Summer means graduation season, pool parties and backyard barbecues. In other words… we’re gonna need more drinks! So today we'll hear from Justin Gray, Tampa Bay chapter president of the United States Bartenders' Guild. Justin makes a case for why punch is the perfect beverage for your summer get-together. Justin makes a case for why punch is the perfect beverage for your summer get-together. He explains how punch made its way from India to the rest of the world. You’ll also learn tips for incorporating fresh Florida produce into your punch, how to keep beverages cold without them getting watered down—and the secret to a better nonalcoholic punch.

Related episodes:

• How to Make a Mocktail
• The Ultimate Beach House Menu
• T-Pain and Maxwell Britten Want to Mix You a Drink
• Chef Joe Isidori Wants You to Explore Florida’s Ethnic Food Markets
• Rum Punch Rhyme: Your Recipe for ‘Happiness and Good Vibes in a Glass’

Albert's small front and backyards are like a modern-day Garden of Eden, lush with fruit and vegetable plants, 10 bee hives for honey and an impressive composting setup. Albert even grows plants to make his own medicines. His sustainability efforts earned him the title of Gulfportian of the Year from the local newspaper, The Gabber.

Today on The Zest, Risemberg shares his journey from "miserable" aircraft mechanic to self-sustaining gardener, composter, beekeeper and yoga instructor.  He also offers tips for planting your own edible garden and advice for going green later in life.
 

Related episodes:

• Conscious Cuisine: Rob Greenfield on How to Live without Grocery Stores and Restaurants
• Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening 101
• Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies
• An Urban Garden Oasis – St. Petersburg EcoVillage Farm
• It’s Always Sunny at St. Petersburg’s Brick Street Farms

Dharma Southern Kitchen is a plant-based comfort food restaurant chain with locations in Orlando, Sanford and Tampa. Founder Shaun chatted with The Zest's Andrew Lucas about how his Army-brat childhood influenced his career as a chef, the growth of vegan food in mainstream culture and why vegetable-forward options have always had a place at the Southern dinner table. 

Related Episodes:

• Vegan Boom at Florida's Theme Parks
• (I Can't Believe It's) Vegan Baking
• Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies

Palm Beach County has a reputation for being swanky: high-end boutiques in Delray Beach, fancy restaurants along Worth Avenue in West Palm and the like.

But Lori J. Durante wanted to showcase a different side of Palm Beach County—one that featured history with an emphasis on the contributions of underrepresented groups.

So in 2004, Lori began conducting bus tours in her hometown of Delray Beach, highlighting the area’s multicultural influences.

“At the conclusion of the tour, the guests would often ask, “Where can we go to eat?” Lori recalls.

So in 2011, she launched Taste History Culinary Tours to showcase the lesser-known culinary histories of Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach and Lantana. To date, more than 10,000 people have embarked on her off-the-beaten-path excursions. Today, Lori offers an abbreviated version of the Taste History bus tour.

Related episodes:

• How Florida Became “the Birthplace of Fusion Cuisine”
• Summertime Grilling Tips for Your Best Barbecue Season Yet
• Chef Allen Susser Brings Good Mango Mojo
• How “Food Led the Way” for Cuban Influence in Tampa

In this conversation, Yacovazzi and Irwin share how food helped early Americans shape the country's identity, the role of food during wartime and what food can tell us about America's labor force.  We'll also learn the origin of Meatless Monday, why canned food is underrated and which food gets their vote for the most American of all. 

Related episodes:

• Here’s What Was Served at the *Real* First Thanksgiving
• How Florida Became "the Birthplace of Fusion Cuisine"
• Toni Tipton-Martin Celebrates African-American Chefs in ‘Jubilee’
• Rural Florida Pioneers’ Holiday Cooking
• Celebrating Grande Dame Chef Edna Lewis
• How “Food Led the Way” for Cuban Influence in Tampa
• Chef Judi Gallagher on the Lost Art of Hand-Written Recipes
• Writer Heather McPherson on What You Don’t Know About Florida Food

In our conversation, the Tampa couple share how climate change and the pandemic changed consumers' drinking habits, their favorite local restaurants for wine and advice for aspiring sommeliers.

Related episodes:

• Talking and Tasting Florida Wines
• Bern’s Steak House All-Access Tour
• Journalist Judith Smelser on Zoom Wine Tastings, Disney Sommeliers and How to Find Your Next Favorite Bottle of Wine
• Cocktails for Mom, or Anyone Who Could Use a Drink
• Meet Your New Favorite Holiday: Florida Craft Beer Day
• Bourbon 101 with Nate Wilson

This week, we’re bringing you something a bit different. Collards After Dark is an intimate evening of food and conversation that precedes the annual Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival. 

At this year’s event, Dalia facilitated a discussion between Gabrielle E. W. Carter and Dr. LaDonna Butler about the healing power of African-American culinary traditions. We also discussed seed-keeping as a form of resistance, the ritual of drinking potlikker and much more.

Ms. Carter is a cultural preservationist and co-founder of Tall Grass Food Box. It’s a community-supported agriculture model that sources produce from Black farmers in her home state of North Carolina. She also hosts community meals on her family’s homestead in Apex, N.C. You may have seen in the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America. 

Dr. Butler is founder and executive director of The Well for Life, a St. Petersburg space dedicated to mental wellness and self-care. She’s also a therapist and licensed mental health counselor.

The event was recorded on the evening of Feb. 18, 2022, in the garden of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg, before a diverse audience. The evening began with a screening of The Seeds We Keep, Carter’s short film about seed preservation and African-American land ownership.

Related episodes:

• Behind the Scenes of the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival
• Toni Tipton-Martin Celebrates African-American Chefs in ‘Jubilee’
• Zora Neale Hurston’s Foodie Life
• James Weldon Johnson’s Foodie Life

Chef Timineri's  job is to help consumers understand what’s growing in Florida and how to incorporate it into our diets. From a test kitchen in Tallahassee, Justin creates recipes and cooking videos showcasing Florida produce, seafood and beef.

In this interview with The Zest Podcast, he shares some of his favorite summertime meal ideas, offers advice for cooking with kids and recounts how he won the 2006 Food Network Challenge Great American Seafood Cook-off. He also issues a challenge to help home cooks meal-plan like a chef.

Related episodes:

• 10 Tips for Cooking with Kids
• Why You Should Stop Haggling at Florida’s Farmers Markets
• Chef Niven Patel and Mohamed Alkassar Had a Productive Pandemic
• Chef Greg Baker on Mental Health: “It’s Okay to Not be Okay
• Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies
• How to Get Started on the Mediterranean Diet

4 Rivers Smokehouse regional manager Nick West recounts the touching origin story, shares the latest barbecue trends and offers tips for your next cookout.

Related episodes:

• New Ways to Barbecue
• Bern’s Steak House All-Access Tour
• Get to Know Pitmaster Lee Ann Whippen
• Roll Up Your Sleeves for Some SERIOUS BBQ at DR. BBQ!
• Summertime Grilling Tips for Your Best Barbecue Season Yet
• The Art and Legacy of the Local Butcher Shop

Mermosa Wines is a mermaid-themed beverage company based in St. Petersburg, with a product line that includes ready-to-drink mimosas and other sparkling wines. The brand is sold in 16 states, available in stores like Walmart, Target, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Total Wine and others. Desiree Noisette is the company’s founder, president and "head mermaid.” That makes her Florida's first Black female winemaker. In this conversation, Desiree shares how she went from a law career to creating a line of beverages inspired by her ancestors. She also discusses the challenges of being a young woman of color in the wine industry.

Food friends in Tampa Bay, there are still a few tickets left for WUSF Public Media's outdoor dining event, The Longest Table. The event takes place on Thursday, April 7, along the downtown St. Pete waterfront.

Related episodes:

• Beer Kulture Raises the Bar for Diversity in Craft Beverage Industry
• T-Pain and Maxwell Britten Want to Mix You a Drink
• Cocktails for Mom, or Anyone Who Could Use a Drink
• Meet Your New Favorite Holiday: Florida Craft Beer Day

Seafood is big business in Florida, with an annual economic impact of more than $400 million. That’s according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. So how do we make sure all this valuable seafood is sustainable? What are the best and worst fish to choose? The short answer is: It’s complicated. Here to offer guidance is Angela Collins. She’s a Florida Sea Grant Agent with the University of Florida IFAS Extension.

It’s spring break season—the perfect time to slow down and teach the kids in our life a thing or two in the kitchen. But first, Wendy Wesley is here to teach us adults a thing or two about cooking with kids. Wendy is a registered and licensed dietician and nutritionist based in St. Petersburg. In addition, Wendy is a mom, and she teaches classes for home cooks of all ages.

Foodie friends in Tampa Bay, get your tickets for WUSF's outdoor dining event, the Longest Table. It's the evening of Thursday, April 7 in downtown St. Petersburg.

Related episodes:

• Lunchboxmafia: How to Make a Lunch They Can’t Refuse
• Students Dish on Dorm Food, Shared Kitchens and Cooking in College
• No Recipe? No Problem: How to Cook Using Your Intuition
• Nutrition Tips for Young Athletes — And the Rest of Us

Plant City, in Hillsborough County, has bragging rights as the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. Its farms produce millions of berries each year. In fact, Hillsborough County, where Plant City is located, produces about 15 percent of the nation’s strawberries and nearly all of its winter strawberries, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. But this wasn’t always the case. Today, we’ll learn how a single event more than 100 years ago changed everything. I recently chatted with Jennifer Morgan. She’s a public relations and media representative for the Florida Strawberry Festival, which takes place March 3 to 13 in Plant City. Jennifer explains how strawberries—and the festival—became such big business.

Related episodes:

• Chef Allen Susser Brings Good Mango Mojo
• Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening 101
• It’s Always Sunny at St. Petersburg’s Brick Street Farms
• Writer Heather McPherson on What You Don’t Know About Florida Food
• Behind the Scenes of the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival

You could call Chris and Kiona Wagner trendsetters. In 2019, before the COVID pandemic forced all of us to reevaluate our priorities, the couple decided to make a big change. They moved from bustling South Florida to the sleepy town of Monticello, just outside of Tallahassee. That’s where the Wagners run Rocky Soil Family Farm. 

They sell their fruits, vegetables, herbs and eggs at local farmers markets. They’re also adding spaces for a bakery and farm-to-table dinners. Maybe you’ve been dreaming about quitting your 9-to-5 and living off the land, as the Wagners did. But trading traffic for tractors isn’t always easy. During their transition to rural life, the Wagners welcomed twin daughters who—while adorable—take up quite a bit of their time and energy. They also have a teenage son. 

During the twins’ nap time, Chris and Kiona made time to chat with The Zest. In this conversation, the Wagners get transparent about how the fantasy of farm life lives up to the reality—and why, for them, it’s ultimately worth it. They also how we can all reconnect with our food without going off the grid. Chris starts by explaining how Rocky Soil Family Farm got its name.

Related episodes:

• Why You Should Stop Haggling at Florida’s Farmers Markets
• It’s Always Sunny at St. Petersburg’s Brick Street Farms
• Conscious Cuisine: Rob Greenfield on How to Live without Grocery Stores and Restaurants

Winter is prime growing season in Florida. And each February, thousands of folks from across descend upon the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum to celebrate one crop in particular: collard greens. This year’s Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival is set for Saturday, Feb. 19 at the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg. There’ll be plant giveaways, nutrition seminars, a collard green cook-off and more. But the significance of the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival goes far beyond the leafy vegetables. The event attracts around 3,000 people of all ages and races to the historically Black neighborhood of South St. Petersburg, making it a celebration of diversity. Heading into the festival’s fifth year, Dalia chatted with festival cofounders Boyzell Hosey and Samantha Harris. Boyzell starts by explaining how the event came to be. Listen to the end to learn who this year’s headliner will be.

Related episodes:

• Toni Tipton-Martin Celebrates African-American Chefs in “Jubilee”
• How Chef Edouardo Jordan’s St. Pete Roots Gave Him a “Chitlins State of Mind”
• Documentary Explores Tampa Bay’s Black-Owned Restaurants
• It’s Always Sunny at St. Petersburg’s Brick Street Farms
• Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies

Real talk—today’s episode won’t make you hungry. But it will make you think—about where your food comes from, and where it goes after you’ve eaten your fill. The eggshells, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable scraps… to us, it’s trash. But with the help of Mother Nature, you can turn your trash into compost treasure. You’ll reduce waste and have rich soil to grow your own food. Quinn Metoyer is the founder of Miami Compost Project. The organization teaches people how to grow their own food and waste less. In my conversation with Quinn, you’ll learn the benefits of composting, how to get started no matter where you live, and mistakes to avoid.

Related episodes:

• Conscious Cuisine: Rob Greenfield on How to Live without Grocery Stores and Restaurants
• Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening 101
• It’s Always Sunny at St. Petersburg’s Brick Street Farms
• History of Citrus in the Sunshine State
• Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies
• Mango Mania in Miami

If you’re gonna do an episode about Valentine's Day chocolates in Florida , then there’s just one man for the job—and not because his last name happens to be Love. Norman Love is the founder of Norman Love Confections, a Fort Myers-based candy company that specializes in chocolates that look as good as they taste. I chatted with Norman about how to choose chocolates for that special someone, somebody you barely know at all or just to treat yo’self. Norman also discussed how he got into the dessert biz and the challenges of running a chocolate company in hot, humid Florida.

Related episodes:

• Real-Life Willy Wonka: Meet Peter Behringer of Sweet Pete’s in Jacksonville
• It’s Easy Being Green at Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe
• Come Fry With Me: Florida State Fair Funnel Cake Queen “Mama Jane” Harris
• How to Photograph Food Like a Pro

If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, then that makes First Watch one of the most important restaurant chains in Florida. The Bradenton-based company has more than 430 restaurants in 28 states, and they’re all open for breakfast and lunch only. Eleni Kouvatsos is director of communications for First Watch Restaurant Group. She’s here with advice for how we can step up our at-home breakfast game. And Dalia had to ask Eleni why First Watch doesn’t serve dinner.

Related episodes:

• Lunchboxmafia: How to Make a Lunch They Can’t Refuse
• Sunday Supper Movement & Stress-Free Family Dinners
• Coffee Talk: Writer Tamara Lush on Her Java-Inspired Mysteries
• History of Citrus in the Sunshine State

For many of us, eating sustainably means remembering to bring our reusable bags to the grocery store. But Rob Greenfield wanted to go further. Much further. The sustainability, equity and justice activist has garnered a huge social media following with self-imposed challenges to raise awareness. Awhile back, he simplified his life down to just 44 possessions. Then there’s the time he rode his bike across the U.S. while bathing only in natural water sources like lakes and rivers. 

In 2019, Rob embarked on what might be considered his most extreme feat yet: an entire year of growing and foraging all of his food in Orlando. No grocery stores, no restaurants, no takeout, no dinners cooked by friends. He says his weight didn’t change, and he stayed in good health.

Dalia caught up with Rob in Gulfport, just south of St. Petersburg, where he was staying with a friend. We chatted in the backyard over  glasses of homemade kombucha. In this conversation, Rob shares how the yearlong experiment impacted his social life, the kitchen appliance he swears by and advice  for how we can all eat a bit more sustainably. Dalia started by asking Rob why he decided to give up grocery stores and restaurants for an entire year.

Related episodes:

• Why You Should Stop Haggling at Florida’s Farmers Markets
• Alfresco Dining Tips from “Outdoorsy Diva” Lauren Gay
• Yaupon Brothers American Tea Company
• Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies
• What’s the Buzz About Florida Honey Bees?

New episodes drop on Thursdays, right here in your podcast feed. You can find previous episodes, recipes and more at TheZestPodcast.com.

Wintertime is when many Florida fruits and vegetables are at their peak. So we think it’s the perfect time to catch up with Gail Eggeman. She’s co-founder and manager of the St. Petersburg Saturday Morning Market, where each week thousands of visitors shop for produce, craft items and a lot more. Gail chats about the market's early days, her food heroes and why bargain hunters like myself should stop haggling at farmers markets.

Related episodes:

• Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin on Her Cookbook, “St. Pete Eats”
• The Man Behind the Robert Is Here Fruit Stand
• Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies
• Tips for Grocery Service Delivery Success

Florida is home to more Puerto Ricans than any other state. This week, we’re exploring how many of Florida's Puerto Rican communities celebrate the winter holidays. From pig roasts to all-night parties to Puerto Rico's answer to eggnog, you'll want to incorporate these traditions into your next holiday gathering, if you don’t already. 

Our guide is Yanira “Yaya” Cardona of Jacksonville.  She owns Yaya Productions, a company that produces and markets events for Jacksonville’s Hispanic community. She's also the new  morning show host the Jacksonville reggaeton radio station Flow 105.3 FM. You heard it here first!

When most people think of Florida, their mind conjures up images of beaches or Disney World—maybe alligators or the latest Florida Man headline. But there was a time when Florida was synonymous with one thing: citrus. Florida was the country’s leading citrus producer, outranking even California. 

So, what happened? Yes, citrus greening is partly to blame. But that’s not the whole story. 

For answers, today we’ll be hearing from The Zest’s web and social media guru, Chandler Balkcom. He’s a second-year grad student studying history at the University of South Florida. He’s also a former student of Dr. Gary Mormino, who is an author, historian and Professor Emeritus in the USF Florida Studies program. 

Chandler asked Dr. Mormino to walk us through some of the key moments for Florida citrus, including its origins, how World War 2 led to the development of orange juice concentrate and Dr. Mormino’s predictions for the future of Florida’s citrus industry.

Related episodes:

• Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening 101
• Food Memories of Latin America
• The Man Behind the Robert Is Here Fruit Stand
• Students Dish on Dorm Food, Meal Prep and Cooking in College

These days, it’s widely recognized that the real first Thanksgiving took place in St. Augustine in 1565—a full 56 years before the Plymouth, Massachusetts, event that you probably learned about in school. 

That first Thanksgiving banquet in Florida consisted of foods like venison, bean stew and hard biscuits. And while corn and pumpkin had their place on the table, they hardly resembled the cornbread stuffing and pumpkin pie we feast on today. 

To learn how early Floridians used these and other dietary staples, I reached out to friend of the pod Andrew Batten. He's a board member for Florida Living History, a St. Augustine-based educational nonprofit. Andrew has a particular interest in Florida’s culinary history. 

Related episodes:

• Was The First Thanksgiving in St. Augustine? (with Rodney Kite-Powell)
• How Florida Became “the Birthplace of Fusion Cuisine”  (with Andrew Batten)
• Rural Florida Pioneers' Holiday Cooking (the original  Bulletproof coffee)
• The Cuban Sandwich — Our National Treasure
• Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co.
• Chef Sean Sherman, The Sioux Chef

Mamey, which opened in August 2020, is an island-inspired eatery, with menu items like Jamaican short rib empanadas, Key West pink shrimp taquitos and key lime cheesecake flan. Orno, which opened in October 2021, focuses on New American cuisine; think wood-roasted summer squash, grass-fed ribeye and Alaskan halibut.

The seemingly disparate menus have something in common. Both feature ingredients from Niven’s two-acre Homestead farm, Rancho Patel.

In this conversation, Niven and his business partner Mohamed Alkassar chat with Dalia about which vegetables are worth growing yourself and which are better to buy, how to create a restaurant that appeals to both locals and tourists, and why okra is underrated. The guys also lament a precious menu item that's gone missing, and Dalia speculates that their clam dealer may be up to no good.

Related episodes:

• Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening 101
• Talking Seoul Food with Miami’s 2 Korean Girls
• Halal Food 101 with Florida’s Halal Food Guru
• Zak the Baker Keeps It Kosher

Here’s all you need to know about today’s show: On our website, one of the recipes that goes with this episode is titled Instant Ramen Upgrade Tips. Yep, today we’re exploring what it’s like to cook for yourself during college, or whenever you’re living on your own for the first time. Our talented and sweet intern, Lily Theisen, recently sat down with her fellow University of South Florida students Brilan Christopher and Kessid Vonderhaar to discuss the trials and tribulations, tips and tricks of feeding yourself when you leave the nest. Share this episode with the young adult in your life, or just enjoy being a fly on the wall and reminiscing about what you ate when you first struck out on your own.

Related episodes:

• Nutrition Tips for Young Athletes — And the Rest of Us
• 14 Tips for Cooking Faster at Home
• How to Snack Smarter

Let’s start with a classic: The Cuban sandwich. A soon-to-be-released book will explore its history and popularity around the world. University of South Florida Professor Barbara Cruz is one of the book’s co-authors. She was born in Cuba. And she says the sandwich has always been part of her life. 

Besides the Cuban sandwich, what other foods did Tampa’s early Cuban residents bring with them? For answers, we turn to Andy Huse. He’s a librarian and archivist at the University of South Florida and an expert on Tampa food history. 

Huse, Cruz and food writer Jeff Houck are co-authors of the upcoming book The Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers.

Related episodes:

• A Gasparilla Primer (featuring USF librarian Andy Huse)
• Singing Praises for Neighborhood Stores (featuring the hilarious Jeff Houck)
• The Cuban Sandwich: Our National Treasure
• Food Memories of Latin America
• Café con Leche: Tampa History in a Cup

Grammy winner and Tallahassee native T-Pain is known for his collaborations, like All I Do Is Win with DJ Khaled, Good Life with Kanye West and Low with his fellow Floridian Flo Rida. 

But T-Pain’s latest collab takes him out of the music studio and into the kitchen. It’s a book of cocktail recipes called… wait for it... Can I Mix You a Drink? 50 Cocktails from My Life and Career. T-Pain’s co-author is New York City mixologist Maxwell Britten. The James Beard Award winner chatted with Dalia about working with T-Pain and how we all can bring a little star power to the cocktails we mix at home.

Related episodes:

• Cocktails for Mom, or Anyone Who Could Use a Drink
• Beer Kulture Raises the Bar for Diversity in Craft Beverage Industry
• Rum Punch Rhyme: Your Recipe for “Happiness and Good Vibes in a Glass”
• Sipping Sunset Gin at St. Petersburg Distillery
• Meet Your New Favorite Holiday: Florida Craft Beer Day

In season 3 of The Zest, we spoke with Dr. Frederick Douglass Opie about his book Zora Neale Hurston on Florida Food. In this week’s episode, Dr. Opie is back to shed light on the role food played in the life of another Harlem Renaissance-era Floridian, James Weldon Johnson. The Jacksonville native lived from 1871 to 1938.

Dr.  Opie is an author and professor at Babson College outside of Boston. He explains how Jim Crow laws affected what Johnson ate, and how Johnson's eating habits were influenced by his time as a diplomat in Central America. 

Related episodes:

• Zora Neale Hurston’s Foodie Life
• Toni Tipton-Martin Celebrates African-American Chefs in ‘Jubilee’
• How Florida Became “the Birthplace of Fusion Cuisine”
• Celebrating Grande Dame Chef Edna Lewis

Alain Lamaire is executive chef and co-owner of Sensory Delights Catering in Pembroke Pines. You may also recognize him from Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen and Chopped. In this conversation, he discusses foods that reminds him of home, why Haitians eat pumpkin soup on New Year's Day and how to be a better ally to Florida's Haitian community.

Related episodes:

• Talking Seoul Food with Miami’s 2 Korean Girls
• How Florida Become “the Birthplace of Fusion Cuisine”
• Chef Joe Isidori Wants You to Explore Florida’s Ethnic Food Markets
• Food Blogger Ricky Ly on Orlando’s “Tasty Chomps”
• Halal Food 101 with Florida’s Halal Food Guru

Most of the colorful lunches on Jenny’s Lunchboxmafia Instagram account are for her 12-year-old daughter, Jazzy. For a long time, Jenny traveled for work and wasn’t at home to prepare Jazzy’s lunch. So three years ago when Jenny changed jobs, she started making up for lost time by lovingly preparing lunches for herself, her husband and Jazzy. In this episode, Jenny shares tips for packing a better lunch, whether it’s for a family member or you’re investing in your own self-care. This episode is full of the inspiration we all could use right now.

Related episodes:

• How to Snack Smarter
• How to Photograph Food Like a Pro
• 14 Tips for Cooking Faster at Home

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, today we’re celebrating Florida’s Latin-American food cultures. We’re sharing an excerpt from a conversation titled Food Memories of Latin America. This Zoom discussion was part of Conversations in the Neighborhood: Let’s Talk about Food, a discussion series presented by Florida Humanities, the University of Florida’s Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, and the City of Gainesville. We’ll hear from educators, activists and home cooks about how their Latin American heritage influences the way they eat. We’ve edited the conversation for length and clarity.

The discussion was moderated by Margarita Vargas-Betancourt, the Latin American and Caribbean Special Collections Librarian at the George A. Smathers Libraries of the University of Florida.

Panelists include:

• Wanda Depaz-Ibanez, Puerto Rico native and retired co-owner of Emiliano's Bakery and Emiliano's Restaurant.
• Linsey Derival, a Haitian-born Afro-Latina who spent her childhood in the Dominican Republic and adolescence in the United States.
• Mariana Rodrigues, an activist who particpated in feminist and LGBTQ movements in Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, and Brazil.
• Cecilia "CC" Suarez,  assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication (AEC) focusing on intercultural communication and global leadership.
• Marisella Veiga, a Cuban-born writer, lecturer and home cook

Related episodes:

• Taco Bus Founder Rene Valenzuela on Cinco de Mayo, His Life-Changing Accident & What’s Next
• Miami Herald’s Carlos Frías on Cuban Coffee, Edible Iguanas & Winning the James Beard Award
• Michelle Bernstein’s Jewish-Latin ‘Mishmosh’ of a Life

If you’re a longtime Florida foodie, then you can probably rattle off the names of some James Beard Award winners from the Sunshine State. The James Beard Awards started in 1990, to recognize the country’s best restaurants, chefs, food writers and others in the culinary world. A sprinkling of Floridians have been honored recently. But in the big categories like Best New Restaurant and Outstanding Chef, it’s been crickets. At least one food writer says that’s no coincidence. 

Eric Barton is a Miami-based freelance journalist who writes about food for Flamingo, a Florida lifestyle magazine. He’s also a former James Beard Awards judge. In a Flamingo article, Eric cites a few reasons for the supposed snubs.

Eric is here to break down how the judging works, why winning this award is so important for restaurants in the first place and what can be done to make the contest more fair. He’ll also offer his picks for the best Florida restaurants that he says deserve a second look.

When you’re in Miami, it’s easy to find a Cuban sandwich… and wash it down with a cup of Cuban coffee. But Jennifer and Michele Kaminski were craving something different— more along the lines of the Korean food they grew up eating. So the sisters started a ghost kitchen. That’s a restaurant that’s available only for delivery and takeout. They called in 2 Korean Girls, and it’s generating big buzz in South Florida. I recently spoke with Jennifer and Michele about the foods that remind them of childhood and the role 2 Korean Girls plays in the movement to stop Asian hate. 

Related episodes:

• Chef Allen Susser Brings Good Mango Mojo
• Chef Joe Isidori Wants You to Explore Florida’s Ethnic Food Markets

Over his career, Greg Baker worked his way up from teenage dishwasher to a six-time James Beard Award nominated chef. Greg is perhaps best known as the chef behind The Refinery, a popular farm-to-table restaurant in Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighborhood that he owned from 2010 to 2019 with his wife, Michelle Baker. He loves how a plate of food can make someone happy. 

But for Greg and countless others in the restaurant industry, the work often has the opposite effect. Greg says it’s no coincidence that his industry is a breeding ground for serious issues, like mental health struggles, substance abuse and even suicide. In our conversation, Greg opens up about his own struggles and suggests ways to make things a little better, whether you’re a restaurant worker or customer. 

If you enjoyed this conversation with Greg, then you may also enjoy these episodes:

•  Taco Bus Founder Rene Valenzuela on Cinco de Mayo, His Life-Changing Accident & What’s Next
• Beer Kulture Raises the Bar for Diversity in Craft Beverage Industry
• Chef Judi Gallagher on the Lost Art of Hand-Written Recipes

Dalia chats with Stephanie Bailes, president and executive director of Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville. The museum is named for the late Dr. James Robert Cade, a nephrologist (a.k.a. kidney doctor) at the University of Florida and the lead inventor of Gatorade.

Dr. Cade and his team developed Gatorade in 1965 as a carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage designed to keep Gator football players hydrated in the Florida heat. Today, Gatorade is a multibillion-dollar division of PepsiCo whose impact extends far beyond the world of sports. ESPN even documented Gatorade’s history in its 30 for 30 series.

Related episodes:

• Nutrition Tips for Young Athletes: And the Rest of Us
• Super Bowl Chef to Showcase Florida Flavors
• Take Me In to the Ballgame: How to Make Stadium-Quality Hot Dogs at Home

With COVID variants looming large, many of us are back to cooking at home. Some of us never stopped. And while we’re all for supporting local restaurants, ordering takeout everyday isn’t always in the best interest of our wallets—or our waistlines. So friend of the pod Wendy Wesley is here with some guidelines for stress-free cooking. We're talking no-recipes, use-whatever-you-have-on-hand cooking. 

Wendy is a registered and licensed dietitian and nutritionist based in St. Petersburg. She believes anyone can cook a great meal, with just a few guiding principles and intuition. And yes, she knows that sounds kinda woo-woo. But whenever Wendy’s on the podcast, she brings such practical advice to help us eat healthier and actually enjoy the process. So we’re in good hands, y’all. Here’s Dalia's conversation with Wendy, which we recorded in the spring.

Related episodes:

• 14 Tips for Cooking Faster at Home
• Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies
• How to Snack Smarter
• Chef Richard Anderson’s Tips on Fall Comfort Foods

And she always looks fabulous. Her Instagram account, @OutdoorsyDiva, is worth a follow for the outfits alone. We  figured someone so glam probably enjoys some pretty amazing meals, even while she’s roughing it. So we recently spoke with Lauren about how she got into adventure blogging and how we can all eat better in the great outdoors.

Related episodes:

• Fresh Florida Oysters
• The Ultimate Beach House Menu
• Summertime Grilling Tips for Your Best Barbecue Season Yet

In Miami’s artsy Wynwood neighborhood, there’s a colorfully painted building that has people lining up around the block. Customers wait patiently for bagels, guava-cheese pastries and other treats. But not on Saturdays. The bake shop known as Zak the Baker is a kosher bakery that closes every week for the Jewish Sabbath. But the owner, 36-year-old Zak Stern, is not as religious as you might think. So why would a self-described “non-religious Jew” open a kosher bakery in the first place? Zak explained during our recent conversation. He also shared why he trimmed his trademark beard and why he has no plans to expand Zak the Baker to other cities.

Hungry for more? Check out these related episodes from our house of carbs:

• Is Bread Life? It is at Born and Bread Bakehouse!
• Michelle Bernstein’s Jewish-Latin ‘Mishmosh’ of a Life
• Sourdough 101

The Zest and Florida Matters podcasts are produced by WUSF Public Media.

You might call it the most magical food blog on earth. Disney Food Blog, along with its accompanying YouTube and social media channels, is the uber-popular destination for Disney food news. Want to know the best Disney World restaurant for vegetarians, or how to get a birthday cake delivered to your room at a Disney hotel? DFB’s got you covered. In fact, the blog offers news, reviews and photos of anything food-related at Disney’s parks, resorts, events, cruise ships and even movies. Dalia recently spoke with Disney Food Blog’s owner and executive editor, AJ Wolfe, for her best Dis ney World dining tips. AJ’s blog has no official affiliation with the Disney company, so she’s not afraid to tell you which dining experiences are beauties and which are beasts.

Related episodes:

• Chef Art Smith Talks Politics: “Fried Chicken Takes No Sides”
• Season 2 Finale: Disney Dining Tips and an Announcement from Robin
• Vegan Food Boom at Florida’s Theme Parks

New episodes drop every Thursday, beginning Aug. 5. Listen in your favorite podcast app or at TheZestPodcast.com.

It’s our season 3 finale, and unlike most of this season’s conversations, today’s episode was not recorded from Dalia’s bedroom closet. We bring you a fascinating look into the role food played in Salvador Dalí’s life and work. We’re sharing a recording of a presentation by Peter Tush, who is curator of education of the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg. Peter gave the talk in April via Zoom as part of the Epicurean Delights series presented by Florida CraftArt.

Peter’s talk covers: eating, how food became symbolic for Dalí, cannibalism, edible architecture, digestion/excretion and the Dalí cookbook/dining. The Dalí cookbook Les dîners de Gala is available for purchase in the Dalí Museum store. 

Related episodes:

• Zora Neale Hurston’s Foodie Life
• A Feast for the Eyes at Café Gala