Lunch Therapy

Kishori Rajan is the producer of such shows as HBO's Random Acts of Flyness and Eater's Guide to the World and is currently the vice president of development and production for Tessa Thompson's production company, Viva Maude. In today's episode, Kishori talks about her mother's amazing cooking, how she can't quite master it herself, how she likes to cook for a dinner party, and how she overcomes disaster (like the time she dropped an entire Basque cheesecake on the floor). We also cover producing food television, the qualities of a good producer, whether or not she's a perfectionist, the Supper Club she does with her friends, and the early days of food blogging. 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

My patient today, Steve Sando, is the man behind everyone's favorite heirloom bean company, Rancho Gordo, which got many of us through the pandemic with their jewel-like bean offerings. In today's session, Steve talks about, well, beans: how to cook them, when to salt them, why they make so many of us so gassy. We also get personal, talking about Steve's childhood in Sausalito, his dad's diving for abalone, feeling like an outsider, his trips to Mexico, being bad with money, starting a business, and raising his own sons around the dinner table. 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

Kristin Johnson (no, not Kristen Johnston from 3rd Rock from the Sun) is a delightful, whip-smart therapist-in-training who lives in Bellingham, Washington and happens to be my sister-in-law and this week's lunch therapy patient. In our session, Kristin talks about why she wanted to come on the podcast, cooking for her parents, her theory about why people are obsessed with their food choices, and how she almost made me cry arguing about vegetarianism. We also cover char on pizza, beheading a chicken, catching and eating Dungeness crabs in the San Juan Islands, and her second dinners. 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

Today's patient, Mayukh Sen, is something of a wunderkind in the food world. At 29, he's the winner of a James Beard award for best profile, the author of the upcoming book "Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America," and a professor at NYU (!!), plus he writes about film for outlets like The Atlantic, Film Comment, and the Criterion Collection. In today's session, Mayukh reveals that he came into the food world by accident, why he prefers writing about other people to writing about himself, his anxiety about food poisoning, and his annoyance with the idea that going to a certain restaurant confers on you a special status. He also opens up about spending time with his mother during quarantine, how she cooked him three meals a day, his recent sobriety, losing his father just before winning the James Beard award, and how grateful he is to his parents for allowing him to fulfill his professional dreams. 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

Colu Henry is a hugely accomplished food writer, with articles in The New York Times and Wine Spectator, and a beloved cookbook that's right up my alley: Back Pocket Pasta. In today's episode, we learn all about Colu's background as a cabaret performer, her transition into food writing, working for chefs like Scott Conant and Marcus Samuelsson, and growing up with an Italian grandmother. We also cover ego and selflessness in cooking, how to read a wine bottle, people-pleasing, and -- as a special treat -- she even sings a little. 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

Noah Galvin is a star of stage and screen. You may have seen him on Broadway in Dear Evan Hansen or Waitress, or maybe you know him from his stints on ABC's The Real O'Neals (where I was a writer for two seasons) or, his newest gig, The Good Doctor. In today's session, Noah talks all about cooking Thanksgiving in a closet in Vancouver, growing up on tour as Gavroche in Les Miz, and how he balances his love of food and cooking with his life as an actor. We also talk about time that he spent cooking with his father, how he navigates time in the kitchen with his boyfriend, actor Ben Platt, and why refrigerated chicken is a no-no in a grilled chicken salad. 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

Celia Sack is the owner of one of the most beloved and important cookbook stores in the country and maybe the world: Omnivore Books in San Francisco. In today's session, Celia talks about her childhood adventures digging through other people's stuff, eating a roast beef sandwich on the way to an animal rights rally, her background selling rare books (with a specialty in golf books), and coming out to her parents during the AIDS crisis. We also talk cookbooks: which cookbooks she would save if her store was on fire, which lesser-known cookbooks she recommends, and how she deals with the political fallout of some of the authors she carries in her store. 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

There are very few people who don't love Cole Escola, whether it's from their viral videos or as Chassie on "Cooking at Home with Amy Sedaris" or as Chip on Season 3 of "Search Party." In today's Lunch Therapy session, we get into Cole's neuroses, which all began with an episode of Oprah about the germs on the top of a soda can. We cover protein powders, acid reflux, veganism, whether or not they ate a latke at my latke party, and sanitizing grocery items. We also cover their hatred for fish and broccoli stems, the funniest thing that Amy Sedaris ever did to them (it involves popcorn), Hamburger Helper, desserts, boyfriends, and Alicia Silverstone. 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

One of my desert island cookbooks is The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook (based on recipes from the Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia), so imagine my delight that Cheryl Day -- who co-wrote it with her husband Griffith Day -- allowed me to analyze her lunch on this week's Lunch Therapy. Cheryl, a James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef and a cofounder of Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice, reveals that she's actually a Californian (!!), talks about moving to the South, her brushes with racism there, and how she manages to run a business with the person that she's married to. We also cover her mother's lemon meringue pie, how Southerners have a sweeter palate than Californians, what she looks for when she goes to a bakery, and the foods that she loathes the most (see: gizzards). 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

Surprise! Here's another episode for you this week, featuring one of my best friends, Jonathan Parks-Ramage, author of a brand new novel that's out today called YES, DADDY. In today's episode, Jonathan shamelessly plugs his book (just kidding: I read it, and it's soooo good), talks about his time as a waiter in a gaystaurant, the notorious pork chop incident at the beginning of our friendship, and his people-pleasing instincts. I also ask some hard-hitting questions about not grating his own nutmeg, chickening out when it came to making my Caesar salad dressing, and how his scrambled eggs are ruining my marriage. 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