712: Building Bridges with Sam Lawrence

What a fun time having Nathan Thornburgh in the studio. Nathan is a former Time magazine foreign correspondent editor and is the CEO of Roads & Kingdoms, which he cofounded with writer Matt Goulding and at which Anthony Bourdain was a partner. We’ve long admired Nathan’s journalistic muscle and great feel for a story. We talk about the founding of Roads & Kingdoms and how the company’s pivot to organized travel has been a really great choice.  Also: Fresh Food TV with Matt Goulding Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Lawrence is the chef-owner of Bridges, an ambitious and stylish restaurant on the edge of Manhattan’s Chinatown. Formerly the culinary director of Ignacio Mattos’s restaurant group, he opened Bridges in 2025. It won a Michelin star in its first year. Today on the show, Sam shares about bringing Bridges to life, Michelin recognition, and his plans for year two of the restaurant.  Before that, Matt has a great conversation with Fatima Popal. Fatima is the chief operating and financial officer of the Popal Group, a family-owned hospitality business based in Washington, DC, that is behind beloved restaurants like Lapis, Pascual, Lutèce, and Maison Bar à Vins. For this Resy Generations interview, we talk about what it’s like running a family restaurant business, and what it’s like to sit down for dinner with your family (and coworkers).   The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers – not of Resy—and do not constitute professional advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef and restaurateur Marc Vetri is behind the legendary Vetri Cucina in Philadelphia, among many other restaurants. He’s also the author of several cookbooks, including the terrific The Pasta Book: Recipes, Techniques, Inspiration. I really enjoyed having Marc in the studio to talk about his deep love for both pasta and pasta cookbooks. We discuss the early days of Vetri Cucina as well as how a family recipe was passed down for one of his new openings. Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nikko Cagalanan is the chef-owner of Kultura in Charleston, South Carolina. Born and raised in the Philippines, Nikko began cooking in 2017 while still working as a nurse, discovering that the kitchen offered the same sense of purpose—to nurture, care for, and bring comfort to others. In 2019, he moved to Charleston to fully pursue his passion for cooking and launched Kultura to great acclaim, including a James Beard Award nomination. It was a lot of fun having Nikko in the studio to talk about his journey to professional cooking as well as some exciting news from the world of openings.  And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Hangover cures, Television: A Novel of Luck and Perfection are novels worth checking out, and Catskills love for Fellow Mountain Cafe and Matilda. Also: We like I Love LA a lot and props to sneaky donut masters Grayling Bauer of Sparrowbush Bakery and Zoë Kanan of Elbow Bread.  Also check out: Charleston Isn't Ordinary with Mike Lata Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tamar Adler is the James Beard and IACP Award–winning author of An Everlasting Meal; Something Old, Something New; and the best-selling Everlasting Meal Cookbook. Currently living in Madrid, she stopped by the TASTE studio to talk about writing her new book Feast on Your Life: Kitchen Meditations for Every Day. It’s a thoughtful collection of dispatches from a daily life anchored by food, and today on the show, we go deep on Tamar’s writing process and perspective.  Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Snaxshot, the curatorial and slightly mercurial grocery newsletter and community, has grown into an industry force, read by consumer packaged goods executives and members of the food media on a near-religious level. (We are among these readers.) Andrea Hernández returns to the show to go over the big headlines from the year at the grocery store and in the CPG trenches. We talk about shorting protein, Stiller’s Soda, and Starbucks’s stumbles, and we play a fun game of “WTF is up with…”... It’s a fun conversation about the year in food and grocery. Also on the show we have a great conversation with Winston Alfieri, co-founder of upstart pasta sauce company Sauz. We talk about pay-to-play, scaling up as the “hot kids on the block”, and how to differentiate in the crowded pasta sauce category.    Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠⁠⁠⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠⁠⁠⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was a blast having Dan Souza in the studio. Dan is the chief content officer of America’s Test Kitchen and the former editor in chief of Cooks Illustrated. Dan has such a great style in the way he talks about home cooking, and we discuss his time working in food media before digging into a very cool and ambitious new drinks book: Cocktails Illustrated: 400+ Recipes for the Home Bartender, from Spirit Forward to Zero Proof.  And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Motek is blowing up in NYC, Katerina is a Greek pop-up in NYC to follow, Claire Saffitz’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake ice cream collab with Salt & Straw is redic. So good. Also: Dashi Okume in Brooklyn is a great place to visit for lunch or a custom dashi blend, a reminder that Superiority Burger is NYC’s best restaurant, another reminder: the French onion soup brioche at Little Egg in Brooklyn is the perfect savory pastry. Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠⁠⁠⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠⁠⁠⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laurel Kratochvila is an American-born writer and baker based in Berlin and trained in France. She runs the iconic Fine Bagels bakery, and her first book, New European Baking, was a finalist for a James Beard Award in 2023. Laurel joins us in the studio to talk about her incredible new book, Dobre Dobre, which focuses on both the modern and traditional baking of Poland, a country with deep culinary roots. We talk about Jewish baking in Poland, and dig into some real bagel history.  Also on the show Aliza, Clayton, and Matt discuss the year in fiction and reveal their five favorite books each. Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠⁠⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠⁠⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We wanted to close the year by talking about the year in dining in Los Angeles, a city that always inspires with new openings and truly singular legendary spots. We are joined by Jenn Harris, a columnist and critic for the Food section of the Los Angeles Times. The paper just released its annual 101 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles list, and we talk about many of the selections. Also on the show, we speak with Jordan Okun and Max Shapiro, the team behind the terrific podcast Air Jordan. Jordan and Max are always honest, and we have a great time discussing the year in restaurants in LA. And to kickoff the show, Aliza and Matt share some memorable meals from Los Angeles this year. Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We wanted to close the year by talking about the year in dining in our hometown of New York City. Matt has a great chat with New York magazine food editor Alan Sytsma. We talk about the magazine’s best new restaurants list as well as some long-standing favorites. Next up, Aliza has a wonderful conversation with Mahira Rivers, who covers the city through her Substack, Sweet City, and by reviewing restaurants in the pages of the New York Times. To kick things off, Aliza and Matt share some of their personal favorites from the year in NYC dining. Have a future guest request? A restaurant we should visit? Take the ⁠This Is TASTE listener survey⁠. We really appreciate the feedback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices