Tinfoil Swans

Latest Episodes:

Hunter Lewis and the Road to the 2025 Best New Chefs Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

Food & Wine editor in chief Hunter Lewis shares the untold story behind the magazine’s iconic Best New Chefs list and reveals the 2025 class. From the intense debates that shape each year’s BNC decisions to the lessons he’s carried from his days as a three-sport "prep jock," line cook, and local journalist, Lewis reflects on the long, strange trip that led him to the helm of Food & Wine. Along the way, he opens up about why he still calls himself a "glorified home cook," his upcoming cookbook, his brush with Anthony Bourdain, how he approaches leadership, and the future he sees for restaurants in America.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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Edward Lee and the Worst Lunch Service Ever Sep 02, 2025

Show notes

From poring over cast-off food magazines in a Brooklyn laundry room to opening a New York restaurant at 25 and being nearly undone by a single New York Times mention, Edward Lee has lived through the exhilarating highs and bruising lows of the kitchen. On this episode, he goes deep about the worst lunch service of his life, how moving to Kentucky after 9/11 gave him the space to make mistakes and grow, and why revealing his Korean name on Netflix's Culinary Class Wars became one of the most important moments of his career. He also shares how he’s working to banish plastic from restaurant kitchens, why bartenders deserve more protection than they often get, and what he's hoping to teach his daughter about her Korean heritage.

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Samin Nosrat and the Very Nerdy Socks Aug 26, 2025

Show notes

Samin Nosrat has changed the way so many of us think about food, cooking, and connection. You may know her as the bestselling author of Salt Fat Acid Heat, her joyful Netflix series of the same name, or her wildly popular podcast Home Cooking. But in this conversation, she goes far beyond recipes. Samin opens up about growing up as a book-loving outsider with a very particular notion of cool, the early fan mail she wrote, the lessons she learned in the fires of Chez Panisse, the unexpected weight of fame, and why more than ever, she sees food as the most precious gift we can give one another. She also shares stories from her newest book Good Things, the weekly dinners that ground her, how her journaling habit came in handy decades later, and her secret connection to a particular puppet.

See more about the episode on foodandwine.com.

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Regina King and the Wine That Stops Time Aug 19, 2025

Show notes

You know Regina King from her decades of extraordinary performances — from her teenage roles on the sitcom 227 and the movie Friday to Watchmen, The Leftovers, The Boondocks, If Beale Street Could Talk, and so many more. But a conversation at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen showed a different side of the Oscar-winning actress: the daughter, the sister, the mother, the cook, the traveler, the dreamer, and now the wine entrepreneur. She revealed how as a kid, she and her sister would put on performances, reciting poems and doing one-act plays. She talked about her grandmother's pound cake recipe she has framed on her wall, the extraordinary way her mom cooks vegetables, and the freedom she found traveling solo in France. And she opened up about her son Ian, and his unique talent for finding beauty in the most mundane things — bringing new life to forgotten objects, going barefoot and in shorts in the winter, and finding so much joy in a glass of funky wine. With her new endeavor — an orange wine named for him, MianU — she's connecting with Ian, and sharing the gift of him with the world. Settle in, pour yourself a glass of something special, and take a moment to notice the light.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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Ayesha Curry and the 5 Night a Week Pineapple Fried Rice Aug 12, 2025

Show notes

2025 Food & Wine Game Changer Ayesha Curry is such a surprise of a human being. On paper, it's natural to wonder how someone can be an actress, cookbook author, restaurateur, founder of a skincare line and lifestyle brand, winemaker, and co-creator of a foundation that helps kids get fed in a million different ways. But as soon as she starts talking, it's easy to see that she's just always been this way. Live onstage at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Curry rewound the game tape to her childhood in a family where her Jamaican-born mom would make meals big enough to feed the whole neighborhood, her move to Los Angeles as a teenager where she had to figure out how to feed herself, her early days as a blogger, and the Food Network star who embraced her with open arms. She also opened up about the vital work her and her husband Stephen Curry's foundation Eat. Learn. Play. does for kids in Oakland, finding her place in the wine world, and the kind of old person she wants to be.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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Antoni Porowski and the Right Time to Leave a Party Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

"Queer Eye" and "No Taste Like Home" star Antoni Porowski joins Tinfoil Swans live at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen for a heartfelt and humorous conversation about identity, vulnerability, and finding meaning through food. He opens up about his path from actor and caterer to TV host and storyteller, the emotional layers of cooking, navigating fame, and the gentle art of knowing when to leave the party. Along the way, he shares reflections on therapy, self-care, family dynamics — and what turning 40 taught him.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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Tristen Epps and the Scrambled Egg Revelation Jul 29, 2025

Show notes

Growing up in a military family, Tristen Epps moved around a lot. But no matter where he was living, Friday nights were sacred. He got to dress up, go to a restaurant, not order from a kids menu, and feel like he was getting to know the place he was living — for now. At home, when his mom taught him to scramble an egg, he was mesmerized by the alchemy; one simple ingredient could transform into so many things. It's that wonder and curiosity that transformed him into the leader, visionary, and Top Chef winner he is today. He joined Tinfoil Swans at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen to talk about his mission to “un-colonize colonized food,” the freedom he feels cooking in Air Jordans, why it's important to him to celebrate oxtails with Michelin-level finesse, and his belief that cooking has power to correct history.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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Chris Shepherd and the Hot Dog Pizza Jul 22, 2025

Show notes

Growing up in Oklahoma, school was not Chris Shepherd's thing. Traditional classrooms just aren't the right fit for some brains — but it turned out that restaurants were. In junior college, he picked up a job as a dishwasher at a sushi restaurant and on the day the tempura guy didn't show up, his culinary journey began. The 2013 Food & Wine Best New Chef took time out from his extremely busy travel schedule to talk about finally finding his calling in the kitchen, the Disney cookbook that lives on a pedestal in his home, and the ingredient he just can't stand. Then his powerhouse wife Lindsay Brown joined to talk about why they founded the game-changing Southern Smoke to help restaurant workers in crisis, how 20 free therapy sessions can change a restaurant worker’s life, and the two-word question that makes all the difference.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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Run the Jewels and the Tuna Salad Battle Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

When Killer Mike and El-P were 10 years old, they both knew they wanted to be emcees, but it took a few decades for them to meet, form Run The Jewels, and go to war against one another over salad. The legendary rap duo joined Tinfoil Swans for a laugh-out-loud (and also cry a little) conversation about childhood meals, musical awakenings, midlife reflections, and the right way to eat a bagel. They dish on growing up on game meat and matzah brei, surviving lean years on egg sandwiches and fried fish, and building food ventures rooted in love, legacy, and community. There’s a philosophical breakdown of “rich people ice,” tales of Atlanta strip club wings and sentimental steakhouses, and the kind of brotherhood that only forms over bars, beats, and deli meat.

For more info visit: foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans

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Wylie Dufresne and the Platonic Pizza Ideal Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

2001 Food & Wine Best New Chef and Stretch Pizza impresario Wylie Dufresne joins Tinfoil Swans to talk about his job lording over the ice truck at the New York Renaissance Festival, how team sports inform his work ethic, what the heck molecular gastronomy actually is, and why the pursuit of the perfect pizza dough has him so fired up.

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