andrew talks to chefs

Longtime listeners will remember Jose Arroyo, who was the subject of an interview in summer 2019. On today's show, Andrew catches up with Jose to learn how the pandemic and lockdown are affecting the family restaurants where he works in Covina and Upland, California.

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. 

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

For more information on the programs mentioned on this episode, visit Valrhona for details on registering for the Cake Walk, and visit the Korea Society's site to register for Andrew's webcast conversation with chef Hooni Kim Thursday, April 30 at 6:30pm EST.

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!

Just a quick moment (ok, 3 minutes) of your time, please!

We are delighted to announce that we have joined Patreon, offering listeners a way to support Andrew Talks to Chefs and enjoy extra benefits and content.

Nothing about our regular, free content has changed. We will continue producing our nightly specials through the end of May, then return to our regular, longform weekly shows. And all of that will be available as it always has.

But for listeners who would like to support this labor of love, Patreon creates a way to contribute, and help us to continue to produce the show in the coming months and years, and receive additional, patron-only content in the process.

If you visit our Patreon page, you will see that we have created 4 membership tiers at various monthly price points, each offering a little something (and in some cases a LOT of somethings) in exchange, from our undying thanks and an on-air thank-you, to monthly bonus episodes, blog posts, and participation in polls, to the opportunity to hear your name featured at the end of our opening montage. 

Our first bonus content--available at the Main Course tier and above, and produced just for Patreon members--is a nearly 2-hour special report featuring Andrew's never-before-aired Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll book interviews with Manresa's David Kinch, along with Andrew's commentary about the interview process.

For the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, we will be dividing the first monthly payment of each new member's dues (after Patreon's commission, transfer fees, and taxes) to a different relief fund or charity affiliated with that month's guest. From April 26 - May 31, 2020, we are supporting the Manresa Employee Relief Fund. 

Hope you'll take a moment to listen to this announcement, and to consider supporting the show via Patreon.

Thanks for being a part of our podcasting adventure!

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 another Shelter en Place movie review with our friends Allison and Matt Robicelli. This week we take a look at the 1993 action flick Demolition Man, which the Robicellis contend is a food movie. Join us as we visit a world in which there's no toilet paper, people no longer shake hands, political correctness rules, and ... wait a minute, this all sounds a little familiar.

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

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official site

Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll (Andrew’s latest book)

Robicelli Studio

Books by Allison & Matt

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!

Chef Edouardo Jordan owns and operates three foodservice businesses--Junebaby, Salare, and Lucinda Grain Bar--in Seattle, Washington, the first American city to have a full-fledged outbreak of the coronavirus. In this conversation, Edouardo discusses his efforts to lift up the industry at this time of crisis, including fighting for business interruption insurance support, participating in the Independent Restaurant Coalition, and serving colleagues by converting one of his restaurants into an outpost of the Restaurant Workers Relief Program. He also discusses his open letter about the lack of minority and independent restaurant representation on the President's Economic Council for Restaurants.

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

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official site

Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll (Andrew's latest book)

Edouardo Jordan's Letter

Junebaby

Salare

Lucinda Grain Bar

Restaurant Workers Relief Program

Independent Restaurant Coalition 

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!

You really don't want to miss this special double-header: Esquire's Jeff Gordinier takes us inside, and expands on, his impassioned piece that tied restaurants, music, culture, and politics into a masterpiece of the moment that was circulated the world over over the past weekend. And Georgia-based chef-restaurateur Hugh Acheson responds to his state governor's decision to allow a cross-section of businesses, including restaurants, to re-open in the coming days, and why his restaurants will remain closed to the public, while continuing to participate in Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen program.

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

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official site 

Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll (Andrew's latest book)

Jeff Gordinier

Hugh Acheson (restaurants, books, etc)

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 been six years since Jon Favreau's movie Chef debuted. In our relatively new, ongoing, and perhaps ill-fated search for the great live-action chef movie, Andrew joins forces with Allison and Matt Robicelli to revisit this food truck road movie and evaluate its depiction of the pro-cooking trade. How realistic is the protagonist's kitchen life? His relationship with restaurant owner Dustin Hoffman? HIs sous chef and line cook? His son? And, most importantly ... Twitter? In our second of what's shaping up as a weekly Shelter en Place Theater review, we ask these questions and more to end another week of coronavirus-resulting lockdown

**Warning: This episode is rife with spoilers. Please watch Chef before listening!**

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

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official site

Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll (Andrew's latest book)

Robicelli Studio

Books by Allison & Matt

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!

Robert Simonson, spirits and drinks writer for the New York Times; contributing editor to and columnist for Punch; and author of many wonderful spirits-themed books joins Andrew to discuss the  impact of the pandemic on the bar business, how the industry has responded, and what he's been imbibing at home. An alternately serious and good-humored conversation that reflects the way many of us are experiencing these unprecedented times.

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

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official site

Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll (Andrew’s latest book)

Robert Simonson's website

Robert Simonson's Instagram feed

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!

Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper), we are told, is to cooking what the Rolling Stones are to rock & roll. For two hours, in the comeback saga Burnt (2015), we learn just how awful one can behave if they have a way with a whisk. Or can they? in a new, possibly recurring feature, Shelter en Place Theater, Andrew is joined by guest critics Allison & Matt Robicelli to dissect Burnt, both as a representation of the chef trade, and as a work of dramatic fiction. It ain't pretty, but it's honest.

**Warning: This episode is rife with spoilers. Please watch Burnt before listening!**

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

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official website

Robicelli Studio

Books by Allison & Matt

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!

Ashtin Berry is a top bartender and beverage consultant: Imbibe named her Best Bartender in 2019, and she was the lone woman of color on Observer's 2018 55 People in Nightlife Power List. But her professional success is just one aspect of her blossoming career: Ashtin devotes a great deal of time and energy to raising awareness about power, opportunity, and benefit imbalances in the hospitality industry, and exploring possible solutions. She is a challenger of the status quo, an asker of difficult questions, and a believer in better ways of doing business. In this densely packed half-hour conversation, Ashtin shares her thoughts on the unique opportunities and challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the eventual recovery.

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

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official website

Ashtin Berry Instagram feed

Unite America's Table Instagram (hashtag) Feed

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!

One of the true legends of the culinary arts, Jacques Pépin, joins us for today's special report, accompanied by the co-founder and executive director of the Jacques Pépin Foundation, Rollie Wesen. The two discuss the prospects for newly trained cooks in a post-pandemic future, and share their advice for cooking with economy and creativity at home during this time of crisis.

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

Please visit the Andrew Talks to Chefs official website.

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 1983, the Jones family of Milan, Ohio, shifted the focus of their family farm to providing the best possible ingredients to a growing population of chefs seeking high-quality and specialty produce, renaming their business The Chef's Garden. The approach has served them well, until the current pandemic. With restaurants temporarily shuttering across the globe, The Chef's Garden's customer base disappeared, and the company made a shift to selling a line of themed produce boxes (Immunity Booster, Anti-Aging Mix, Subscription Box, etc.) for home cooks. Farmer Lee Jones, the longstanding public face of the Jones family and The Chef's Garden, takes us inside the pivot and describes how his team made the switch so quickly.  

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

Support our cause of the day: If you are able to, please buy a gift certificate from you favorite restaurant!

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 her Chefs with Issues program to her personal consultations with countless people in the restaurant industry to her myriad writings and her own Communal Table podcast, Kat Kinsman is a leading voice for mental health among hospitality professionals. Kat and Andrew discuss coping mechanisms traditional and non- and how they might be employed at this challenging time, and manage to have an unlikely laugh or two along the way.

Also, on the day we lost chef Floyd Cardoz, Plate magazine's Chandra Ram shares a few thoughts about this important chef.

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

Please visit our support organization of the day, Kat Kinsman's Chefs with Issues.

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official website

Communal Table (Kat's Food + Wine podcast)

Industry United Facebook group

A Balanced Glass

CHOW (Colorado)

Calm app

Personal Mise en Place

Insight Timer

Headspace

Cramer Care

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 cross-section of LA-area chefs catch us up on how they're managing during this crisis:  Industry veterans Mary Sue Milliken & Susan Feniger of Border Grill, Socalo, and other restaurants check-in from their respective homes to share how they're keeping in touch with their teams, staying fit, and what they're cooking for themselves and their families; Santa Monica's Dave Beran of Dialogue and Pasjoli explains his democratic approach to staffing and take-away plans during a pandemic; and Nyesha Arrington describes the surreal experience of watching the industry suffer while between restaurants herself.

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

Please check out our restaurant support organization of the day: Independent Restaurant Coalition. Sign up for their updates and give generously, if you can.

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official website

Andrew's obit for Gotham Bar and Grill (mentioned on today's show)

Border Grill

Socalo

Dialogue

Pasjoli

Nyesha Arrington

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 our second of a special series of nightly reports for an industry in crisis, chef Naomi Pomeroy joins Andrew from Portland, Oregon, to share how she and her colleagues are faring in the Pacific Northwest. Naomi also discusses the parallel between grief and what the restaurant community and world at large is experiencing right now, what it's like to be a chef without their kitchen, and on the personal connections that help make it bearable.

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

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official site

Beast restaurant 

Expatriate restaurant

(The NY State petition mentioned on tonight's episode lives here.)

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!

At a time of industry crisis, we are proud to offer a new series of special reports that will air Monday - Friday for at least the next month. The episodes are intended as a place for restaurant professionals and enthusiasts to virtually gather daily to hear the thoughts of industry leaders, employees, experts, and others who have important viewpoints to share. Each episode will feature one or two interviews plus news and commentary from Andrew, and will be approximately 30 minutes in length.

Our first guest is Gavin Kaysen, the Minneapolis-based chef-restaurateur behind Spoon and Stable, Bellecour, Bellecour Bakery, and Demi. Gavin shares his thoughts on what makes the restaurant industry's challenge at this moment unique, the effect of restaurants' survival on the greater food chain, how to most productively interact with your local civic leaders, and the opportunity for improvement presented when the crisis has passed.

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

To automatically receive these reports in your podcast queue, subscribe (free) to Andrew Talks to Chefs on your preferred podcast platform.

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official website

Soigne Hospitality (Gavin Kaysen's Restaurant Group)

Milion Gallons (soup program mentioned in this episode)

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 rare non-chef episode of the pod featuring two of the most successful and influential restaurateurs in the United States. While in Philadelphia last weekend for the Philly Chef Conference, Welcome Conference co-founder (and the restaurateur who conjured up the magic of Eleven Madison Park and the Nomad restaurants before moving on from them last year), and Kevin Boehm, cofounder of Chicago's prolific Boka Restaurant Group (Boka, Girl and the Goat, GT Fish & Oyster, Momotaro, and many others) talk all things hospitality.

How do they maintain quality control? Where do they gain new inspiration? What is the value of a pre-shift (nightly pre-service huddle)? Are we in a golden age for restaurants? 

It's a rare treat to hear such devoted and passionate professionals kick these and other topics around--don't miss this one!

If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it’s free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple’s podcast store.

Please also subscribe to email updates from Andrew Talks to Chefs to receive new episode alerts and Andrew’s blog posts.

Thanks for listening!

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs OFFICIAL website

Toqueland (Andrew's blog)

Buy Andrew's book - Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll

Boka Restaurant Group

Welcome Conference

Kevin Boehm's 2018 Welcome Conference Talk (mentioned in episode)

Philly Chef Conference

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!

Rocco DiSpirito's been in the national spotlight for so long that many fans don't know how he got there in the first place, or haven't thought about it in years. Andrew and Rocco have known each other since Rocco's first chef position, and in this very personal conversation--the first of 2 parts--they revisit his childhood in Queens, New York; his teenage gigs in neighborhood pizzerias; his training at the Culinary Institute of America and in great kitchens in France and New York; and his rise to the top of the New York City dining scene in the late 1990s. It's a side of Rocco many listeners don't know or haven't heard in his voice, and a great listen. (In part 2, we'll talk about his shift to fitness and healthful eating and his forthcoming Rocco's Keto Comfort Food Diet.)

In our second segment, Vero Beach, Florida chef-restaurateur Scott Varricchio shares the harrowing story of the night his restaurant (Citrus Grillhouse) was destroyed in a fire, and how he made the best of the year when it was being rebuilt--by spending time in such renowned kitchens as Eleven Madison Park and The French Laundry to take his acumen up a notch ... at age 59! A great lesson in perspective and resilience.

EPISODE GUIDE

0 - 8:48  Intro

8:48 - 45:00  Rocco DiSpirito

45:00 - 48:10 Show Notes & Personal Appearances

48:10 - 1:29:40 Scott Varricchio

***LINKS***

Andrew Talks to Chefs OFFICIAL site

Rocco DiSpirito

Rocco's Keto Comfort Food Diet (order a signed copy)

Citrus Grillhouse

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!

Emily Luchetti doesn't much care for age-obsession, or even for slowing down. The onetime Stars pastry chef, who continues to ply her trade in the Bay Area, and to author cookbooks, took a break from recipe writing to collaborate with Erin McHugh on So Who's Counting: The Little Quote Book about Growing Old and Still Kicking Ass. Last summer, Emily and Andrew plopped down in New York City's Madison Square Park and kicked around their similar attitudes towards this sometimes taboo subject, as well as the very specific challenges that face cooks and chefs as they mature, and how to care for themselves and plan for the back-end of their careers, both creatively and physically. There's room on their blanket, so join them for this short, breezy conversation that spins off on a number of fascinating tangents.

LINKS

ANDREW TALKS TO CHEFS official site

Emily Luchetti website

So Who's Counting: The Little Quote Book about Growing Old and Still Kicking Ass

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!

While in New York City to attend the 2nd anniversary celebration of Andrew Talks to Chefs, Modernist Cuisine's head chef Francisco Migoya made time to sit down with Andrew and discuss his singular career.

Longtime listeners might remember that Francisco joined us for a short but fascinating conversation last year from Chef's Roll's Anti Convention in San Diego. On this visit, he and Andrew dive deep into his childhood in Mexico City, his original desire to be an artist, his first kitchen jobs and culinary training in France, and cooking in such traditional kitchens as Brooklyn's River Cafe. They also get into questions of food as art, work ethic, and what his day-to-day life is like at Modernist Cuisine.

If you like what you hear, please tell your chef-fascinated friends, subscribe to Andrew Talks to Chefs (it’s free) on iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher, follow us on your favorite social media platforms @ChefPodcast, and/or rate or review us on Apple’s podcast store.

Please also subscribe to email updates from Andrew Talks to Chefs to receive new episode alerts and Andrew’s blog posts.

Reminder: Andrew Talks to Chefs is now an INDEPENDENT podcast; please visit our official site for new episodes, Andrew's blog, our catalog of past shows, and to contact us by voicemail or email.

Thanks for listening!

LINKS

Andrew Talks to Chefs official website

Francisco Migoya Chef's Roll Anti Convention interview (referenced in this episode, begins at 2:10:30)

Daniel Uditi and Dan Richer on Andrew Talks to Chefs (referenced in this episode)

Francisco MIgoya bio on Modernist Cuisine

Benno restaurant (graciously hosted us for this interview)

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!

Jean-Louis Palladin, who came to the United States from France in 1979, was one of the most talented and influential chefs of his generation. From his base in Washington, DC, Palladin, who died much too young in 2001 at age 55, helped forge a network of farmers and purveyors along the Eastern Seaboard, brought an unparalleled artistry and innate gift for improvisation to his cooking, wrote one of the first "coffee table" chef cookbooks, and left his mark on a generation of young Americans, inspiring such then-aspiring chefs as Anthony Bourdain and Thomas Keller.

During a recent tribute dinner at the Watergate Hotel, Andrew sat down with a number of chefs who knew Palladin well: His contemporary and fellow immigrant French chef Jacques Pépin, three chefs who supported him at Jean-Louis at the Watergate--Larbi Dahrouch, Jimmy Sneed, and Jamie Stachowski--and chef of the Watergate's current showcase restaurant Kingbird, Sébastien Giannini.

All of that, plus a bonus conversation with Jacques Pépin about how his hobby of  painting parallels his life in the kitchen.

***EPISODE GUIDE***

0:00 - 7:15 - Intro

7:15 - 27:07 Segment 1

27:08 - 30:42 Mid-Show Break/Housekeeping Notes

30:43 - end Segment 2

***LINKS***

Andrew Talks to Chefs official site

Jean-Louis Palladin NY Times obituary

Jean-Louis Palladin's book Cooking with the Seasons

Jimmy Sneed's blog Product, Passion and Salt

Kingbird Restaurant at the Watergate

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!