andrew talks to chefs

Chef Kevin O'Donnell loves a challenge, but even he wasn't prepared to open his new "free-style" Italian restaurant Giusto (Newport, RI) during a global pandemic. Kevin shares how Giusto launched and thrived against the odds. He also discusses his culinary awakening, his culinary school experience, and what it was like being a newly arrived American chef in Paris with just two weeks to ready a project for opening. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

It was no small feat for Esquire magazine to identify a class of 2020 for its Best New Restaurant List in the midst of a global pandemic. But Jeff Gordinier, in collaboration with his colleague Kevin Sintumuang, managed to pull it off in style with a celebration of what's new in American restaurants that launches today. Jeff sat down with Andrew to discuss why Esquire decided to produce a list this year, how he and Kevin pulled it off, and what they were seeking in restaurants and chefs to trumpet in this unusual time.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

Dubbed "the Champagne Empress of Greenwich Village" by The New York Times, Ariel Arce presides over a quartet of downtown Manhattan, Champagne- and wine-themed establishments including Air's Champagne Parlor, Tokyo Record Bar, Niche Niche, and Special Club. She also just authored her own book (due out November 3), Better with Bubbles.

Ariel recently sat down with Andrew to talk about her childhood as a theater kid, getting turned on to hospitality at The Office in Chicago, and her circuitous route to a life devoted to Champagne and restaurants. There are lots of good lessons here about following your own personal passions and life as an entrepreneur.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

From a childhood in Israel, to life as a street seller in Germany, to jobs in top New York City kitchens to success as chef-owner of Taim, Balaboosta, and Kish Kash, chef Einat Admony is an open book. On this episode, she opens up to Andrew about how being a middle child set the tone for her life; why she loves cooking; what it was like to serve in the Israeli military; and the twist of fate that led her to her husband and business partner. Oh, and she's also an amateur stand-up comic. All that and more in this action-packed hour.

Einat is also participating in S.Pellegrino’s (our promotional partner) inaugural Destination Dining series, in which pairs of restaurants on the East and West Coasts exchange dishes for one week each. 

For more about Destination Dining, see the recent article about the program on Fine Dining Lovers.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

(photo of Einat Admony by Evan Sung; courtesy S.Pellegrino)

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!

Barbara Sibley came to New York City from Mexico in the early 1980s and fell in love with the restaurant industry thanks to time working at the storied La Tulipe in Greenwich Village. Today, she owns and operates La Palapa, an authentic Mexican restaurant, and is creative director of Holiday Cocktail Lounge, in the East Village. Barbara and Andrew caught up recently in the garden behind Holiday Cocktail Lounge and discussed a wide range of industry, and non-industry, subjects.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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 our money, there's no better writer in the food realm today than John Birdsall. In his new book The Man Who Ate Too Much, a biography of James Beard that commingles the icon's life story with a history of both America's relationship with food and queer life in the United States. John spent five years researching and writing the book, producing a brilliant and moving work. We invited John on the pod to discuss the life of this little understood figure, John's writing process, and topics related to John's work and Beard's life.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

We are delighted to share our first-ever guest-hosted and curated episodes of the pod. In a 2-episode special report, educator and former chef Scott Alves Barton moderates 4 conversations among Black professionals in food. Two of the panels comprise Black chefs, one features four writers and editors, and one features two chef-farmers. Our hope is that taken together, this report helps foster a greater understanding of, in Scott's words, "what it means to be Black and professional in food." For our Black listeners, we hope these conversations resonate with you and reflect and amplify your own experiences and perspectives. 

Scott's guests today are (in alphabetical order) Aneesha Hargrave, Adrian Lipscombe, Joe Randall, Jonny Rhodes, Ashleigh Shanti, and Omar Tate.

If you enjoyed this episode, you might enjoy these other Andrew Talks to Chefs conversations:

A Talk about "The Talk"

Chef Russell Jackson

Chef Douglass Williams

Chef Edouardo Jordan

Ashtin Berry

Chef Erick Williams

Chef Roze Traore 

Chef Milton Abel II

Alicia Matthews

Chef Mashama Bailey (part of our Philly Chef Conference Special, 2019)

Chef Alexander Harris

Chef Tanya Holland

Chef JJ Johnson 

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

The coastal town of Mystic, Connecticut, boasts an emerging culinary scene, and chef James Wayman is at its center, helming Oyster Club, as well as the hybrid butcher shop-restaurant Grass & Bone and Engine Room, a bar--all in partnership with proprietor and fellow cook Dan Meiser. Andrew and James recently sat down for our first in-person interview since the lockdown began in March, and it was a total joy.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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 Kelly Fields, whose desserts at Willa Jean restaurant in New Orleans have captured the national imagination, just launched her first cookbook, The Good Book of Southern Baking. Kelly joins Andrew to talk about the book's mix of classic and idiosyncratic recipes; Kelly's philosophy that savory cooking and baking aren't as different as many believe them to be; and some favorite dishes in the book (in addition to her legendary chocolate chip cookie).

For more about Kelly, listen to our original, biographical interview with her from 2019.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

In culinary circles, chef Mark Ladner is widely admired for his versatility in the realm of Italian food: He created the very distinct menus for restaurants ranging from Lupa to Otto to Del Posto to the fast-casual Pasta Flyer. Currently, he's culinary director of Moby's restaurant in East Hampton, NY.

Andrew drove out to Moby's to catch up with Mark on the day he staged a one-night-only Italian barbecue--a special event created in partnership with our own promotional partner S.Pellegrino. As always, this analytic and introspective chef had many thoughtful things to share about cooking in general, and about the moment we all find ourselves in today.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

Author Bill Buford recently debuted his new book Dirt, about his adventures in Lyon, France, training to be a professional cook and chef. That might sound like a stunt, but Buford--who also wrote the bestselling Heat, among many other literary accomplishments--actually went to cooking school and put in the hard yards in prep kitchens, and on the line. He and Andrew discuss key moments from the book and compare notes on pro kitchens, France, and some iconic figures.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

Food and drinks writer and recipe developer Alicia Kennedy and Plate magazine editor in-chief (and former pro cook) Chandra Ram discuss two subjects that have been in the news recently: Recipe credit in restaurants and the media's role in creating and expunging bad kitchen behavior.

This episode was occasioned by the articles "There's No I in Jam: Sqirl Wrestles with the Sticky Question of Who Really Owns a Recipe" and  "How Food Media Created Monsters in the Kitchen."

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

Learn more about Alicia Kennedy (subscribe to her newsletter and please consider supporting her work). She also has a cool podcast, Meatless.

Learn more about Chandra Ram and Plate.

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!

Allison and Matt Robicelli are back for a new Shelter en Place discussion of the food & drink of Quentin Tarantino's classic Pulp Fiction. What's with all the coffee? The fast food? Why does Mia Wallace take Vincent Vega to the wacky Jack Rabbit Slim's for their (not a) date? We get into all that and more in this free-range conversation about one of everybody's favorite movies.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

If you enjoy this episode, check out our prior Shelter en Place reviews:

Shelter en Place: Burnt with Bradley Cooper

Shelter en Place: Jon Favreau’s Chef

Shelter en Place: Demolition Man

Shelter en Place: Dinner Rush

Shelter en Place: Hannibal

Shelter en Place: Defending Your Life

Shelter en Place: Little Italy

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 blast of normalcy in a longform biographical interview recorded pre-pandemic!

In late January, before COVID-19 hit US shores and we shifted to nightly special reports, Andrew had the chance to sit down with Douglass Williams, who's had an amazing young life so far. Raised in Atlantic City, knocked off his path to track stardom by Crohn's disease as a teenager, and a graduate of Michelin-starred kitchens, Douglass has made a name for himself at Boston's Mida restaurant, where he was recently named a Food + Wine Best New Chef for 2020.

Hope you enjoy our return to our regular format of shows with this fascinating guest.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

On the week the French Open would have begun, veteran tennis writer Joel Drucker joins fellow tennis-lover Andrew to discuss food rituals and other traditions that he associates with the major tennis tournaments, the global community of tennis scribes, and what it's like to chase summer around the globe during a normal tennis season. (Follow Joel's Twitter feed here.)

Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

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!

Our quest for great chef- and food-focused entertainment continues, as it does every Friday, as our favorite guest critics Allison and Matt Robicelli join Andrew to discuss the lamentable 2018 rom-com "Little Italy" starring Hayden Christensen and Emma Roberts. How can we possibly explain (or forgive) the cultural stereotypes on display? Does anybody, anywhere actually talk like the people in this movie? What's with all the octogenarian love-making in this thing? And where does the name Robicelli come from, anyway?

Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

If you enjoy this episode, you might enjoy these vintage Andrew Talks to Chefs conversations:

Shelter en Place: Burnt with Bradley Cooper

Shelter en Place: Jon Favreau’s Chef

Shelter en Place: Demolition Man

Shelter en Place: Dinner Rush

Shelter en Place: Hannibal

Shelter en Place: Defending Your Life

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!

Last week, David Nayfeld chef-partner at San Francisco's Che Fico, wrote (with Larissa Zimberoff) a Business Insider piece that addressed--in uncommon, unflinching honesty--aspects of the restaurant industry that he believes need to change post pandemic. The article addressed everything from livable wages to the creation of a sanctioned apprenticeship program to the what the cost of a restaurant meal should be to support sound food production and employment practices.

David joins Andrew on today's show to expand on the ideas expressed in his article. It's a refreshingly unvarnished, unfiltered conversation that industry professionals will find cathartic and civilians will find educational.

Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.

If you enjoy this episode, you might enjoy these vintage Andrew Talks to Chefs conversations:

Episode 61: David Nayfeld & Angela Pinkerton

Episode 81: Chef's Roll Anti-Convention Super Pack

Photo of David Nayfeld by Nelson Murray.

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!

Our quest for great chef- and food-focused entertainment continues, as it does every Friday, with an examination of the NBC series Hannibal. Allison and Matt Robicelli join Andrew to examine such questions as:  Why does the cannibal Hannibal Lecter remain such an enduringly fascinating character? How does Mads Mikkelsen compare with Dr. Lecters past? Is the show revolting, or beautiful? And how in the world did we end up talking about Tom Jones' sex appear in the middle of this thing? For answers and no shortage of tangents, please listen in.

Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information.  

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!

Lisa Abend, an American journalist and author based in Copenhagen, has been writing invaluable stories about the pandemic's effect on the chef and restaurant communities worldwide for Vanity Fair. Her recent articles have covered the initial shock and awe, the industry's humanitarian efforts, and the lessons we can take from Sweden's approach.

Lisa joins Andrew to expand on her reporting, and share her current thinking about the outlook for the industry.

Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information. 

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!

It's Friday, which means it's time for our latest Shelter en Place movie review with our favorite critical culinarians, Allison and Matt Robicelli. This week, we get into the 2000 Bob Giraldi cooks and mobsters melodrama Dinner Rush, which plays out in one tumultuous night at a Tribeca restaurant. In a first, the Robicellis and Andrew find themselves at odds--Andrew loves, loves, loves the movie and its realistic depiction of a restaurant in action, while Allison and Matt damn it with the dismissive "meh." Listen in as we hash it out and try to find some common ground.

Our great thanks to S.Pellegrino for making these special reports possible.

Please consider supporting Andrew Talks to Chefs via our Patreon page–pledge $10 or more per month and gain access to bonus, patron-only episodes, blog posts, polls, and more. 

Andrew Talks to Chefs is a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related information. 

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!