Andrew Talks to Chefs

Latest Episodes:

Episode 196: Nikita Richardson (New York Times Cooking writer and editor) May 27, 2022

Show notes

Nikita Richardson, writer of New York Times Cooking's "Where to Eat: New York City" column/newsletter (pro tip: subscribe to it!), and an editor for the paper's Food section, sits down with Andrew to discuss restaurants, recommending restaurants, the shifting dining landscape, and her path to this unique and enviable role. A fun, informative, and free-ranging conversation.

Click through to read Nikita's pieces on food in The Sims and "Where Are All the Black Restaurant Critics?" (both mentioned in the interview).

** See Andrew LIVE in Chicago: If you live in Chicago or will be visiting for the James Beard Foundation Awards, please register for your FREE ticket to a panel he'll be moderating the afternoon of Sunday, June 12 on the steps owners, chefs, and coworkers can take to help make motherhood a non-issue for hospitality workers.**

Calling all young chefs and aspiring chefs: If you're under 30, we encourage you to apply for the S.Pellegrino* Young Chef Academy Competition. Application deadline has been extended to June 30.

* our promotional partner

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!

Episode 195: Johnny Clark (Parachute & Wherewithall restaurants; Chicago) Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

A perennial seeker, Johnny Clark has had a long and unpredictable road to his success (with wife and co-chef/owner Beverly Kim) at Wherewithall and Parachute restaurants in Chicago, Illinois. From a Cincinnati childhood punctuated by a passion for skateboarding to New York City and gigs in several old-school kitchens to a stage under the late, great Im Ji-ho in Korea, and ultimately to Chicago, Johnny's path is utterly unique and his openness about his life and career challenges makes for a wonderfully open and honest dialogue. (He and Beverly and their team are also the subjects of Andrew's next book, due out in 2023.) This is one of those true deep-dive conversations that longtime listeners know is our favorite kind to record and share.

And, in the mid-show break, S.Pellegrino's Michele Vieira drops by to discuss the global S.Pellegrino* Young Chef Academy Competition, and explain why listeners under 30 should consider applying. (For a sense of the competition, listen to Andrew's 2019 interviews with the most recent class of North American finalists.)

* our promotional partner

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Episode 194: Tom Colicchio Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

Tom Colicchio recently sat down with Andrew to discuss a wide-ranging variety of topics, from his newest restaurant Vallata to the state of the industry to the genesis of the Independent Restaurant Coalition to his NFT venture CHEFTY. He also shares some personal insights into his enduring love of cooking and how his childhood memories figure into it.

In the intro, Andrew describes the global S.Pellegrino* Young Chef Academy Competition, and encourages listeners under 30 to apply. (For a sense of the competition, listen to Andrew's 2019 interviews with the most recent class of North American finalists.)

* our promotional partner

photo of Tom and Andrew by Maya Land

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Episode 193: LIVE! with Chef James Kent - "On The Line" Conversation at Crown Shy (NYC) Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Our first show before a live audience in three years took place at a recent gathering of New York City line cooks at Crown Shy restaurant, part of S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water's "On the Line" dinner series, which celebrates and supports line cooks. Andrew and James Kent, executive chef and partner of Crown Shy, Saga, and Overstory, discuss the lessons James learned in his line-cook days, and his advice to aspiring cooks and chefs today. It's a fun, frank conversation in front of an enthusiastic crowd that we think all you cooks and chefs out there will especially enjoy.

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

* S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water is also a promotional partner of Andrew Talks to Chefs.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Episode 192: Daniel Holzman & Matt Rodbard (authors, Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts) Feb 22, 2022

Show notes

Daniel Holzman has made a name for himself as a prolific and successful chef and operator, most recently at Danny Boy's Famous Original in LA; Matt Rodbard has done the same in the world of food writing, editing, online publishing, and podcasting as the founding editor of TASTE and the author of Koreatown. Now, the two friends and writing partners have concocted a wonderful, singular cookbook Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts.

On the publication day of their book, we're delighted to share this conversation, recorded remotely from an undisclosed and unique location somewhere in the City of Angels.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Episode 191: Roy Choi (host of Broken Bread) Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

By functioning as a chef, entrepreneur, author, entertainer, and social activist, Roy Choi has emerged as one the crucial, genuine voices in the food industry today. On this episode, Roy makes his Andrew Talks to Chefs debut to discuss Season 2 of his show Broken Bread, which looks at myriad social issues through the Prisim of food. As always, Roy is thoughtful, insightful, and open in a conversation that we love.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Episode 190: Ji Hye Kim (Miss Kim; Ann Arbor, Michigan) Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

Ji Hye Kim spent her childhood in Seoul, Korea, and her teenage years in New Jersey, before discovering a love for restaurants during college jobs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she's now chef of, and a partner in, Miss Kim. On this episode of the pod, Ji Hye shares the story of how she decided on a life in the kitchen, why she spent a few years working the deli counter at the legendary Zingerman's, and the relationships she enjoys with local farms and how their produce impacts her takes on traditional Korean dishes.

photo of Ji Hye Kim ©EEBerger.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Episode 189: Diana & Zack Wangeman (Sobre Masa; Brooklyn, NY) Jan 21, 2022

Show notes

Diana and Zack Wangeman were childhood friends in Oaxaca who followed different paths to their current success at Sobre Masa in Brooklyn, NY. On this episode of the pod, they share the story of coming to appreciate the food of Oaxaca, how they ended up in New York (and married), and the broader mission of their business.

* photo of Zack & Diana by Melissa Hom.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Episode 188: Kevin O'Donnell (Giusto restaurant; Newport, RI) Jan 07, 2022

Show notes

Chef Kevin O'Donnell loves a challenge, but even he wasn't prepared to open his new "free-style" Italian restaurant Giusto (Newport, RI) during a global pandemic. Kevin shares how Giusto launched and thrived against the odds. He also discusses his culinary awakening, his culinary school experience, and what it was like being a newly arrived American chef in Paris with just two weeks to ready a project for opening.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Episode 187: Missy Robbins (chef & author of Pasta: The Spirit and Craft of Italy's Greatest Food, with Recipes) Jan 01, 2022

Show notes

Happy New Year! We wanted to kick 2022 off with something positive, and are thrilled to welcome one of the pod's most popular guests ever, Missy Robbins (chef & co-owner of Lilia & Misi in Brooklyn, NY), back to the show. On this episode, Missy discusses her second book, Pasta: The Spirit and Craft of Italy's Greatest Food, with Recipes, coauthored with Talia Baiocchi. Missy shares the origin and process of producing this wonderful resource that combines fundamental knowledge with both traditional and signature recipes. She and Andrew also get into what it was like producing a book during a pandemic, the personal touch every cook brings to preparing recipes, and just what it is that makes pasta so universally appealing.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

We'd love if you followed us on Instagram.

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!

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected