The Zest

Latest Episodes:

Where Are They Now? Kanika Tomalin, Ph.D., Health Advocate and Cookbook Author Aug 13, 2026

Show notes

The Zest is nominated for Best Podcast. To vote, please click on this link, select "entertainment" and then select "podcast." Thanks in advance!

This summer, The Zest Podcast is checking in with some past guests. In 2020, St. Petersburg Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin released a cookbook called St. Pete Eats. Today she is the president and CEO of Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg.

Tomalin, who holds a doctorate degree in law and policy, chatted with Dalia Colón in 2020. They caught up again in July of this year at her office in South St. Pete.

Hot Sauce Taste Test with Carlos' Consuming Fire (From The Bay Blend) Aug 06, 2026

Show notes

The Zest has been nominated for Best Podcast. Vote now!

Today, let's listen in as our colleague Sky Lebron plays with fire. He sits down with Carlos Sanchez, the owner of Carlos' Consuming Fire hot sauce, to try some of his sauces.

In this conversation from The Bay Blend, Carlos also discusses his passion for spice, what made him want to start his business, how he became partnered with multiple minor league ballparks and how business has boomed since he started in 2021.

To see a video of the hot sauce taste test, click here.

Where Are They Now? Chef Marques Clark of YES CHEF Village Jul 30, 2026

Show notes

The Zest has been nominated for Best Podcast. Vote here!

This summer, we're checking in with some past Zest guests.

Marques Clark grew up in South St. Petersburg, in a neighborhood considered to be a food desert. He went on to study culinary arts and as an adult founded the nonprofit YES CHEF Village.

Dalia first spoke with Chef Marques when he visited the WUSF studio in 2024. She caught up with him again in June 2026 and shared the updates with our colleague Matthew Peddie on Florida Matters Live & Local.

Car to Table: Meet Tampa's 'Hoodbachi God' (from The Bay Blend) Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

The Zest has been nominated for best podcast. Vote now!

Our colleague Sky Lebron introduces us to Steve Smith, a.k.a. the Hoodbachi God. Hear how Smith turns the trunk of his car into a hibachi dining experience.

Thanks to our pals at The Bay Blend for sharing this conversation.

Robin Greenfield Is Foraging All of His Food for a Year (from The Bay Blend) Jul 16, 2026

Show notes

Rate and review The Zest wherever you're listening to this episode!

Our colleague Gabriella Paul catches up with environmental activist and friend of the pod Robin Greenfield. Find out why he's once again sworn off grocery stores and what he's eating instead. Thanks to our pals at The Bay Blend for sharing this conversation. The feature is introduced by Susan Giles Wantuck.

Where Are They Now? Chef René Valenzuela of René's Mexican Kitchen Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

This summer, we're checking in with some past Zest guests.

René Valenzuela is the founder and former owner of the popular local chain Taco Bus. He owned several restaurants in his native Monterrey, Mexico, before moving to the United States in 1995. In 2018, Chef René was badly burned and nearly died after a gas explosion in his food truck.

Chef René chatted with The Zest’s original host, Robin Sussingham, in 2020. And in June 2026, host Dalia caught up with him at a picnic table at his René's Mexican Kitchen food trailer on Tampa’s bustling Nebraska Avenue, adjacent to Southern Brewing & Winery.

Thanks to our friends at Florida Matters Live & Local for sharing this conversation.

Bonus: Join “Retro Recipes” Author Bobby Hicks and Dalia Colón at Tombolo Books Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

“Retro food” can mean different things to different people. For today’s kids, it’s the Jell-O Pudding Pops and vintage Pizza Huts of their parents’ childhood. For Bobby Hicks, retro means tuna noodle casserole, chicken Kiev and gelatin rainbow cake—the food of his parents’ and grandparents’ heyday.

But retro recipes are more than a list of ingredients. They’re a feeling. During the pandemic, Hicks shared this nostalgia with a growing number of social media followers who watched him make these sentimental dishes, providing a much-needed sense of comfort.

And now he’s captured that feeling in a new cookbook. It’s called Retro Recipes: Vintage Dishes with a Modern Twist.

We caught up with Hicks, who grew up on a farm in Central Florida and now lives in South Florida. In this conversation, the content creator and self-taught private chef discusses how to modernize retro meals for the 21st century, staples of a vintage kitchen and which recipes should stay in the past.

Want to hear more from Bobby? Catch him in conversation with Dalia at Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg on June 30. Get event details here.

Restauranteur Billy Dec Explores His Filipino Heritage in the PBS Documentary “Food Roots” May 28, 2026

Show notes

When our elders pass away, too often their recipes die with them.

In recent years, this reality really began sinking in for actor and restaurateur Billy Dec. So Dec, the son of a white father and Filipina mother, decided to travel to the Philippines to find his last living maternal elders and learn his ancestral recipes. He brought along a film crew, and the result is the new PBS documentary Food Roots.

We met up with Dec at Sunda Tampa, the Southeast Asian restaurant he owns in Tampa’s Midtown district. In this conversation, he discusses what his journey taught him about himself, his struggle to fit in as a “Waisian” kid growing up in Chicago and the rising popularity of Filipino cuisine.

Inside Tampa’s 5-Star Bar Scene with The Tampa Edition’s Nihat Çam May 21, 2026

Show notes

A hotel bar is much more than a place to grab a drink while you’re on vacation or traveling for work. It’s about connection, relaxation and rituals as old as mankind. A really good hotel bar will even attract the locals.

That’s the case at The Tampa Edition, a five-star hotel located on downtown’s bustling Channelside Drive. Throughout the hotel’s bars and restaurants, service is as important as what’s in the glass. Ensuring that hospitality is the Tampa Edition’s director of bars, Nihat Çam.

We sat down with Çam at the hotel’s Punch Room speakeasy. Over virgin hibiscus cocktails, he shares how his Turkish upbringing and global travels led him to this role. Çam also shares the latest trends in alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks and discusses the larger role that hotels play in society, as detailed in his book. It's called Bar Culture: Hospitality, Hotel Bars and Spirits.

Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters President Roberto Torres on the Grind Behind the Grind May 14, 2026

Show notes

It’s not about the coffee. Owning a coffee shop is about connecting with people. So says Roberto Torres, president of Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters. What started as a local coffee concept has grown into a company with eight locations across Tampa, including a presence in Tampa International Airport.

We met up with Torres at Blind Tiger’s Ybor City location. In this conversation, Torres shares his journey from being an accountant in his native Panama to owning one of Tampa Bay’s most revered local brands with his business partner, Luis Montanez. He also pushes back on the romanticized idea of owning a coffee shop and explains how entrepreneurship is like a classic video game.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected