Explore every episode of the podcast Lunch Therapy

One of my all-time favorite food writers is Amanda Hesser, the co-founder of Food52 and author of The New York Times Cookbook, and it's a huge thrill to have her on Lunch Therapy this week. In today's session, I ask her all about Cooking for Mr. Latte (one of my all-time favorite food books), how she went from being a writer to starting a business, being super detail oriented, portraying herself as unlikable in her book, and the food writers that she read at the start of her career. We also learn about how she doesn't like lunch, the new Food52 offices, her lunch with Julia Child, and most fascinating of all: the CBS Mr. Latte sitcom that never was!

The James Beard award-winning biographer of James Beard, John Birdsall, swings by the office today for a lunch therapy session. We talk all about who'd be the best actor to play James Beard, how the pandemic interrupted his book tour plans, raw onions, working at Deborah Madison's Greens in a Zen Center in SF, and how his gentle temperament worked in a restaurant kitchen. We also cover being out as a chef in SF in the 90s, how the AIDS crisis played out in restaurants, Jeremiah Tower's lawsuit, and much more.

Dwight Garner is one of the most feared and yet funny voices in the pages of The New York Times Book Review, where he's one of their most beloved critics, as well as the former editor. He's now the author of a brand new book called The Upstairs Delicatessen and in today's session we talk all about being a book critic with a book, facing the authors whose books he pans, reading his wife's work, how he stays focused (and gets through three hundred pages in a day), and how he knows so many literary quotes. We also cover his membership in The Organ Meat Society, the three martini lunch, how he makes his martinis, celebrity cookbooks, our dogs, and much much more.

Welcome back to Lunch Therapy! Today's patient, Abi Balingit, is the creator of the blog ⁠The Dusky Kitchen⁠ and the author of the brand new, Filipino-American dessert cookbook, ⁠Mayumu⁠. In today's session, we talk all about growing up in California, her parents' Filipino background, the food that they cooked and how she took a lot of it for granted. We also cover banana ketchup, Capri Sun, making food for charity, working a non-food job, cooking with her boyfriend, and America's rising interest in Filipino cuisine.

Today's Lunch Therapy patient, Leah Koenig, is the author of seven cookbooks, including The Jewish Cookbook and Modern Jewish Cooking. Her latest, Portico, is all about Roman Jewish cuisine and our conversation today covers everything Roman and Jewish, from frying artichokes to weighing fish. We also delve into Leah's relationship to food and cooking, her kosher husband, anti-semitism, dealing with picky eaters, recipe testing, and why it's totally fine to eat a tuna melt while keeping kosher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Lunch Therapy patient is Amy Thielen, the multitalented cookbook author and chef whose latest cookbook, Company, is hot off the presses and features 125 amazing new recipes. In today's session, we talk all about Amy's childhood in Park Rapids, Minnesota, her journey to New York's four-star restaurant kitchens, and her journey back to where she grew up with her sculptor husband to raise their son, Hank. We also cover her family's pork store, how she comes up with such original recipes, watching Great Chefs with her mother, recreating the recipes, her new cookbook cover, and, finally, a tour of her garden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's patient, Alex Jung, is an accomplished journalist for New York Magazine and Vulture, who's profiled countless celebrities and been nominated for a National Magazine Award. He's currently got the best gig in the city, writing the column "The Year I Ate New York" for which he dines across all five boroughs, cataloguing his experiences every two weeks. In today's session, Alex talks all about growing up Korean in Florida, the pastrami sandwiches his mom would make him for lunch, the link between therapy and soup, and the tolls food writing take on the body. We also cover the ethics of dining at Chick-Fil-A, the $98 lobster pasta at Bad Roman, and whether he feels badly when he writes a bad review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raise your glass to this week's Lunch Therapy patient: Rosie Schaap, the author of two books (Drinking with Men, Becoming a Sommelier) and the former Drink columnist for The New York Times. In today's episode, we talk all about drinking, how to manage it, how to know when it's gone too far, and how everything changes as you get older. We also talk about her move to Northern Ireland, meeting her husband (and dog) there, being the only Jewish woman in her town, her famous sports writer father Dick Schaap, and which cocktail she uses to measure a bartender's skills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My patient today is the illustrious food stylist and recipe developer Susan Spungen, the author of the brand new book Veg Forward, and the founding editor at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. You very likely have seen her work food styling for such films as Julie & Julia, It's Complicated, and Eat, Pray, Love. In today's session, we talk all about the tricks of the trade, what props to use when taking food pictures, how she photographed her whole book using her iPhone, and why an overhead shot is preferable to one from the side. Then we dig into the good stuff: I finally get to ask her the question I've been wanting to ask for over a decade... How is it possible that Meryl Streep cooks chocolate croissants from scratch for Steve Martin on a date in It's Complicated? How did she nail the Sole Meunière in Julie & Julia? And what's Martha Stewart really like? All of this and more in today's delightful session. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Lunch Therapy patient, Anya von Bremzen, is the author of a brand new book, National Dish, that's been called "a fast-paced, entertaining travelogue" by The New York Times. In today's episode, we learn all about the ways Russia uses borsch for propaganda, the meat pie with ketchup she ate growing up (her family's version of "pizza"), living in Jackson Heights, and living part time in Istanbul. We also learn about the ways food and nationalism intersect, being a winner at the very first James Beard awards, and how beloved New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast came to do the cover of her book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Gordinier is one of the most prolific, influential food writers in the biz: not only does he work on Esquire's Best Restaurants list every year, he contributes regularly to The New York Times as both a food writer and a poetry critic (!) AND he's the author of the book Hungry, for which he traveled around the world with René Redzepi, frequently hailed as the world's best chef. In today's session, we learn all about Gordinier's new interest in eating healthy (and the toll the Best Restaurants list took on his body), why the pandemic essentially ended fine dining as we knew it, and how a man who doesn't drink can choose the best bars in the US. We also cover growing up in Southern California, the impact (or lack of impact) René Redzepi had on his cooking, and his love for making tea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lunch Therapy! We start this brand new season with Lee Sung Jin, the creator of Netflix's hit show BEEF. I worked with Lee several years ago on the ABC sitcom The Real O'Neals and since then he's gone on to write for Dave, Tuca and Bertie, and now his breakout, runaway hit starring Steve Yeun and Ali Wong. In today's session, we talk all about Lee's name change (when I knew him, he was Sonny Lee), the road rage incident (and bathroom incident) that inspired the show, and the terrible eating habits that he has when he's on set. We also cover his favorite Korean dishes, why Ali Wong's picture isn't on the wall at Park's BBQ, the best Japanese restaurant in L.A., how you know when to stop rewriting, and the time that he ate a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts in the writer's room and raced to a Best Buy to use the bathroom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is the creator of one of my favorite podcasts of all time, The Mystery Show with Starlee Kine. If you haven't listened to that, turn this off and go do that first. It's amazing. I asked Starlee if she had a favorite recipe and she didn't. I asked her if she had a favorite thing to eat in L.A. and she sent me to Griffith Park to eat the California Veggie Sandwich at The Trails in Griffith Park. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain and I had a cold, so I couldn't actually make it there -- instead I recreated the sandwich at home. Find out how it went, why Starlee chose it, all about her childhood in California, how she forgets to eat, and the foods that she finds gross. We also cover her career, how she got started at This American Life, whether or not she wants to continue podcasting, and why, when I move to New York, I should live in Williamsburg. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vegan chef Chris Tucker (@veganchefchristucker) is a private vegan chef -- he's making vegan desserts for Elton John's Oscar party in two weeks! -- who appeared on Season Four of The Great American Baking Show. In today's episode, Chris sends me Heidi Swanson's recipe for caramelized mushrooms with chilies and peanuts and lime and cilantro which I served up with ramen noodles. We talk all about how Chris got into veganism, his former career as a hair stylist, how he deals with difficult clients, and what he likes to serve at parties. We also cover the myths surrounding veganism (like the idea that it's automatically healthy), how he gets enough protein into his diet, and how some foods like noodles and kale actually have protein in them too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest, Homa Dashtaki, is the co-founder (along with her father) of The White Mustache yogurt, some of the most celebrated yogurt in the country. She's also the author of a brand new cookbook called Yogurt & Whey (coming out March 5th) that gives away her signature yogurt recipe as well as all of the things you can make with the yogurt itself and the whey, including these out-of-this-world whey pancakes which are seriously the best pancakes I've ever eaten (go to amateurgourmet.com for the recipe!). In today's talk, we cover the genesis of Homa's business, what it's like working with her father, how she went from selling yogurt at farmer's markets to having it in stores, and what the process actually is for making yogurt. We also learn about the legal battles she fought in order to make yogurt with her hands as opposed to machines, the food that she loves the most when she visits Iran, and her favorite thing to do with labneh. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week, Aaron Hutcherson, is a writer and recipe developer for The Washington Post's Voraciously and recently moved to Washington, D.C. for the gig. In today's episode, we learn all about Aaron's previous career as a wealth manager on Wall Street, how he grew up loving being in the kitchen with his mother, and how her unpretentious approach to food inspires the recipes he writes to this day -- including today's "you've got to taste this" dish of chicken thighs roasted with butter and onions. We also cover his time at culinary school, how race enters into his work, the things he misses the most about living in New York, and what his parents think of his career. You can get the recipe for this week's dish -- and every episode's dish -- on amateurgourmet.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Karan Soni, who you may recognize from Deadpool or Miracle Workers, shares a recipe from the Dishoom cookbook for Keema Pao: a punchy combination of yogurt, ground lamb, and an herb paste made with mint and cilantro. Learn all about Karan's childhood in India, how his parents sent him to a boarding school to lose weight, how he learned to cook for himself when he arrived in America to go to USC, the difference between Northern Indian and Southern Indian cooking, and why his mom is the world's best cook. If you'd like the recipe, and all recipes from previous episodes, visit amateurgourmet.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're shaking things up, shifting from a "you've got to taste this" recipe to a "you've got to taste this" field trip! LA Times food writer and host of The Bucket List Jenn Harris knows more about L.A. food than most people twice her age; that's because she grew up here with a Jewish grandmother and Chinese grandmother who love to eat. Today she sends me to the San Gabriel Valley, specifically to the Kang Kang Food Court, for sheng jian bao: the dreamiest hybrid of a soup dumpling and a crispy bao you can imagine. We talk all about Jenn's discovery of this hole-in-the-wall (hint: her grandmother knows things) and then cover her career in food journalism, her friendship with Jonathan Gold, and whether or not we could pull off a matzo ball soup dumpling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of my favorite bakers (and favorite people) is Nicole Rucker, owner of Fat & Flour in the Grand Central Market here in L.A., and the very first guest on my very first podcast, Lunch Therapy. In today's episode of "You've Got to Taste This," Nicole sends me a recipe for Silesian Heaven crispy pierogis from "Pierogi" by Zuza Zak. These pierogis are stuffed with dried fruit and well-seasoned pork, boiled, and then fried in butter with sesame seeds. Spoiler alert: they were out of this world! They were also a huge hit at Nicole's Cookbook Club, which is why she was inspired to send the recipe my way. In today's chat we talk all about her cookbook club and also cover the food she cooks at home, healing from a burn, why she's done putting miso into sweet desserts, and her hacks for banana bread. Get the recipe for these pierogis on amateurgourmet.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's "You've Got to Taste This" recipe comes to us from Felicity Spector, a Harvard Fulbright scholar and London-based journalist, whose interest in Ukraine and Russia far precedes the current conflict there. That interest certainly informs her recipe choice: Makoviy Rulet, a braided babka-ish bread studded with apples and infused with a sweet, complex, frangipane-like poppyseed paste. It's a recipe by Felicity's friend and food-writing colleague Olia Hercules, who's been movingly writing about her family's strife in Ukraine, dealing with the horror of the Russian occupation. Amazingly, Felicity herself has driven into Ukraine from London to bring supplies to bombed-out bakeries there. We talk all about that in today's conversation, one that runs the gambit from British food's bad image in the nineties to her love for a NY-style bagel with whitefish. We also cover the process of making the makoivy rulet, which I served at a dinner party to great acclaim. If you want the recipe, you'll be able to find it on amateurgourmet.com. Also: if you'd like to donate to any of the charities mentioned, here are the links: World Central Kitchen Cook for Ukraine Bake for Ukraine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to "You've Got to Taste This," my brand new podcast centered around dishes that are so good, you've simply got to taste them. My first guest is Noah Galuten, author of the upcoming Don't Panic Pantry Cookbook, inspired by the YouTube show he does with his wife, comedian Iliza Shlesinger. For today's episode, Noah offers up his pasta with dried porcinis, fresh rosemary, and a zippy tomato sauce that's so good, it's already entered my normal pasta rotation. In addition to explaining the recipe's origins, today we talk about everything from his solo trip to Noma in Copenhagen (where he ate reindeer penis), the best way to make pizza at home, and why fiber is more important than anything else in your diet. As for the recipe, here it is! If you make it, be sure to take pictures and tag me on Instagram @amateurgourmet. And if you have ideas for future episodes/guests, shoot me an e-mail at amateurgourmet@gmail.com. Noah Galuten's Pasta with Mushroom Rosemary Tomato Sauce from The Don't Panic Pantry Cookbook 1/2 ounce dried mushrooms Salt 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 medium onion, diced (I prefer red onion in this dish) 2 garlic cloves, chopped Pinch of crushed red pepper 3 sprigs fresh rosemary 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand Freshly ground black pepper 1 pound dried pasta Freshly grated Parmesan, pecorino, or a similar sharp, aged cheese Extra-virgin olive oil Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and add 1/2 cup warm water. Allow the mushrooms to soak until fully softened, about 30 minutes. Reserving the soaking water, scoop out the mushrooms, transfer them to a cutting board, and finely chop them. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Generously salt the water. In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally until the alliums are just wilted, about 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the chopped mushrooms, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions are browning a bit at the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the crushed red pepper and rosemary sprigs, stir, and toast for 30 seconds. Add the white wine and reserved mushroom soaking liquid (leaving behind any sediment at the bottom of the bowl) and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze any browned bits. Allow to simmer until the liquid is mostly evaporated. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and stir. Once it is bubbling, reduce the heat to a simmer and continue simmering, covered, for about 10 minutes. Cook the pasta: Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook to about 1 minute shy of the package directions. Reserving 1 cup or so of pasta water, drain the pasta and transfer it to the pan with the sauce. Increase the heat to a steady simmer and stir constantly, adding a splash of pasta water as needed to get a sauce that fully coats the pasta without being soupy or overly dry, 1 to 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Serve immediately in bowls, topped with cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now I know most of you already have your Thanksgiving desserts planned out, but just in case you need a little inspiration, I invited Charlotte Druckman (Women on Food, Kitchen Remix) on the podcast to discuss all the pies she tasted recently for a New York Magazine article. We're talking Thanksgiving pies from New York's best bakeries with exciting innovations like gingersnap crusts, butterscotch pumpkin, and apple buttermilk. In addition, we talk pie making at home, what we'll be eating at our own Thanksgivings, and, as a special bonus, Charlotte's brownie hacks (she's a brownie expert). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The author of the brand-new, hotly-anticipated Puerto Rican cookbook DIASPORICAN, Ilyanna Maisonet, swings by the podcast today to talk all about cooking Puerto Rican. We cover achiote oil, her mother's mushroom chicken, which ingredients are different in Puerto Rico vs. the U.S., persimmon cookies, and lots more. Plus: learn how Illyanna pivoted from culinary school to a food writing career, how the cookbook came about, the obstacles she faced, and how she landed on such a striking cover image. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone's favorite cookbook author and NYT columnist, Melissa Clark, is back on the pod to talk all about that tricky old subject: weeknight dinners. With her brand new cookbook, Dinner in One, Melissa proves that it takes just a few flourishes to turn a humdrum meal into something special. Today we talk about Thanksgiving on a sheet pan (!), how to do the dishes, parenting a picky child, how her cookbooks sank to the bottom of the ocean, cleaning clams, washing lettuce, and how she'd tackle roast chicken in a Best Roast Chicken of All Time contest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Melendez is a chef, food photographer, and the creator of the blog The Candid Appetite. Recently he's started the biggest job of all: he and his partner Julian (I met them both last year at a Christmas party) are the proud parents of a newborn baby boy named Theodore. How has fatherhood changed his cooking habits? What kind of relationship does he want Theodore to have to food and cooking? What role does culture play into all of this? Join us for a hearty, heartfelt conversation about fatherhood and food. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I've been cooking along to show tunes since I first started cooking twenty years ago... so imagine how excited I am that the Broadway cookbook that I cowrote with Gideon Glick (star of Spring Awakening, Little Shop of Horrors, and a Tony nominee for To Kill a Mockingbird), Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway, is coming out this October 4th! Gideon actually received his copies in the mail a few days ago (mine are on their way) and so I had to invite him on the podcast to talk all about our cookbook, how we came up with the idea for it, how we wrote it, and which recipes and puns are our favorites. We also dive into Gideon's career: learning about his first professional acting gig at seventeen (costarring with Cynthia Nixon and Ethan Hawke), the fiasco of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, being part of the phenomenon that was Spring Awakening, and transitioning into film and television. It's a great talk and only 2% of it feels like QVC, I promise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrea Nguyen ís the prolific author of eight cookbooks, including Vietnamese Food Any Day, The Pho Cookbook, Asian Tofu, and The Banh Mi Handbook. She's also the co-host of a brand new podcast called Everything Cookbooks where she, along with her co-hosts Molly Stevens, Kate Leahy, and Kristin Donnelly discuss the ins and outs of the cookbook publishing world. That's the very subject of today's talk -- the cookbook biz! -- and Andrea lays out how she got her start, how she keeps getting books published, when to self-publish, how you support yourself (spoiler alert: you don't!), and lots more. So if you've ever thought about publishing a cookbook, or just like collecting cookbooks and want to learn more about how the sausage is made, this is the episode for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Chef Vishwesh Bhatt started serving his Indian-inflected Southern food at SnackBar in Oxford, Mississippi, the food world was so dazzled, the James Beard committee nominated him for Best Southern Chef five times before he finally won in 2019. His new book, I Am From Here, captures what makes his cooking so original and specific to him and his journey from Gujarat India to the American South. In today's conversation, we get at the heart of his idiosyncratic cuisine -- from cornbread infused with curry leaves and chilies to his signature dish, okra chaat -- and how it reflects who he is as a person as his identity has shifted along with his geographical location. It's a deep conversation with a thoughtful chef and it'll make you very, very hungry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's it like to be gay and to love food? Today's guest Dan Pelosi (aka: Grossy Pelosi) knows a little something about it. Having grown up 3/4ths Italian (the other 1/4 is Portuguese), Dan had food foisted on him at a young age. But how did he reconcile that with the body-obsessed gay-culture that he became a part of once he got older? It's a similar issue for me having grown up in a Jewish family where skipping a meal was more alarming than getting a fake ID (my mom actually made me get a fake ID, but that's a story for another time). So today's discussion is very candid, emotional, and honest -- tackling a taboo subject that very few of us talk about in the food world: body image vs. being able to enjoy food without feeling shame. Plus: learn about Dan's internet stardom, which Portuguese dishes he loves the most, and how he runs his growing empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's it like to be famous on TikTok? Ask Chef Jon Kung who has 1.5 million followers on there and is frequently on lists of TikTok's best food accounts. Learn how he went from being a chef in Detroit to being a full-time TikToker, what his process is, whether he writes his narrations or improvises them, what kind of camera he uses, how he thinks about his sex appeal, and the impact he's had on his subscribers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, I've been trying to pitch articles to the New York Times food section and for years I've been failing. On a total lark, I invited Emily Weinstein, the food and cooking editor for the Times, on to my podcast and in a mind-blowing turn of events, she said yes! Today's episode, then, gets down to the nitty-gritty: what does Emily look for in a pitch, what are her pitch pet peeves, how do you pitch a recipe vs. a journalistic story? We also learn about Emily's background in food, how she interacts with Pete Wells about his reviews, whether or not she "reads the comments," and which food writers have influenced her the most. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kate McDermott is the author of two widely-celebrated books on pie (The Art of the Pie and Pie Camp; Publisher's Weekly called The Art of the Pie "one of the best books written on the subject") and teaches a regular pie-making workshop at her home in Washington State. Today she comes on The Amateur Gourmet Podcast to school me on all things pie: from judging fruit's ripeness with a refractometer to rolling the perfect circle, Kate not only talks technique, she also talks temperament. She believes that both you and the dough have to be chill for your pie to be successful, and that's just a small taste of the pie wisdom that she brings to today's talk. So gather up your rolling pins, put on your aprons, and let's talk pie! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's the secret to writing a really good recipe? How do you make it unique while also making it simple enough for people to do at home? Enter Jessie Sheehan, celebrated baker, TikTok superstar, and author of the brand new cookbook, Snackable Bakes. In today's talk, we cover everything from coming up with the initial recipe concept, bringing it into the kitchen, testing it, and then freaking out that it's too close to somebody else's. We get into the nitty-gritty of weights vs. cups, how to find your voice in your cooking, when to employ outside testers, and how you know when a recipe is done. As a bonus, Jessie shares some of her favorite cookbooks and bakeries in New York, including Mah-Ze-Dar and L'Appartement 4F. If you like it, be sure to share it and/or leave a nice review! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year's James Beard awards COMPLETELY shut L.A. out of the mix, awarding the country's second largest city zero citations for what is commonly considered one of the most vibrant, exciting, and relevant food scenes in the country. Here to talk us through the controversy is Farley Elliott, Senior Editor of Eater L.A., who has lots to say, not just on this subject, but on many others too. We cover everything from food trucks to fine dining, from Wolfgang Puck to Jordan Kahn, from Union in Pasadena all the way to Pasjoli in Santa Monica. If you want to eat well in L.A., this is the episode for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before I got hit by Covid, I spent an hour talking to the delightful coffee expert Ever Meister — who I met at my first favorite coffee shop, Joe on Waverly in the early aughts — about all things espresso, cappuccino, and, most importantly of all, latte art. Meister's been something of a fairy godmother when it comes to my homemade coffee drinks. If you've been following me on TikTok, you can see my efforts at achieving a heart or rosetta pattern. In today's episode, Meister gives me point-by-point feedback, talking to me about microfoam, distribution, liquid dynamics, and all of the other elements that go into making a coffee shop-worthy latte. Know someone who's trying to make coffee shop-worthy drinks at home? Send this podcast their way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have I got a podcast for you! Well: it's for you if you're, like me, OBSESSED with collecting vintage Pyrex and bowls and plates and other kitchen doodads. My guest is a purveyor of all such things: Nicole Miller, who runs @Pyrexnplants on Instagram and has her own Etsy shop. Our conversation covers everything from how she got into all this in the first place, whether or not she's a hoarder, how her family feels about her collecting, what she looks for when she goes to estate sales, what it's actually like at an estate sale when someone just died, and — most dangerous for me — what to actually search for when you're looking for vintage kitchen goodies. Happy listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I was the perfect audience for my own podcast this week because Craig (my husband, in case you're new) is going to be back and forth to NY over the next five months to edit his movie, and I'll be visiting often, and — crisis! — I don't know where to eat. Add to that the fact that people still ask me: “Hey, Adam, I'm going to New York soon, what are the hot new restaurants?” As if I know! Enter Ryan Sutton. Not only is he the James Beard award-winning chief food critic at Eater NY, he's a born and bred New Yorker, who (like me) grew up on Long Island and is as passionate about his city as Billy Joel (who also, like us, is also from Long Island). In today's pod, Ryan wakes me up to the modern Korean Renaissance happening in NYC — with restaurants like Atomix, Attaboy, Cote — and weighs in on the whole Eleven Madison Park scandal vis-a-vis their new vegan menu. Know someone going to NY soon? Send this their way! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a thrill to share this week's Amateur Gourmet Podcast: an episode dedicated entirely to Julia Child! We're lucky enough to have the creator of the show Julia (and an award-winning playwright) Daniel Goldfarb here to talk all about how the show came about, casting Sarah Lancashire as Julia, taking liberties with the biography, shooting in Boston, and whether they actually made all of that food on set. But first we have one of the most delightful people in the food world, and also one of the most accomplished, Dorie Greenspan — author of multiple cookbooks and now the essential XOXO Dorie Newsletter — here to talk about collaborating with Julia on the Baking with Julia cookbook. Dorie shares delightful stories about going to Julia's kitchen for the first time, how Julia felt about the various impressions of her, and the very first thing that they ate together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Mother's Day this Sunday! Do you know what you're cooking yet? Or what you want your family to cook for you? Please welcome Sarah Copeland to the stage. She's not only a prolific cookbook author (The Newlywed Cookbook, Feast, Every Day is Saturday, and her latest, Instant Family Meals), she also happens to be a mom. In today's episode, we talk about Mother's Day strategies (pancakes, waffles, polenta!), but we also talk about being a food-loving mother and how to get your kids to eat the kinds of foods that you yourself love to eat. When do you make exceptions about processed sugar? (Her Halloween story is hilarious.) Is it ultimately a good thing to give your kid a little Taco Bell? (I think yes.) Have a great Mother's Day, everyone! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So excited to talk about my favorite subject — COLLECTING COOKBOOKS! — with none other than the founder of Stained Page News, one of the premiere destinations for cookbook news online: Paula Forbes. Paula and I are such cookbook geeks that this conversation sounds like it's sped up, but it's just us being super geeky and enthusiastic. Find out which cookbooks we're proudest to have in our collections, which ones we actually use, and which white whale cookbook is out there that Paula hopes to get her hands on some day. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The late Pulitzer Prize-winning L.A. food writer Jonathan Gold once wrote about Kevin Bludso's BBQ: “The brisket that issues from those battered smokers is a paradigm of meat, beef that disappears so quickly that, if it weren't for a feeling of satisfying fullness, you might swear that you had less eaten it than dreamed it.” Kevin Bludso is a BBQ legend and now, with the help of my pal Noah Galuten (a James Beard-nominated cookbook author and co-host, with his wife Iliza Schlesinger, of Don't Panic Pantry on Instagram) he's authored a cookbook: The Bludso's BBQ Cookbook. The book is unique because, in addition to it's extremely useful recipes for making BBQ at home (and it's very doable: just listen to the podcast!), the book also tells Kevin's unique story of growing up in Compton and spending his summers in Corsicana, Texas. It's a beautiful portrait of his family and his community and it's as much a great read as it is a great culinary resource. I could go on and on, but I think the interview speaks for itself! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I don't know about you, but I'm insecure when it comes to wine. It's just so overwhelming. What's the difference between natural wine and regular wine? Why is some super expensive wine not worth it and some cheap wine a great bargain? How do you learn all of the things you're supposed to learn about mouthfeel and terroir and structure? Welcome to Wine Week, my attempt to clear things up for you and me and anyone else confused by wine. I've invited two wine professionals with wine podcasts on to walk me through all of the things that I don't understand about wine Elle Clifford hosts The Wine Situation, a delightful podcast that I once appeared on the day that Elle found out she passed the tests to become a certified sommelier. With her expertise and approachability, I ask her all about her obsession with wine, how she affords drinking the good stuff, how she got interested in all of this in the first place, the way she chooses the right words to describe what a wine tastes like, and how she retains so much information about so many different types of wine. But first, I invited on Mike Stone of The TallMikeWine Podcast on to talk about his job as a tasting room manager at Nicholson Ranch Winery. How do you go from being a DJ to a tasting room manager? Mike has the story (and voice) for you. He also explains what he does every day at his job, how he motivates others in the tasting room to describe the same wines in different ways, and what he's currently drinking that he recommends. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's my favorite time of year: spring! So many delicious things to eat (fava beans, artichokes, strawberries) and so many ways to prepare them. That's why I've invited two notable food writers on to the podcast to talk about their favorite spring cooking strategies. First, L.A. Times cooking columnist Ben Mims swings by to tell us about his newfound love for radishes, his savory approach with rhubarb (peppercorns and olive oil!), and how he turns spring flowers into syrups that he can stir into sodas. Then, NYT contributor and author of the new cookbook, I Dream of Dinner (So You Don't Have To),Ali Slagle stops by to talk about her spring cooking approach: from boiling artichokes and eating them with store-bought mayonnaise to doing nothing with spring strawberries (“I just eat ‘em raw.”) We also talk about her growing up in LA, her grandmother who lives near me and apparently makes amazing food for her neighbors that they don't eat (hello! I'm right here), how she pitches stories to The New York Times, her decision to leave Brooklyn with her boyfriend after the pandemic to travel the country, and who tastes her food to give her feedback. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the debut of The Amateur Gourmet Podcast! Fans of Lunch Therapy: don't worry. You'll still get all of the in-depth interviews that you loved before, only now we're doing it on a theme. And this week's theme is FOOD TV. Natasha Leggero, host of the brand new TBS cooking competition show Rat in the Kitchen, comes on to talk about judging a cooking show, talking about food on TV, traveling with Ludo, what she cooks at home, her dad sending back his pasta, and being married to someone who keeps kosher (comedian Moshe Kasher). Before that, though, my good pal Jonathan Parks-Ramage comes on to talk about his love for Top Chef (we dish on who's the hottest) and, more importantly, Kids Baking Championship on Food Network. Is it a celebration of youthful obsessions with all things culinary? Or is it a new way for stage parents to force their kids into the limelight? Hope you enjoy the new format… And please don't complain about the yodeling. I love it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So excited to have Dan Souza on the pod today! Not only is he the editor-in-chief of Cook's Illustrated, he's a regular on one of my all-time favorite cooking show's: America's Test Kitchen on PBS. Today our conversation covers everything from his responsibilities as editor-in-chief, how difficult it was to make changes to the Cook's Illustrated format when he took over, what he makes when he doesn't feel like cooking, his love for seafood, and his obsession with tea. We also talk about his perfectionism, what it means to make “the perfect” version of something, how he wants to empower people with techniques, and how he uses cookbooks to move away from his perfectionistic habits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you like musicals, you've gotta listen to today's episode of Lunch Therapy. My patient is none other than Ben Rimalower, the only person I know who loves Patti LuPone as much as I do — so much so, that he wrote and performed a one man show about it called Patti Issues (which was a NYT Critic's Pick!). He's since gone on to write and star in another one-man show, Bad with Money, as well as writing for outlets like Vulture, Out, and Time Out New York. You may also recognize him as Countess LuAnn's cabaret director on The Real Housewives of New York. With his friend and frequent collaborator, Daniel Nolan, Ben is currently hosting Cast Offs, a weekly show on Monday nights at 8 PM at Club Cumming in New York where they play games like Dolly, Concert, Kill (who you'd want to see in a revival of Hello, Dolly, who you'd want to see in concert, and who you'd want to kill) and “Name That Belt.” In today's session, Ben talks all about his dislike of mayonnaise and blue cheese, his relationship with Patti LuPone (she made him veal meatballs!), his world famous salad, his obsession with Trader Joe's peanut butter cups, and the impossible meat Bolognese he made for a dinner party. We also cover his complex relationship with his dad (who came out to Ben's family in the early 90s), where he likes to eat in the theater district, his mother's very dry brisket, and what it's like being on set during a Housewives shoot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Lunch Therapy patient, Cathy Barrow (aka: Mrs. Wheelbarrow), is the highly accomplished author of four cookbooks — Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Practical Pantry (an IACP Winner for best single-subject cookbook), Pie Squared (a James Beard-award nominee for baking and desserts), When Pies Fly, and her most recent, Bagels, Schmears, and a Nice Piece of Fish. In today's session, we talk all about the bagel, how she came up with a winning recipe, how she left her career in marketing to become a landscape designer, learning from her grandmother and great-grandmother in the kitchen (recipes like chopped liver, chicken soup, and cinnamon-swirl coffee cake). We also cover the time she ran a fish market, getting discovered by the NYT, how she makes her latkes with no matzo meal, and how “a nice piece of fish” isn't just something my grandfather said. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My Lunch Therapy patient this week, Andy Baraghani, made a name for himself at Bon Appetit with his viral videos and approachable-yet-exciting recipes. He's now the author of a brand new cookbook, The Cook You Want to Be, which arrives on shelves April 26th. In today's session, we talk all about Andy's sense of discipline and how it changed during the pandemic. We also cover his Iranian background, the different kinds of food his mother's family made vs. his father's family, his favorite cooking smell from childhood, his love for fancy restaurants as a kid, and how he started his career by just walking into Chez Panisse and asking for a job. We also cover the recipe that he's proudest of: his kuku sabzi, or Persian frittata. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My patient this week is Matt Rodbard, founder and editor of Taste and co-author of Koreatown and the co-author of the brand new cookbook, Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts. Our conversation hits some juicy topics like cultural appropriation, how editors handle accusations against chefs in their publications, and how Jewish people are obsessed with meals and going to the bathroom. Happy listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebecca Metz plays Pam Adlon's funny and very humane manager on FX's Better Things (one of my favorite shows) and that's just the beginning: she's been working in Hollywood for decades and has been on everything from Gilmore Girls to Malcolm in the Middle to Shameless to AJ and the Queen. Today's session is all about what it means to be in actor in Hollywood: the craft itself, the brutality of auditioning, how you persevere, and, most importantly, what you eat. Find out what Rebecca has for breakfast on shoot days, what she makes to unwind at home, how she overcame people-pleasing to become a better actor, and the food she ate growing up with a Jewish caterer grandfather. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amateurgourmet.substack.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices