Acquired Taste Food Podcasts

What happens when the chefs behind Fauna bring their cooking to a city where everyone has an opinion about Mexican food?This week on Taqueando, Bill Esparza sits down with chefs David Castro Hussong and Maribel Aldaco, the husband-and-wife team behind Valle de Guadalupe’s celebrated Fauna, as they prepare to bring La Morocha to LA’s Arts District. Their vision: Baja comfort food, from tostadas and carne asada to flatbreads that might get the pizza police involved.David and Maribel trace their journey from young cooks working abroad to opening Fauna, finding their own styles, and building a restaurant that keeps people coming back. They also discuss Michelin versus 50 Best, the creative disagreement that transformed Maribel’s desserts, and why opening a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles comes with a particularly complicated set of expectations.Plus: lettuce-wrapped tacos, banana ice cream with corn cake, the evolution of Mexican wine, and why David has no intention of putting mole on the menu just because someone expects it.Explore La Morocha Los Angeles and follow David Castro Hussong, Maribel Aldaco, and Fauna.Follow Bill Esparza for more Mexican food discoveries, and leave Taqueando a rating or review wherever you listen.Produced by Robert Haleblian.

Free from gluten, dairy, and any willingness to accept a devastating elimination.Nancy and Bits recap Season 17, Episode 7 of The Great British Bake Off, where Free From Week brings surprisingly impressive pastry, a vegan animal-cake technical that leaves them cold, and a children’s birthday showstopper featuring Tom’s farting Shrek swamp.Plus: a major update in the floating restaurant saga, an investigation into Birmingham balti, and a detour through the Christmas movie industrial complex. Come for the baking commentary. Stay for the Civil War ghost boyfriend.Follow Compliments to the Chef on Instagram and send Nancy and Bits your questions, hot takes, and breaking floating restaurant news.

Is the best pizza in America actually in Los Angeles? Filmmaker Peter Ferriero certainly thinks so. Or at least he did until he discovered a pizza in Ojai that made him question the title of his own documentary, The Best Pizza Is in LA.Peter joins Luca to make the case for LA's pizza supremacy, explain why New Yorkers need to get over themselves, and debate what actually makes a great pizza city. They dig into the genius of Nancy Silverton, the rise of Pizzeria Sei, the pizza shops that should've made the documentary, and whether LA even needs its own signature pizza style.Plus, things get heated during a round of pizza hot takes: Is Dave Portnoy actually good for pizza? Are numerical ratings hurting independent pizzerias? Does pineapple belong on pizza? And is there really such a thing as bad pizza?It's a spirited, occasionally contentious love letter to LA's pizza renaissance, with plenty of strong opinions and a few slices of humble pie.WATCH THE FILM & FOLLOW PETER🍕 Watch The Best Pizza Is in LA on Amazon Prime Video🎬 Follow Peter Ferriero on Instagram🎥 Follow The Best Pizza Is in LA on InstagramFOLLOW THE LA FOOD PODCAST📸 Instagram🎙️ Acquired Taste Media

Karen Palmer is back, and we've got some grievances to air.Fresh off running the New York City Marathon, Luca returns with a potentially friendship-ending take: New York pizza and bagels might be overrated. Plus, a visit to Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe delivers spectacular food and surprisingly disappointing service, while a legendary New York steakhouse serves up a life-changing encounter with mutton.Back in LA, Karen breaks down the battle to save Silver Lake's Ye Rustic Inn, the financial struggles facing even the most iconic restaurants like Canter's Deli, and why El Segundo might quietly be becoming one of the city's most exciting dining neighborhoods. There's also plenty of bistro love, from Marée and Bar Étoile to a $42 burger worth discussing.Then, in Chef's Kiss / Big Miss, things get spicy. Is the LA Times 101 losing its soul? Has the backlash against the list gone too far? Are solo diners thriving or just lonely? Is DoorDash becoming too powerful? And has LA's obsession with steak au poivre officially gotten out of hand?Plus, OpenTable's latest dining trends, some podcast production confessions, and a very special case of stolen marathon valor.ARTICLES & STORIES DISCUSSEDYe Rustic Inn fights for its future in Silver Lake — SFGATEThe financial challenges facing Canter's Deli — SFGATEEl Segundo's emerging restaurant scene — SFGATEOpenTable Dining Trends ReportWhy Does the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants List Feel Like It's Lost the Sauce? — Diner TheoryDiner Theory's Alternative LA Restaurant List — InstagramDoorDash Is More Than Its Instacart — ExpediteLA's Steak au Poivre Obsession — Los Angeles TimesTHIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SLANG AIRunning a restaurant means juggling a million things at once, and the phone shouldn't be one of them.Slang AI is an AI-powered phone concierge built specifically for restaurants, helping teams handle calls about reservations, hours, private events, and more, so staff can spend less time answering the phone and more time taking care of guests.With its new Superhost technology, Slang makes conversations feel remarkably natural, understanding guests' tone, handling interruptions, and even switching languages mid-conversation.Hear how restaurants like Casaléna are using Slang AI to deliver better hospitality without adding more work for their teams.Learn more about Slang AI here:https://www.slang.ai/restaurants?utm_source=la_food_podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=superhost_launch_oct_26&utm_content=ad_readFollow @thelafoodpodcast and @acquiredtastemedia on Instagram for more LA restaurant news, reviews, and recommendations.

Bill Esparza welcomes Mona Holmes, editor of Eater LA, to Taqueando for a candid, hilarious, and occasionally confrontational conversation about Los Angeles food, journalism, and the people shaping the city's restaurant scene.First, Bill and Mona lay down the rules of food event etiquette, including how to escape a conversation that just won't end. Then they get into the increasingly precarious state of food journalism, the rise of influencers, and why great restaurant coverage requires more than a camera and a supposedly impeccable palate.Things get especially interesting when Mona confronts Bill over his infamous criticism of Villa's Tacos, sparking a debate about journalistic responsibility, professional boundaries, and whether food writers sometimes go too far. They also tackle allegations of AI-generated Michelin Guide reviews, the political failures making life harder for LA restaurants, and what city leaders should actually be doing to help.Finally, Mona shares her personal restaurant recommendations for convincing skeptical New Yorkers that Los Angeles is one of the greatest food cities in the world.It's a spirited conversation between two people who love LA, love its restaurants, and aren't afraid to disagree about either.Follow Mona Holmes and read her work at Eater LA.TAQUEANDO with Bill Esparza is part of the Acquired Taste Media podcast network.

It's Pastry Week in the Great British Bake Off tent, and Nancy and Bits are thrilled to be back to the show's roots: weird British meat pies, questionable fillings, and elaborate pastry sculptures that probably shouldn't exist.This week, the bakers tackle savory handheld pies, Nigella Lawson's Polish karpatka technical, and a freeform pie showstopper that gives us everything from a stop-motion chicken to a deeply unsettling snake. The ladies discuss whether Paul Hollywood has ever encountered a bánh mì, the increasingly compelling case for Tom to win the whole thing, Nigella's refreshing refusal to be intimidated by Paul, and which bakers are running out of steam.Then, things go spectacularly off the rails during the Gingham Altar. Nancy declares the New York City dining scene officially dead, while Bits launches an impassioned crusade against the most irritating trends in food influencer culture. Plus: why everyone should Brick their phone, why men insist on aggressively slapping raw meat in cooking videos, and the case for becoming a regular at your neighborhood restaurant.Come for the pastry, stay for the cultural criticism.LINKS & MENTIONSThe Great British Bake Off official websiteNigella Lawson's Karpatka recipeBrick: Take back control of your phoneCompliments to the Chef on Apple PodcastsFollow along with Compliments to the Chef for weekly recaps of The Great British Bake Off, Top Chef, and all the food television drama worth discussing.

Chef Keith Corbin is rewriting the rules of California cuisine, and he's doing it in a way that could only happen in Los Angeles.This week on The LA Food Podcast: Interviews, Luca sits down with the acclaimed chef, author of California Soul, and owner of Alta Adams for a wide-ranging conversation about the restaurant's bold reinvention, the food cultures that shaped him, and why his cooking is more personal than ever.Keith breaks down his new approach to cooking, which he calls "transposition" rather than fusion, and explains how dishes like duck confit with mole demi-glace and miso-glazed eggplant tell the story of LA's cultural crossroads.The conversation also gets into the challenges of reinventing an already beloved restaurant, Keith's complicated relationship with gentrification in West Adams, and his ongoing fight to bring investment and opportunity to his hometown of Watts.Plus, Keith reveals what really happened when he heard Luca's controversial comparison of Alta Adams and Little Mountain (spoiler: he drove straight to Montecito to investigate), takes us behind the scenes of America's Culinary Cup, reveals which competitor intimidated him most, and explains why Padma Lakshmi might be the toughest judge in food television.From Michelin stars and community activism to In-N-Out burgers and the future of LA dining, it's a funny, thoughtful, and deeply Los Angeles conversation with one of the city's most compelling chefs.LINKS & MENTIONSAlta Adams: https://www.altaadams.com/California Soul by Keith Corbin: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/677186/california-soul-by-keith-corbin/Little Mountain (Montecito): https://www.littlemountainsb.com/America's Culinary Cup (Paramount+): https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/americas-culinary-cup/Broken Spanish Comedor: https://brokenspanishcomedor.com/LA Times review of the new Alta Adams: https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2026-08-27/alta-adams-reopening-keith-corbin-restaurant-reviewFollow The LA Food Podcast for more conversations with the chefs, restaurateurs, and personalities shaping how Los Angeles eats.

Today on The LA Food Podcast, Father Sal and I have once again committed the frankly psychotic act of treating the LA Times' annual 101 Best Restaurants list like it's the NBA Draft, dear listener. We've got spreadsheets, hot takes, and enough grievances to keep a restaurant publicist employed through Christmas.The 2026 list is here, and we've got some questions. Is newcomer Lielle really the best restaurant in Los Angeles? Has Funke somehow become more essential than Bestia and Bavel? Does Alta Adams' meteoric rise to #10 prove that Keith Corbin is having the year of his life? And what exactly did Pizzeria Bianco do to deserve getting kicked off the list altogether?We're going deep on the biggest risers, the most brutal falls, the perennial heavyweights, the most egregious snubs, and the restaurants we're betting on for 2027. Plus, we discuss my OTHER 101, because apparently one list of 101 restaurants simply wasn't enough.But first, we recap the sold-out Echo Park Pizza Crawl, which raised $1,750 for Soccer Without Borders, plus some very good eating at the LA Food Bowl, Carousel, Mr. T, and Quarter Sheets, where I may or may not have committed an act of betrayal against my best friend.And in Chef's Kiss / Big Miss, we're tackling the explosive Memo Torres vs. LA Taco saga, an absolutely deranged scrambled egg scene in Nathan Fielder's Elizabeth Holmes documentary, restaurants finally putting their foot down on menu substitutions, and the horrifying economics of Halloween candy.It's a big one, dear listener. Get comfortable.LINKS AND FURTHER READINGMemo Torres responds to LA TacoEater on the scrambled eggs scene in You Can See EverythingEater on restaurants pushing back against substitutionsThe New York Times on skyrocketing Halloween candy pricesTHIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY SLANG.AISlang.ai is an AI phone concierge built specifically for restaurants, helping teams handle incoming calls, reservations, guest questions, and more, so staff can focus on the people actually dining with them.With its new Superhost technology, Slang.ai can recognize guests' emotions, adapt naturally to conversations, and even handle interruptions and language switches.Restaurant groups like Memento Mori Hospitality and Telefèric Barcelona are already using Slang to help manage their phones.Learn more about Slang.ai and Superhost here:https://www.slang.ai/restaurants?utm_source=la_food_podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=superhost_launch_oct_26&utm_content=ad_readAnd check out our recent interview with Chloe Makhani of Casaléna to hear how her restaurant uses Slang.ai to improve hospitality.Powered by Acquired Taste Media.

All hell has broken loose at LA TACO. Following the firing of longtime reporter Memo Torres, the departure of Izzy Ramirez, and a series of increasingly contentious public statements, one of Los Angeles' most beloved independent publications finds itself at the center of an extraordinary controversy.Bill Esparza and Rob break down the entire saga, from the ethical questions surrounding Torres' relationship with a California state senator to LA TACO's handling of the fallout, its ownership structure, and allegations of newsroom dysfunction. Bill also opens up about his own complicated history with editor-in-chief Javier Cabral, including a little-known story about how he landed the book deal for L.A. Mexicano.Then, in a stunning late-night twist, Torres publishes his side of the story while Bill and Rob are recording, prompting an emergency addendum and a whole new set of questions about LA TACO's future.Plus, the guys recap the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants celebration, the growing influence of Latino chefs on LA's dining scene, and some of the list's biggest surprises.It's an unusually explosive episode of Taqueando, and nobody is holding back.

It's Dessert Week in the Great British Bake Off tent, but somehow Elizabeth Holmes has found her way into the conversation.Nancy and Bits are back to recap Season 17, Episode 5, where the bakers tackle self-saucing puddings, a tricky bread-and-butter pudding technical, and a gloriously retro dessert trolley showstopper. We're talking soggy bottoms, questionable textures, and who's emerging as a serious contender for the Bake Off crown.Plus, the ladies take a major detour into You Can See Everything, Nathan Fielder's bizarre new Elizabeth Holmes documentary. What happens when the mind behind Nathan for You and The Rehearsal turns his attention to the disgraced Theranos founder? Nancy and Bits have plenty to discuss.From British puddings to Silicon Valley fraud, it's another delightfully unhinged episode of Compliments to the Chef!