Ben's family in the early 90s), where he likes to eat in the theater district, his mother's very dry brisket, and what it's like being on set during a Housewives shoot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Lunch Therapy patient, Cathy Barrow (aka: Mrs. Wheelbarrow), is the highly accomplished author of four cookbooks — Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Practical Pantry (an IACP Winner for best single-subject cookbook), Pie Squared (a James Beard-award nominee for baking and desserts), When Pies Fly, and her most recent, Bagels, Schmears, and a Nice Piece of Fish. In today's session, we talk all about the bagel, how she came up with a winning recipe, how she left her career in marketing to become a landscape designer, learning from her grandmother and great-grandmother in the kitchen (recipes like chopped liver, chicken soup, and cinnamon-swirl coffee cake). We also cover the time she ran a fish market, getting discovered by the NYT, how she makes her latkes with no matzo meal, and how “a nice piece of fish” isn't just something my grandfather said. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My Lunch Therapy patient this week, Andy Baraghani, made a name for himself at Bon Appetit with his viral videos and approachable-yet-exciting recipes. He's now the author of a brand new cookbook, The Cook You Want to Be, which arrives on shelves April 26th. In today's session, we talk all about Andy's sense of discipline and how it changed during the pandemic. We also cover his Iranian background, the different kinds of food his mother's family made vs. his father's family, his favorite cooking smell from childhood, his love for fancy restaurants as a kid, and how he started his career by just walking into Chez Panisse and asking for a job. We also cover the recipe that he's proudest of: his kuku sabzi, or Persian frittata. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My patient this week is Matt Rodbard, founder and editor of Taste and co-author of Koreatown and the co-author of the brand new cookbook, Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts. Our conversation hits some juicy topics like cultural appropriation, how editors handle accusations against chefs in their publications, and how Jewish people are obsessed with meals and going to the bathroom. Happy listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebecca Metz plays Pam Adlon's funny and very humane manager on FX's Better Things (one of my favorite shows) and that's just the beginning: she's been working in Hollywood for decades and has been on everything from Gilmore Girls to Malcolm in the Middle to Shameless to AJ and the Queen. Today's session is all about what it means to be in actor in Hollywood: the craft itself, the brutality of auditioning, how you persevere, and, most importantly, what you eat. Find out what Rebecca has for breakfast on shoot days, what she makes to unwind at home, how she overcame people-pleasing to become a better actor, and the food she ate growing up with a Jewish caterer grandfather. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amateurgourmet.substack.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices