Andrew Talks to Chefs

Latest Episodes:

Episode 12: Elise Kornack Nov 29, 2017

Show notes

**PLEASE DON’T BE CONFUSED: OUR FIRST 94 EPISODES ORIGINALLY AIRED ON OUR FORMER HOST NETWORK, AND STILL FEATURE THEIR STATION ID’S AND ADS. BUT ANDREW TALKS TO CHEFS HAS BEEN AN INDEPENDENT PODCAST SINCE 2019, AND WE’VE NOW AIRED SEVERAL HUNDRED EPISODES, AND COUNTING! SO … THE ONLY CURRENT, COMPLETE, AND OFFICIAL SITE FOR THE PODCAST IS ANDREWTALKSTOCHEFS.COM (PLEASE VISIT AND BOOKMARK), WHERE YOU CAN FIND ALL EPISODES, ANDREW’S MUSINGS, NEWS ABOUT PERSONAL AND VIRTUAL APPEARANCES, AND RELATED INFORMATION. THANKS!**

Just six months ago, Elise Kornack was the chef and co-owner of one of the most unique tasting menu restaurants in the world, Brooklyn's 12-seat, Michelin-starred jewel box Take Root. Today, she's enjoying a breather in her new home in the woods of Saugerties, New York, two hours north of the big city, where she's been reflecting on her life and career and plotting her next professional chapter. Andrew recently threw his mics and recording equipment into his trunk and drove up to spend a Sunday with Elise and check in on her state of mind and future goals. She shared some previously guarded details about her reasons for shuttering Take Root and took us through the evolution she made as a young woman from artist to line cook to chef.

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.

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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 11: Marcus Samuelsson Nov 22, 2017

Show notes

As his newest restaurant, Marcus B&P in Newark, New Jersey, came to life around him, Marcus Samuelsson took an hour to sit with Andrew (who was his publicist back in the 1990s) and reflect on his career: How he picks his next projects, divides his time, and what’s changed in the pro kitchen in the quarter century since he came to the United States. He also tells us all about the process of opening a new restaurant in a new city for the first time. A personal session with one of the most visible chefs in the United States today.

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Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Episode 10: Massimo Bottura Nov 15, 2017

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Our first season just keeps getting better and better as one of the most acclaimed chefs on the planet, Massimo Bottura of Modena's Osteria Francescana, drops in to talk about his new book Bread is Gold. The book tells the story of his ambitious project at the 2015 Milan Expo where he brought 65 chefs from around the world together to show highly creative ways to use past-their-prime ingredients and minimize food waste. We also talk about how the project is distinctly Italian, why he considers New York City a second home, and some key turning points in his life. This famously high-energy, passionate chef brings it in this memorable conversation.

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Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Episode 9: Victoria Blamey Nov 14, 2017

Show notes

Victoria Blamey is a good sport. The chef of Chumley’s, the reinvigorated former speakeasy in New York City’s West Village, agreed to meet Andrew for a shift drink and interview after dinner service at the restaurant. The two got to it around midnight and talked up a storm over cocktails, while Victoria’s crew gradually wrapped up their evening all around them. The two discussed the restaurant’s already-famous burger and why Victoria won’t customize it (a philosophical disagreement she and Andrew had been arguing for months off-radio); what it was like to be a young, female chef from Chile coming up in Michelin-starred kitchens in the UK and Australia; and her stints working for chefs like Paul Liebrandt (Corton), Matt Lightner (Atera), and Justin Smillie (Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria and Upland). Victoria also shares the origins and inspirations for her distinct visual style and her thoughts about cooking as an expression of self. A personal conversation befitting the hour and setting. Pull up a chair and join them, won’t you?

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Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Episode 8: David Kinch Nov 08, 2017

Show notes

While in New York City to attend the annual Michelin Guide celebration, chef David Kinch of Manresa, The Bywater, and Manresa Bread, popped in to chat with Andrew about Manresa's 15th anniversary and the special activities he arranged around that milestone (including installing his team in 3 different acclaimed kitchens in France for extended visits). He also shared his thoughts on the state of world cuisine in what he believes is a golden age, and how he looks at, and plans for, the next stage of his career, and life. One of our best and most celebrated chefs in a wonderfully unguarded mode.

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Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Episode 7: Greg Baxtrom Nov 01, 2017

Show notes

Last year, chef Greg Baxtrom took one of the best resumes around (Alinea, Per Se, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Atera) and funneled his hard-earned technique and experience into Brooklyn's Olmsted restaurant, a neighborhood gem that quickly rose to prominence as a destination restaurant. On the heels of Olmsted's inclusion on Esquire's Best New Restaurants list, Greg takes us through his young life and career and shares his recent experience opening his first restaurant as chef-owner. A rare and unusually open conversation about this crucial transitional time in a chef's career.

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Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Episode 6: Stephen Harris Oct 25, 2017

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Before he became a chef and turned The Sportsman in Seasalter, Kent, into a Michelin-starred destination restaurant, Stephen Harris was a punk rocker, history teacher, and financial advisor. Though he didn't discover the pro kitchen until he was nearly 30, this self-taught talent has taken his ideas of food as an expression of terroir and created what the National Restaurant Awards deemed the best restaurant in the UK in 2016 and 2017. While in New York City to promote his new cookbook (also titled The Sportsman), Stephen joined us to describe his unusual path and tell us all about the evolution of his style, his restaurant, and his book.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

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Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Episode 5: Paul Kahan Oct 18, 2017

Show notes

While in Gotham City to promote his new cookbook Cheers to the Publican (coauthored with chef Cosmo Goss and collaborator Rachel Holtzman) Chicago's Paul Kahan--named Outstanding Chef in 2013 by the James Beard Foundation--dropped by for a chat about growing up the son of a Chicago smoked fish purveyor, bolting the computer programming trade for the pro kitchen, his formative years working for Erwin Drechsler and Rick Bayless, and his culinary kinship with California. Oh, and he tells us why the "wrestler's mentality" he developed in high school has served him well to this day. He also takes us through his early chef-owner days opening Blackbird, avec, and The Publican, and up to the 10-entity empire he and his partners run today. And, of course, we chat about why he wrote this cookbook, at this time.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

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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 4: Amanda Freitag Oct 11, 2017

Show notes

Most listeners probably know Amanda Freitag solely as a television personality from her work on Chopped and other shows. But long before her first at-bat on the air (battling Bobby Flay on Iron Chef), Amanda was a veteran New York City chef. We explore that part of her life for the full hour, from her teenage gigs in New Jersey catering halls to the Culinary Institute of America to jobs in the kitchens of such legends as Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Diane Forley, and eventually to becoming a chef in her own right at Cesca, The Harrison, and other New York City restaurants. An honest, funny, insightful hour full of great stories and perspective.

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 3: Michael Anthony Oct 04, 2017

Show notes

Chef Michael Anthony has been at the helm of New York City's Gramercy Tavern since 2006. During that time, he has consistently polished one of the true diamonds of the Manhattan restaurant landscape, earning top honors, such as the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef in the nation. But Mike, one of the industry's true good guys, didn't grow up dreaming of becoming a chef; he found his way to the kitchen after a traditional college career and travel overseas. In this episode, Mike takes us through his childhood, time in Japan (where he once thought he might stay for life), France, and New York City, where he began his US career working with Daniel Boulud in the original home of Restaurant Daniel. Hear the story of his evolution as a chef and how his path took him to his current, longtime home at Gramercy Tavern.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

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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!

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