Besha Rodell (author, Hunger Like a Thirst) on Restaurant Criticism, Nomadic Living, and Writing Her First Memoir

As longtime fans of the pod know, there's nothing we love more than a crossover episode with a show we're friendly with. It reminds us of when we were kids and Saturday morning cartoons did the same thing, with characters from one show appearing on another, and vice versa. (That's why the animated episode image today.) So we're thrilled to welcome Nidal Barake, a marketer by trade, whose One of Each podcast presents interviews with an international who's who of chefs and other creatives who happen to be passionate about cuisine, restaurants, and cooking. (Be sure to check out his show, starting with the episode he launched today featuring Andrew as his guest.)Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Ari Miller’s evolution from journalist to chef was anything but traditional. In this revealing conversation, he shares how food became both his creative outlet and medium for making sense of a dark and complicated world. From growing up in a dysfunctional household consumed with historical atrocities, to finding meaning in kitchens in Tel Aviv and Philly, Ari shares stories about the mentors who shaped him, the politics of sourcing, and why he believes every dish contains a story—whether or not it’s given voice. We also dig into his viral “friz wit” cheesesteak, the meaning of “relationship cuisine," and the role of cooking in his life today. It is a conversation about identity, memory, and the power of food to tell complex, human stories.Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters.  THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Friend of the pod David Nayfeld, of Che Fico and other Bay Area restaurants, discusses his inaugural cookbook, Dad, What's for DInner--an outstanding first effort, and a perfect Father's Day gift. Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters.  THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Besha Rodell has written about food and/or reviewed restaurants for Creative Loafing, LA Weekly, The New York Times, Food & Wine, and other outlets, and is currently the restaurant critic for The Age. Today, she joins us to discuss her moving and entertaining new memoir Hunger Like a Thirst. The book tells the story of Besha's nomadic child- and adulthood, her migration from restaurant work to writing about restaurants, her approach to criticism, and some key themes of the book.Our thanks to Chef Michael Lomonaco and the team at Porter House Bar and Grill for hosting this interview.Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters.  THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

For nearly a decade, the LA Chef Conference has been the gathering of Los Angeles chefs and industry professionals. After a one-year hiatus, the conference returns this October 6 in its new home at Redbird and Vibiana in Downtown LA. On this episode, conference founder Brad Metzger and host chef Neal Fraser join Andrew to discuss some featured topics, speakers, and chefs who will be cooking for the conference's always-impressive lunch, including (in alphabetical order) Gilberto Cetina, David Gelb, Rashida Holmes, Jordan Kahn, Evan Kleiman, Michael Mina, Charles Namba, Laurie Ochoa, Nancy Silverton, Michael Voltaggio, Alice Waters, and others. (Andrew will be moderating a panel on Ten Years of Chef's Table, celebrating the acclaimed Netflix series.)Be sure to check out the details at the LA Chef Conference site, and sign up there for email updates regarding tickets (including discounted tickets for restaurant professionals) and updates to the line up.Following the brief conversation about this year's conference, we share some excerpts from previous conference interviews that give a sense of what makes this homegrown event, and the city it celebrates, so special.Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters.  THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Before launching her hit modern-Japanese restaurant Lingo in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, chef Emily Yuen worked in some hardcore French kitchens in London and Singapore, then found her way to New York City. In this conversation, Emily shares her evolution from French to Japanese cuisine, how she developed her management chops, and the disparate influences in her food.Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters.   THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Calvin Eng has had a busy and successful few years. His restaurant Bonnie's in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has become a hub of modern Cantonese-American cuisine, and now he's out with his first cookbook, Salt Sugar MSG: Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home. Andrew caught up with Calvin at his home in Williamsburg to discuss his path to his current projects, and the two are joined for part of the conversation by Phoebe Melnick, Calvin's partner and collaborator, to discuss the book-writing process.Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters.  THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

A few weeks ago, in record time, the good folks behind the LA Chef Conference, organized a benefit for victims of the recent, devastating LA wildfires. Dubbed Chefs ❤️ LA, the event raised more than$800,000, with all proceeds going to World Central Kitchen and Restaurants Care to support their work on behalf of those who lost their homes in the conflagrations. It was a restorative and emotional evening, and Andrew was honored to be in attendance to interview some key participants. This episode takes you inside the planning of an event of this scale, (it was hosted at the expansive Lawry's The Prime Rib), features interviews with auctioneer Billy Harris, chefs Nyesha Arrington and Sherry Yard, Darin Bresnitz (who lost his home in the fires), Ellen Marie Bennett (from outside the site of her childhood home in Altadena, which was lost in the fire), and others. The episode is also a celebration of the spirit of the industry and testament to the way so many chefs, purveyors, restaurateurs, and others step up when tragedy strikes.To donate, visit the Chefs ❤️ LA homepage and scroll down to mid-page.Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters. * event images courtesy Chefs Roll, Elijah Nicolas, and Nicholas Gingold/Craft Media Solutions  THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Earlier this year, we lost one of the greatest and most influential chefs ever to ply his trade in the United States, when André Soltner passed away at age 92. On the day the culinary community pay their respects at a celebration of his life in New York City, we wanted to share this previously unaired conversation with Chef Soltner, recorded in 2016 as part of Andrew's research for his book Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll. André Soltner was of course best known for his restaurant Lutèce, where he was the chef (and for 22 years, also the owner) from 1961 - 1994. (For more about his life, please see William Grimes' excellent New York Times obituary.)This conversation took place in Chef Soltner's apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on December 5, 2016, just five weeks after the death of his wife Simone. It covers his first interest in the culinary arts, his feelings about nouvelle cuisine, the brutality of old-school kitchens, his disposition toward the young American chefs who rose up during Lutèce's heyday, the pain of a negative review, and whether or not the legend of his only taking five nights off in the restaurant's lifespan was true. (He also does a quick but memorable impression of Julia Child.) Chef Soltner's kindness, generosity, and good humor shine through in this conversation. We hope it offers those who never had the opportunity to know him a sense of his personality, and those who did know him a welcome remembrance.Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters. * photo by/courtesy of Eric Vitale Photography  THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!

Come for the industry insidership, stay for the great writing and unvarnished personal honesty. Author Laurie Woolever's new memoir Care and Feeding will attract many readers because of its promise of tales from her days as assistant to Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. And it delivers on that front, for sure. But Care and Feeding is also, and primarily, Laurie's story--the story of a writer finding her way in life, New York, City, and the food world, and amassing all the personal and professional adventures and relationships implied by all of that. In this conversation, Laurie discusses the book, and the thoughtful decision-making behind it.Huge thanks to Andrew Talks to Chefs’ presenting sponsor, meez, the recipe operating software for culinary professionals. Meez powers the Andrew Talks to Chefs podcast as part of the meez  Network, featuring a breadth of food and beverage podcasts and newsletters. * author photo by David Scott Holloway THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.We'd love if you followed us on Instagram. Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!