This week my guest is Nathan Myhrvold of Modernist Cuisine. Nathan graduated high school and went to college at 14. He holds a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics, as well as a master’s degree in mathematical economics, from Princeton University. His master’s degree is in geophysics and space physics, and he did postdoctoral cosmology work with Stephen Hawking. Nathan then spent 14 years at Microsoft, where he was their first Chief Technology Officer. While working at Microsoft, he took a leave of absence to earn his culinary diploma from École de Cuisine La Varenne in France. M ..read more

This week I'm sharing a clip from another podcast I was featured on a couple of years ago. I share a couple of funny stories that I've never shared before. The first story is about how actor Bill Murray inadvertently ruined my anniversary dinner. I love Bill, and this isn't something he intentionally did, but the story relates to good (and poor) customer service. The other story is about scrapple, an original recipe of mine, and how a large spice company might have appropriated this recipe, passed it off as their own, and it subsequently ended up in a book. I've joked about it, but I'm still ..read more

This week my guest is "the whiskey professor" Bernie Lubbers, Heaven Hill Distillery's national brand ambassador. If you want to learn more about bourbon, and one of America's oldest and best distilleries, this episode is for you. Bernie explains the criteria for bourbon, as well as the bottled-in-bond classification, something he's championed since beginning his bourbon career in 2005. We also discuss whiskey tastings and tasting notes in general. I asked him about the price of bottles, especially as it relates to the quality of the spirit. And I feel like it can be overwhelming when you go ..read more

This week my guest is Shawn Niles (aka The Fat Pastor). Shawn started his church in 2015, but his love of cooking led him to competing on MasterChef in 2016. What chef Gordon Ramsay told him would change his life forever. Wanting to combine his two passions, Shawn started a program for at-risk youth in Yakima, WA called Urban Kitchen, to teach them culinary and business skills. At the end of the program, the students would open and run a 3-night pop-up restaurant. He would later start BiteClub Yakima, and have the opportunity to go to Italy to work with chef Massimo Bottura. Also, following ..read more

This week my guest is pizza maker and founder of Women’s Pizza Month Christy Alia. Women's pizza month is an online party taking place the whole month of March on Instagram. Of course, you can follow along by checking out the hashtag #WomensPizzaMonth.  Christy wanted to shine a spotlight on many of the women in pizza, so she took to Instagram to start this. Anyone can participate, and she encourages you to do a post, dedicating it to a woman that you’d like to highlight. In addition, she’s partnered with Corto and Stanislaus on the "For the Love of Pizza" kit, which is meant to elevate ..read more

This week my guest is Mike Traud, founder of The Chef Conference (formerly The Philly Chef Conference). We talk about the history, and evolution, of this food and beverage conference. You'll hear what you can expect from this year's conference which is taking place in Philadelphia from April 12th through 15th. Some of this year's guest are: Sean Brock, Tom Collichio, Alain Ducasse, Andrew Zimmern, Rob Rubba, and Rosio Sanchez MIKE TRAUD and The Chef Conference The Chef Conference on Instagram The Chef Conference Website Get Tickets to The Chef Conference: Day 1 April 12, 2024: Openings & ..read more

This week my guest is Mike Traud, founder of The Chef Conference (formerly The Philly Chef Conference). We talk about the history, and evolution, of this food and beverage conference. You'll hear what you can expect from this year's conference which is taking place in Philadelphia from April 12th through 15th. Some of this year's guest are: Sean Brock, Tom Collichio, Alain Ducasse, Andrew Zimmern, Rob Rubba, and Rosio Sanchez MIKE TRAUD and The Chef Conference The Chef Conference on Instagram The Chef Conference Website Get Tickets to The Chef Conference: Day 1 April 12, 2024: Openings & ..read more

This week my guest is chef Christine Van Bloem. For 15 years Christine ran the successful Kitchen Studio Cooking School in Frederick, Maryland, a recreational cooking school. When the Covid pandemic hit, she had to stop doing in-person cooking classes. She pivoted to online cooking classes, hoping to go back to in-person. Then, her husband had a stroke, she had a heart attack, and the landlord of her business evicted her. That's enough for most people to throw in the towel. Christine took some time away from the kitchen, but now she's back. On the show, we discuss her new venture The Empty Ne ..read more

This week I have chef Sunny Soto-Brisco. With her wife, they started Sunny Street Outreach to cook and serve restaurant quality meals to the houseless and underserved communities in Oceanside, CA. They're currently working on fundraising for a mobile cafe trailer which, once open, will serve the Oceanside community with coffee and breakfast on the go. YOU CAN DONATE HERE SUNNY STREET OUTREACH The Sunny Street Outreach Website Sunny Street Outreach on Instagram Donate to help them with their Community Mobile Coffee & Breakfast Trailer CHEFS WITHOUT RESTAURANTS If you enjoy the show and wou ..read more

This week I have Althea Brown. After moving to the United States from Guyana, Althea started a blog called Metemgee where she shares traditional Guyanese recipes. Due to health reasons, Althea now follows a paleo diet. But you don’t have to follow a paleo diet to enjoy her recipes. In fact, Althea shares both traditional recipes, and Paleo remixes on her website, and in her new book Caribbean Paleo. Some topics discussed and key takeaways in this episode: Best practices that Althea swears by, from SEO strategies to engaging content. Althea's approach to taking (and sometimes ignoring) bloggi ..read more