Top Chef Winner Melissa King: What Changed When I Stopped Holding Back

In today’s episode, we welcome Melissa King, Top Chef All-Stars champion, record-breaking competitor, cookbook author, and host of National Geographic’s Tasting Wild.Melissa shares what changed between her first season of Top Chef and her return to win it all. She opens up about growing up shy, fighting for her dream of culinary school, and the moment she stopped replicating other chefs and started cooking from her own identity. We talk about mentorship, discipline, sacrifice, and why competing on Top Chef is ultimately about competing against yourself. She also discusses her cookbook Cook Like a King, her blend of California sensibility and Chinese heritage, and how using her platform for advocacy has become central to her work.Join us as Melissa explains how owning her voice—not just her technique—became the key to winning in the kitchen and beyond.

In today’s episode, we welcome Jacques Pépin, culinary icon, bestselling author, and beloved teacher whose career has shaped generations of cooks around the world.Jacques looks back on his early apprenticeship in France, his move to the United States, and the unexpected turns that defined his career—from La Pavillon to Howard Johnson’s, from television with Julia Child to decades of teaching. He reflects on the importance of technique, the difference between professional and home kitchens, and why cooking has always been less about prestige and more about connection. He also shares the mission behind the Jacques Pépin Foundation and why passing on practical skills to those rebuilding their lives matters deeply to him.Join us as Jacques reminds us that long after trends fade, the simplest truth remains: cooking brings people together.

In today’s episode, we sit down with Alexis Stoudemire, entrepreneur, lifestyle creator, philanthropist, and recent Escoffier graduate.Alexis opens up about enrolling in culinary school as a deliberate next chapter, not a career reset. She reflects on balancing school with motherhood, business, media, and travel, and how formal culinary training reshaped her relationship with food, discipline, and intention. From walking across the graduation stage to finding confidence in the kitchen, Alexis shares what it meant to fully commit to learning something new and seeing it through.Join us as Alexis explains why food has always been central to her life and how culinary education expanded her purpose beyond the plate.

In today’s episode, we sit down with Jennifer Relph, a home baker, mom of four, and former cottage food business owner behind Selah Sweets.Jen shares how baking became a form of therapy during a challenging season of life and why time in the kitchen helped quiet her mind, focus her energy, and reconnect with joy. We talk about building a home-based bakery from scratch, navigating cottage food laws, managing holiday volume from a home kitchen, and donating a portion of sales to local nonprofits. Along the way, she opens up about burnout, mental health, and the realities of balancing family life with entrepreneurship.Join us for a heartfelt conversation about why baking is more than just food, how giving to others became part of the healing process, and what it really takes to turn a home kitchen into a place of purpose.

In today’s episode, we welcome back Kevin Boehm, James Beard Award-winning restaurateur, co-founder of Boka Restaurant Group, and author of The Bottomless Cup.Kevin reflects on a childhood shaped by instability and the unlikely refuge he found in restaurants. He shares how hospitality gave him structure, purpose, and a way to build the kind of spaces he was searching for himself. Kevin talks about writing his memoir, the response it has sparked, and why telling the truth about his life has opened honest conversations around mental health, identity, and service. Along the way, he offers candid insight into leadership, failure, and what it really means to make people feel seen.Join us as Kevin explores why hospitality goes far beyond the dining room, and how caring for others ultimately helped him reclaim his own sense of self.

In today’s episode, we chat with Jen and Michael Caines, the husband-and-wife team behind Moksha Chocolate, a bean-to-bar craft chocolate company based in Boulder, Colorado.Jen and Michael take us inside their world of small-batch chocolate making, from sourcing transparently traded cacao and understanding terroir to roasting, winnowing, grinding, and tempering with meticulous care. They share the unexpected path that led them from education, horticulture, and engineering to running a thriving chocolate company, as well as the challenges and joys of building a business together. They also explore the science of cacao, the rise of ceremonial chocolate, the benefits of functional mushrooms, and the tasting rituals that help people appreciate chocolate as a fine food rather than candy.Join us as Jen and Michael show why artisan chocolate deserves to be savored and valued, reminding us that great chocolate is crafted with intention.

In today's episode, we chat with Eden Grinshpan, TV food personality, cookbook author, and beloved host of Top Chef Canada.Eden opens up about what it really means to follow your curiosity and trust where it leads. Her story starts at Le Cordon Bleu in London and winds through Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and Israel—each stop adding new flavor to how she sees food and the people behind it. She shares the unexpected moments that shaped her career: the phone call that landed her Top Chef Canada, the restaurant that "only lasted a whole year" (and why she's proud of it), and the seven months in India that taught her food is a connector above all else. Eden talks about letting go of perfection, learning to cook with feeling instead of fear, and finding her voice both as a chef and as a person.Join us as Eden reveals why vegetables deserve "main character energy," the power of condiments to transform any dish, her philosophy on entertaining (casual, bountiful, and happy), and introduces us to her latest cookbook, Tahini Baby—proving that veg-forward cooking should be exciting, not restrictive.

In today’s episode, we chat with Matt Kuerbis, Escoffier Chef Instructor in Plant-Based Culinary Arts and Hospitality & Restaurant Operations Management. A chef-educator and entrepreneur, Matt blends classroom teaching with real-world brand building through his hot sauce company, HYCH.Matt opens up about the high-stakes pivot behind “Heat You Can Handle.” He explains why trademark conflicts forced a name change from Hoss Soss, how sharpening the brand promise (flavor over fire) clarified positioning, and the practical steps that took HYCH from farmers’ markets and cooler-only sales to retail shelves in 100+ stores—co-packers, process authority letters, brokers, and 3PL fulfillment—while pricing for shrinking margins at scale.Join us as Matt shares the founder mindset he teaches: conquering “restaurant math” fear, keeping books exit-ready, meeting guests where they are (plant-based, gluten-free, flavor-forward), and taking the very first steps—register the business, define your USP, and validate with real customers. It’s a candid, step-by-step guide for food entrepreneurs who want to turn a product into a brand—and a brand into a business.

In today's episode, we chat with Charlie Mitchell, executive chef of New York's two-Michelin-starred Saga and James Beard Award winner for Best Chef in New York City.Charlie opens up about one of the most difficult transitions in fine dining: leaving Clover Hill, the intimate 20-seat Brooklyn restaurant where he made history as the first Black chef in NYC to earn a Michelin star, and taking the leap to Saga's 63rd floor after the tragic loss of his mentor, James Kent. He discusses going from managing 8 employees to leading 100, the management challenges that blindsided him, and how he's honoring Kent's legacy while making Saga his own.Join us as Charlie explains his "safe to learn" philosophy that's redefining kitchen culture, how Sunday dinners at his grandmother's houses in Detroit still influence his approach to fine dining, and how he balances nostalgia with technique.

In today's episode, we chat with Byron Gomez, executive chef of Denver's Michelin-starred BRUTØ and the first Costa Rican chef to earn this prestigious recognition.Byron opens up about the brutal truth behind his rise from fast food to fine dining, detailing how 23 years of unwavering commitment transformed early struggles into extraordinary success. He discusses climbing through legendary kitchens like Eleven Madison Park and Daniel Boulud's restaurants, and how his immigrant experience as a DACA recipient fueled his determination to break barriers.Join us as Byron explains how he's revolutionizing fine dining through "brutalism" - cooking everything over open fire and achieving zero waste at his 18-seat chef's counter. From his philosophy of "each one, teach one" to his commitment to sustainability, discover how Byron's story proves that relentless dedication and staying true to your roots can lead to groundbreaking success in the culinary world.