Special Sauce with Ed Levine

Latest Episodes:

The Future of Farming with Will Harris Apr 11, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to White Oak Pastures' Will Harris about nothing less than the future of farming. Harris has become one of the leading voices of the regenerative farming movement.

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Asheville After the Flood with Pete Wells Apr 04, 2025

Show notes

Last September Asheville, North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helene. The damage is estimated to be $60 billion. Especially hard hit was the close-knit food community that has attracted millions of visitors to Asheville every year. The New York Times's Pete Wells did some stellar reporting last fall when he spent a few days interviewing chefs and farmers in the picturesque western Carolina city. Now, six months down the road, Special Sauce checked in with Pete and James Beard Award-winning chef-restaurateur Meherwan Irani to update us on the state of Asheville's recovery.

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Bob Jones of The Chef’s Garden on Farming's Future Mar 28, 2025

Show notes

When the documentary Food and Country came out last year, we had Ruth Reichl on Special Sauce to talk about the film as a whole and the farmers that are actually the stars and heroes of the movie. One of those farmers is Bob Jones, CEO of The Chef's Garden in Ohio. Given the various extraordinary challenges farmers are set to face in the coming years, we thought it would be great to have Bob on the podcast to tell us his story and to tell us what the future might hold for all farmers.

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Remembering New Orleans' Pableaux Johnson Mar 21, 2025

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The great street photographer, red beans and rice cook, and New Orleans food community organizer Pableaux Johnson died recently while doing what he was put on this earth to do: taking pictures of a second line parade. Here to talk about Pableaux Johnson and what he meant to the hundreds of people who called him a friend and the thousands of people who admired his work are my old friend New York Times food writer, Brett Anderson, and television and food writer, my good pal, Lolis Eric Elie.

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Is the L.A. Smorgasburg the best street food festival in America? Mar 14, 2025

Show notes

Is the L.A. Smorgasburg the best street food festival in America? We talk to the two people most responsible for it, Zach Brooks and Fernando Lopez. Zach has the dream job of tasting all the food and choosing the vendors; and Fernando runs the beer garden at Smorgasburg in Los Angeles and also helps run his family's famous James Beard Award-winning Oaxacan restaurant Gualaguetza.

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Laurie Woolever on Bourdain, Batali, and Herself Mar 07, 2025

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Today on Special Sauce we welcome back writer and former assistant to both Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever. Laurie has just published 'Care and Feeding', a candid, funny, and often devastating memoir about her adventures and misadventures making her way through the food world while navigating addiction, motherhood, a cultural reckoning, and an unexpected tragedy.

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Remembering the Pizza OG Patsy Grimaldi Feb 28, 2025

Show notes

With the passing of legendary pizzaiolo Patsy Grimaldi, the pizza world has lost one of its true giants. I discuss his legacy with Scott's Pizza Tours founder and pizza scholar Scott Wiener, and another great pizzaiolo, Una Pizza Napoletana's Anthony Mangieri on this episode of Special Sauce.

For more on the show, visit thespecialsaucepodcast.com.

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Food in the Aftermath of the L.A. Fires Feb 21, 2025

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On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the Los Angeles Times' Bill Adddison and Jenn Harris about the calamitous effect of the recent devastating fires on the L.A. food community.

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Adam Chandler on Work in America Feb 14, 2025

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On this episode of Special Sauce, Adam Chandler talks about his new book '99% Perspiration' which explores the history of work in America.

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'Reheating' Hot Chocolate With Jacques Torres Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of Special Sauce we revisit our chocolate-centric conversation with Mr. Chocolate himself Jacques Torres just in time for Valentine's Day.

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