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The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters — Arts
The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

If you love to eat, cook and travel, The Splendid Table is your weekly go-to source. Our public radio program has been connecting people through the common language of food for over three decades. Hosted by award-winning food journalist Francis Lam, each week we bring you fresh voices and surprising conversations at the intersection of cooking, people and culture. We cover all things food – from recipes and restaurants to history and science, farmer’s markets and of course, the Thanksgiving feast. Our wide-ranging, freewheeling guest list includes both world-class and rookie chefs, bestselling authors, scientists, poets, musicians, and even an astronaut in orbit!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Weeknight Kitchen, to receive practical, delicious weeknight-ready recipes. Once a month, we also share a sweet treat or baking recipe. Sign up at Splendidtable.org/newsletter

Produced by American Public Media. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network

Copyright: © Copyright 2026 Minnesota Public Radio

Latest Episodes:

Bon Appétit's Adam Rapoport interviews host Francis Lam Jun 06, 2017

Show notes

Every once in a while, we like to share something extra with our fans and listeners. Our friend at Bon Appétit, Adam Rapoport, recently interviewed host Francis Lam for the Bon Appétit Foodcast podcast. Adam and Francis talk about Francis's early experiences with his new host duties at The Splendid Table, the difficulty of putting words to the page, eating Chrissy Teigen's scalloped potatoes, and how he hosts friends at home. Plus, some football talk for good measure. We hope you enjoy learning a bit more about Francis and why we're so happy to have him hosting The Splendid Table. You can subscribe to Bon Appétit's Foodcast podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast service.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

June 6, 2017

Spring Fling May 26, 2017

Show notes

This week we talk to hunger activist Robert Egger of L.A. Kitchen about his work feeding seniors, one of the fastest growing underfed populations. Molly Birnbaum, executive editor of Cook's Science at America’s Test Kitchen, is back with her monthly check-in. This time it’s goat's versus cow's milk. Plus Spring chef Skye Gyngell chats with contributor Noelle Carter about seasonal cooking, Taste of Home's Mark Hagen explains rhubarb and we visit the shop True Treats Candy with Susan Benjamin, author of Sweet as Sin.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

May 13, 2016 (originally aired)
May 26, 2017 (rebroadcast)

Farm-to-Table May 12, 2017

Show notes

This week we talk to chef Lenny Russo about the realities of committing to local and sustainable in a Midwestern restaurant. He is the author of Heartland. Tucker Shaw of Cook's Science shares the glamourous origin of fettuccine Alfredo in the U.S. and the secret to perfecting the dish at home. We look into the heart of Basque cooking with Alexandra Raij, co-author of The Basque Book, and we get a lesson in how to make nut milks with Dina Cheney, author of The New Milks. Plus, we hear about restaurant regulars and Paris' meat vending machines.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

April 29, 2016 (originally aired)
May 12, 2017 (rebroadcast)

Bonus: Samin Nosrat's Pasta alle Vongole - extended interview with recipe May 05, 2017

Show notes

Samin Nosrat is the author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Host Francis Lam recently interviewed her for Episode 630: Recipes - the Good, the Bad & the Ugly. [Ed. Note: find their interview here.] Francis had such a good time talking with Samin that their conversation ended up going long while talking about acid balance, and it was edited out of the main episode. Luckily for you, we set it aside for a bonus podcast. In this Splendid Table Sides segment, Nosrat talks about one of her favorite dishes Pasta alle Vongole (Pasta with Clams), and how she makes it with a technique of layering in wine, lemon, and different acids.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

May 5, 2017

Wurst Case Apr 28, 2017

Show notes

Chris Schonberger, editor in chief of First We Feast, joins us with an insider’s view of the problems surrounding modern food journalism. We learn how the "Vietnamese Madonna" opened a California sandwich shop, and we look at the newest rage in greens -- sea greens -- with Barton Seaver, author of Superfood Seagreens. America's Test Kitchen shares the technique for making perfect, super-fluffy baked potatoes. Plus Lucky Peach's Chris Ying explains how to cook sausage, and Floyd Cardoz shares a curry perfect for weeknights.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

April 15, 2016 (originally aired)
April 28, 2017 (rebroadcast)

Brain Food Apr 14, 2017

Show notes

Guest host David Leite talks to Dr. Drew Ramsey about the connection between food and mental health, journalist Lisa Morehouse reports on Chinese food at the Mexican border, and we dig into the freshly fermented gherkins, dill and fragrant sunflower oil of Olia Hercules' childhood in Ukraine. Her new book is Mamushka. America's Test Kitchen doubles the crunch with North Carolina Dipped Fried Chicken. Plus, why musician Kelis Rogers, author of My Life on a Plate, attended culinary school.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

March 11, 2016 (originally aired)
April 14, 2017 (rebroadcast)

Bonus: Shane Mitchell Extended Interview Apr 12, 2017

Show notes

This Splendid Table Sides bonus podcast features an extended interview with Shane Mitchell, author of Far Afield. Contributor Shauna Sever talks with Mitchell about her global travels with photographer James Fisher to document stories of hospitality for the book. The discussion includes more details of their visit to a refugee camp known as The Jungle in Calais, France. Shane Mitchell also gave us her recipe for Mullah Robe, a lamb and yogurt stew inspired by a dish made for her in The Jungle by a Sudanese refugee named Rasha.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

April 12, 2017

Koreatown Mar 31, 2017

Show notes

Mexican chef Enrique Olvera joins us this week with a conversation about modern Mexican food. His new book is Mexico from the Inside Out. Melissa Clark talks to Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard, authors of Koreatown: A Cookbook, and Molly Birnbaum, executive editor of Cook’s Science at America’s Test Kitchen, gives us a primer on scallops. Plus Gary Nabhan explains Tucson's new UNESCO designation: City of Gastronomy.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

April 1, 2016 (originally aired)
March 31, 2017 (rebroadcast)

What We Talk About When We Talk About Food Mar 24, 2017

Show notes

What do we talk about when we talk about food? We talk about life, the fuel that keeps us alive and the spirit that makes our cultures live and breathe. We talk about what we want, what we long for, or sometimes, just what we need to get by. In this episode: conversations about the appetites of the legendary writer Jim Harrison, about the women who made American food writing before anyone called it "food writing," a look at Buddhist cooking in Japan, and with a brilliant musician on the complex ways food and music affect us. Plus, five keys to making perfect pasta!

Broadcast dates for this episode:

March 24, 2017

The Dirt Cure Mar 17, 2017

Show notes

We talk to Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein about her intriguing book, The Dirt Cure. Molly Birnbaum, executive editor of Cook’s Science at America’s Test Kitchen, explains why lamb tastes like lamb, and Bee Wilson has come to believe that changing what we like to eat is the real key to tackling the obesity crisis. Her book is First Bite. Plus Katie Parla, co-author of Tasting Rome, on Rome's changing cuisine and The Sporkful's Dan Pashman on dining out in a wheelchair.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

March 18, 2016 (originally aired)
March 17, 2017 (rebroadcast)

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