Special Sauce with Ed Levine
Ed LevineSpecial Sauce with Ed Levine
Serious Eats' podcast Special Sauce enables food lovers everywhere to eavesdrop on an intimate conversation about food and life between host and Serious Eats founder Ed Levine and his well-known/famous friends and acquaintances both in and out of the food culture.
Serious Eats ©2023
Serious Eats' podcast Special Sauce enables food lovers everywhere to eavesdrop on an intimate conversation about food and life between host and Serious Eats founder Ed Levine and his well-known/famous friends and acquaintances both in and out of the food culture.
Serious Eats ©2023
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Matt and Allison Robicelli on Cupcakes and the Bonds of Suffering [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F5c226f5a-4557-45cc-950a-f65a079fb79d%2Fimages%2F6ff94a00-375a-475d-b8e6-62ce5165c6f3%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Matt and Allison Robicelli on Cupcakes and the Bonds of Suffering [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Sometimes our Special Sauce guests are just so idiosyncratic, so entertaining, so thoughtful, and so zany, I find myself alternately laughing and near tears for an hour and a half straight. That's what happened when I had Matt and Allison Robicelli on...
Well seasoned tips
Thai Taco Tuesdays
The Life of a Greenmarket Farmer
The iconic, century-old Coney Island Brooklyn pizzeria is up for sale.
Humanitarian Sulieman Mleahat on the desperate hunger situation in Gaza
NYT's Kim Severson on Jose Andres' WCK
More with former NBA Champion and "wine guy" Channing Frye
An interview with Chosen Family Wines founder and former NBA champion Channing Frye.
Chef Justin Pichetrungsion the origins of Thai Taco Tuesday
Los Angeles Chef Justin Pichetrungsi on choosing his family's restaurant over Disney animation.
Phil Rosenthal: Live & Much More
Kenji's quest to visit every chicken teriyaki joint in Seattle.
Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres, on hot chocolate.
Food authors Deb Perelman and J. Kenji Lopez Alt on their new podcast, The Recipe.
Chantha Nguon shares her remarkable story.
Dorie Greenspan's Cookie Advice
Nancy Silverton: Foolproof Baker's Recipes
Baking advice from baking wizard Dorie Greenspan.
We continue our deep dive into the world of dried spices with Ethan Frisch and Ori Zohar.
A classic interview with Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres.
Kentucky Poet Laureate
Good guy spice whisperers Ethan Frisch and Ori Zohar of Burlap and Barrel
Toni Tipton Martin on African American cocktails and more.
Cook's Country editor in chief, food historian, and writer Toni Tipton Martin on African American Cookbooks.
Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell Redux, Part 2
Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell Redux, Part 1
George Motz: What Makes A Great Burger
George Motz: Hamburger America
Fuschia Dunlop on her book ‘Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food’
Invitation to a Banquet
Thanksgiving Leftovers with Kenji and Deb
Thanksgiving: Kenji and Deb Reduce Your Stress
Hetty McKinnon: The Vegetable Whisperer Part 2
Hetty McKinnon: The Vegetable Whisperer
Hunger Pangs and A Very Chinese Cookbook
Food writer Kevin Pang and his dad Jeffrey on how they bridged their generation gap through their shared love of cooking.
Chrissy Kinsman is back with pie tips for amateur baking.
Chrissy Kinsman: A Life of Pie
legendary baker and cookbook author Dorie Greenspan
Ann Kim 2: A Korean-American Chef's Story
The James Beard award winning chef Ann Kim talks to Ed Levine about her unusual path to success.
JJ Goode on Hot Dogs Part 2
On this episode of Special Sauce we go deep into dogs, hot dogs that is, with JJ Goode.
Grilling Veggies with Kenji
Grilling Chicken and Fish with Kenji
Advice and tips
This week on Special Sauce we talk to pastry chef extraordinaire Natasha Pickowicz.
Part 2 of Ed Levine's conversation with chef Hamissi Mamba.
Hamissi Mamba discusses his journey to success from his native Burundi to the vibrant food scene in Detroit.
Kenji Lopez-Alt and Ed Levine and cook eggs and tomatoes in a wok onstage at the Bell House in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Revisiting our first live event with J. Kenji Lopez Alt.
Barbecue evangelist Rodney Scott gives serious eaters great tips for our July 4th backyard barbecues.
NYT Cooking contributor Ali Slagle about her path to becoming a recipe developer.
A chef who suggests you DON’T try his recipes at home.
This week's guest on Special Sauce is the extraordinary bread baker, chef and pizzaiolo Rick Easton.
A conversation with one of our greatest food writers, Jessica Harris.
On this episode of Special Sauce we're talking about the film 'Fresh'.
Founder of Fly by Jing
Chicago Chef Beverly Kim tells us how how she went beyond serving food to serving her community.
This week on Special Sauce, the James Beard Award-winning chef Beverly Kim on the difficulties of maintaining a work-life balance in the restaurant business.
food on film
"Billion" of pizza lovers can't be wrong
Kenji goes deep into his foolproof pan pizza recipe.
Kenji on Thin Crust Chicago Pizza
Indian food evangelist Raghavan Iyer's insights on curry history and how living with his cancer diagnosis changed his outlook on food and life.
Raghavan Iyer on his personal food journey, from the family table in Mumbai to a publishing lunch at Betty Crocker that changed his life.
Kenji shares his secrets to both seriously delicious french fries and perfect roasted potatoes.
JJ Goode is back to explain why he insists he is "America's best worst cook."
A conversation with "The Korean Vegan".
Food writer JJ Goode on overcoming physical limitations that might have held him back from success.
Milk Bar co-founder Christina Tosi on her extraordinary journey from home baker to pastry chef to entrepreneur
On this episode of Special Sauce Kenji, The New Yorker's Helen Rosner, and I dig further into the first season of 'The Bear'.
Kenji and The New Yorker's Helen Rosner reflect on the first season of the compelling TV show The Bear.
Revisiting the extraordinary Grace Young.
On this episode of Special Sauce we take a deep dive into scrambled eggs with eggspert egg maker J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.
Pete Wells and Brett Anderson of The New York Times and The New Yorker's Hannah Goldfield on what what they're excited about and worried about for restaurants in 2023.
The New York Times's Pete Wells and Brett Anderson, and The New Yorker's Hannah Goldfield about what and where they ate in 2022.
Revisiting a conversation with New York Times' food writer Eric Kim
On this episode of Special Sauce I talk holiday food with Kenji.
Part 2 of our extraordinary conversation with Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell.
Food truck Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell tells her truly remarkable story in this week's episode.
Claire Saffitz on holiday baking and her new book 'What's For Dessert'.
The great baker and YouTube star Claire Saffitz on holiday baking
We talk turkey and everything else Thanksgiving-related with Kenji
Thanksgiving cooking tips from our podcast archive
On this classic Thanksgiving themed episode of Special Sauce, listeners emailed us vexing Turkey Day questions.
On this episode of Special Sauce serious eaters will hear all about Christine Ha's post MasterChef life.
The first part of blind chef-restaurateur and MasterChef winner Christine Ha's incredible story.
Plus a love affair with a mortar and pestle
Anson Mills founder Glenn Roberts takes us on his wild journey through the preservation of Ancient Grains.
Food blogger Kristina Cho details her unlikely career path from architectural designer to two time James Beard Award-winning author.
Chef and author Vishwesh Bhatt details his remarkable journey from India to Mississippi.
Fly by Jing founder Jing Gao talks about finding herself through the foods her company makes.
Chef & Track Star Dawn Burrell: The Leap From the Olympics to Top Chef
NYT's Eric Kim on his book 'Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home'
Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi talks about her new book Dessert Can Save the World
We continue the pizza conversation with pizzaiola Anthony Mangieri and Billions co-creator Brian Koppelman.
Some health problems derailed our Special Sauce production schedule this week, so serious eaters will just have to wait two more weeks before you get to listen to more fresh pizza talk with Una Pizza Napoletana's Anthony Mangieri and Billions...
On this week's Special Sauce Dan Richer, chef and owner of Jersey City's Razza, one of the country's best pizzerias, talks to us about his obsessive Joy of Pizza, which just so happens to be the title of his new book. And because NYT restaurant critic...
On this week's Special Sauce Detroit food activist and Food Lab Detroit founder Devita Davidson has a lot to say about how government, entrpreneurs, and the private sector can and should work together to form a better food system. Plus...
On Part II of our live Special Sauce, Kenji and I successfully cooked eggs and tomatoes in a wok onstage and I didn't get fired as his sous-chef for inadequately chopping the scallions. We also revived the Ask Kenji feature as he talks about...
For our first ever live Special Sauce Kenji and I talked about his new #1 NYT Best-Seller The Wok, how family life has become the center of his existence, and how Sir Paul McCartney gave him an autograph after McCartney's security team tackled him on...
On this week’s episode of , NY State Senator and Food and Labor Activist returns to talk about the next set of problems she's tackling. And tells us about the Colombian soup that is his wife's favorite.
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Japanese Breakfast's returns to talk about her two Grammy nominations and writing the script for a Crying in H Mart feature film. Plus, weighs in on the natural kinship between food and music.
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Ed catches up with writer Laurie Woolever, author of Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography. Like many people during the pandemic she's turned to sourdough bread baking because she's writing a bread...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, writer and national treasure Jessica Harris talks about what's new in her world, including the wild ride she has been on since the Netflix adaptation of her book High on the Hog became a hit show. Plus, tv...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, cookbook author and now independent Chinese restaurant advocate Grace Young talks about both the pandemic-related dire straits Chinatowns all over America are in, and the terrifying spike in...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Ed talks about the many pleasures, gustatory and otherwise, derived from cooking simply with Simply Julia author and the Washington Post's , who writes and edits the Post's free newsletter. And...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Ed talks about the holidays with Pulitzer Prize winning author ; YouTube and Tik Tok Star The Korean Vegan, AKA ; James Beard Award-winning chef and pitmaster ; and Washington Post Food Editor . And if you're...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Ed talks with former Microsoft CTO and Modernist Cuisine founder about why his new collection Modernist Pizza required 3+ volumes and 1000 plus pages. Spoiler Alert: New Haven and New York pizza lovers...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, we hear moving Thanksgiving stories from the Korean Vegan (), pitmaster and chef-owner , Pulitzer Prize winner , and the Washington Post's .
On this episode of Special Sauce, Ed talks with Joanne Lee Molinaro, AKA The Korean Vegan, about her unlikely journey from corporate litigator, to TikTok and YouTube superstar, and now to NYT best-selling author.
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Ed talks with best-selling author (An Unapologetic Cookbook) Joshua Weissman, a YouTube star with more than 5M subscribers, about life in the social media fast-lane. And the Washington Post's Daniela...
On this episode of Special Sauce, Ed talks with Dorie Greenspan about her new book Baking with Dorie and her inauspicious start baking for a living. Plus, the Washington Post's Becky Krystal weighs in on softening butter. Dorie Greenspan | | |...
Plus WaPo's Emily Heil on plant-based "chicken" nuggets
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, we talk to the Washington Post's about diversity and his deep dive into MSG. It's the first segment in Special Sauce's new collaboration with The Washington Post. Plus, , Aaron and Ed all weigh in...
The terrific crime writer Laura Lippman (My Life as a Villainess, Dream Girl) talks about why she's afraid of not being afraid when she writes. Plus Kenji and Laura both weigh in on how they get their kids to eat their vegetables.
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, we talk about joyful music and an incredibly moving memoir with Michelle Zauner, the leader of the band Japanese Breakfast. She’s the author of the heart-rending . Plus, Kenji weighs in on the...
On this week’s Special Sauce, we’re joined by Colombiana author Mariana Velásquez who talks about the incredible cultural and culinary diversity of her beloved native country. Plus, Kenji shares his love of Colombia, gained from his...
On this episode of Special Sauce, we’re joined by the incredible youtuber, podcaster and author Katie Quinn who says that metaphorically speaking, people ferment just like cheese wine and bread. Plus, Kenji adds his two cents about Katie and...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, we’re joined by Reem Kassis, the thought provoking author of The Palestinian Table and her new book, The Arabesque Table. Plus, Kenji gives us some helpful tips of making falafel at home, courtesy of the...
On this week's Special Sauce, we're joined by NY State Senator and Colombian-American Jessica Ramos who talks about her fearless approach to food activism as she fights for both her diverse constituents and the rights of migrant farm workers. ...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, we’re joined by the brilliant and hilarious comedian, actor, writer and producer Susie Essman. Essman explains how her pandemic cooking increased her husbands ardor, plus she gives us a special sneak peak...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce we’re joined by Chef Nina Compton who talks about her experience working in fine dining as a woman of color, how her restaurants have grappled with the pandemic, and the imperiled hospitality industry in her...
On this week's episode of Special Sauce legendary food writer and television cook Nigella Lawson gets real about both her new book "Cook, Eat, Repeat," and the remarkable arc of her life and career. Then Kenji stops in to sing Nigella's praises and...
On this week’s Special Sauce, we’re joined by the great pit master and James Beard Award-winning chef Rodney Scott and his coauthor Lolis Eric Elie talking about their new book "Rodney Scott's World of BBQ." They talk about whole hog BBQ,...
On this week's episode of Special Sauce, we're joined by TV and food writer Lolis Eric Elie who dishes on diversity -- or the lack thereof -- in Hollywood and tells us about the joys of eating in and out in his native New Orleans....
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, we continue our deep dive into the world of fast food. This time Franchise Author Marcia Chatelain, Drive-Thru Dreams Author Adam Chandler, and Kenji discuss the unique good vs. evil...
On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, we ponder the highs and the lows of fast food culture with Marcia Chatelain, Georgetown University Professor of history and African American studies and author of Franchise, and Adam Chandler who wrote...
When the ultra-talented chef Mashama Bailey collaborated with first-time restaurateur John Morisano to open The Grey in an old abandoned Greyhound bus depot in Savannah Georgia, they knew that their partnership was not going to be easy. On this...
On this week's Special Sauce we talk to Grace Young, renowned Chinese cookbook author, self-described wok therapist, and New York Chinatown advocate during the Pandemic #SaveChineseRestaurants. Plus, we check in with Kenji about Grace and his...
On this week's episode of Special Sauce we celebrate one of the greatest food writers, Jessica Harris, who introduced many of us to the food of the African Diaspora. Jessica talks about her new book Vintage Postcards from the African World, her twelve...
On this week’s episode, we talked with Washington Post food writer Tim Carman and his wife, spirits writer Carrie Allen, about their scary battle with the Coronavirus and the lasting impact it has had on them. Later in the episode, Kenji stops in to...
On this week's Special Sauce, host Ed Levine talks to Brooklyn restaurateur (BK Jani) Sibte Hassan. Hassan contracted the Coronavirus in April, and his long road (including a 12 day stint in the hospital) to recovery and redemption takes him through...
This week, host Ed Levine is joined by the Baltimore-based baker Amanda Mack, who defied the odds when she opened up her family-inspired bakery, Crust By Mack, in the middle of the pandemic. Then, former journalist and podcaster turned Youtube food...
Kenji Lopez-Alt tells all about his new New York Times best seller children's book Every Night is Pizza Night on this week's episode of Special Sauce. It turns out that for Kenji writing a 48 page picture book for his daughter was in many ways...
Special Sauce, Serious Eats founder Ed Levine's podcast, is back to stay (with new theme music, no less) with a Thanksgiving episode that explores the seemingly antithetical nature of the pandemic and Turkey Day. After all, Thanksgiving is all about...
Much has been written during the pandemic about the increased popularity of community supported agriculture, commonly referred to as CSA. On this week's Special Sauce, we had a far-reaching conversation with Maggie Cheney, one of the owners of , which...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Smashed Burgers; Susan Spungen on Sprezzatura [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F2b56a30a-ecd6-486c-9872-f604822602bb%2Fimages%2F1e5aa3a6-894f-40d6-b087-8a0517d0eb43%2FSusanSpungen-credit-Gentl-Hyers1.jpg&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Smashed Burgers; Susan Spungen on Sprezzatura [2/2]\".")
On this week's Special Sauce, Susan Spungen, author of and other books, regales us with her experiences in Hollywood as a food stylist and culinary consultant for movies like Julie and Julia and Eat, Pray, Love. What's it...
On this week's Special Sauce we talk to Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner of , about the huge changes being brought about in the food culture by the Covid-19 pandemic. The startling conclusions he's come to are the result of . The farmers'...
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On this week's Special Sauce we're once again talking about selling cheese during the pandemic with cheesemonger Anne Saxelby of and cheesemaker Sheila Flanagan of . Without a hint of self-pity, Anne and Sheila talk about the nimbleness and the...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: “Ask Kenji” Is Back! And Anne Saxelby and Sheila Flanagan on Selling Cheese During the Pandemic [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Faec8da76-e617-44dc-9aed-7fa152a0ad4e%2Fimages%2F84a7810e-f928-421c-9419-08efad41d48d%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: “Ask Kenji” Is Back! And Anne Saxelby and Sheila Flanagan on Selling Cheese During the Pandemic [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week on Special Sauce we are returning to the topic of the horrendous toll the pandemic has taken on the food culture. Today, we’re talking cheese. In the first of two far-ranging interviews, I spoke to cheesemaker Sheila Flanagan, co-owner of...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Alexander Smalls on How Food and Music Nurture Hope and Connection [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fa3ecce62-17b2-4b6f-bfbe-d0d498e7c46b%2Fimages%2F6d1fd8ea-8c16-4b4e-b40c-095e53b1a4df%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Alexander Smalls on How Food and Music Nurture Hope and Connection [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
"A jukebox is the musical equivalent of a well-stocked pantry," says Alexander Smalls. Poetic riffs on the relationship between food and music are just par for the course with Smalls, who's both a Grammy and a James Beard Award winner (not to...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: After a Tony, a Grammy, and a Beard, Alexander Smalls on What’s Next [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F42e83659-a854-4c1f-a84d-a2d09e6a5e14%2Fimages%2F71fe7933-0125-455f-a6a7-ad7a53af210d%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: After a Tony, a Grammy, and a Beard, Alexander Smalls on What’s Next [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
The last Special Sauce I recorded in a studio before the coronavirus pandemic hit was with the multi-talented chef, opera singer, and restaurateur Alexander Smalls. He was just about to publish his new book, . It was March 11th, and after an hour-long...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Cookbook Author Susan Spungen on Craving Togetherness [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F91f1ef64-3162-4f5f-b132-587b43061fdc%2Fimages%2Fb80d2477-21d7-4024-a213-b7995229172b%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Cookbook Author Susan Spungen on Craving Togetherness [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Special Sauce has obviously changed a lot with the advent of the pandemic. But before we changed the format a couple of months ago to adapt to the times, we'd already recorded a couple of great interviews. One of them was with my old friend, cookbook...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: NYT’s Pete Wells on the Future of Restaurant Criticism [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F8a4c058a-4314-4b7d-9321-4669a6e16d8b%2Fimages%2F5f4d889f-2a1e-4e1a-ad8a-e39e71264daf%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: NYT’s Pete Wells on the Future of Restaurant Criticism [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's Special Sauce, New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells, who's been used to eating out six nights a week, tells us about cooking lunch and dinner for his two teenaged sons now that he's home every day. Pete explains that he's really...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: NYT Restaurant Critic Pete Wells on the State of the Industry [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F4d5dfff3-3c00-49e4-b1d4-da5126d805cd%2Fimages%2F3cc623b0-d0ea-4ded-abb1-8d0ec6121701%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: NYT Restaurant Critic Pete Wells on the State of the Industry [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
What does a restaurant critic do when there are no restaurants to review? The San Francisco Chronicle's Soleil Ho has shifted to primarily covering how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the restaurant industry in the Bay Area, while also writing...
According to Ezekiel Vázquez-Ger, my guest on this week's Special Sauce, everything was going swimmingly at his new Washington, DC, restaurant, Seven Reasons. The place was packed almost from the minute it opened its doors in April of 2019. A rave...
In 2010, Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin founded , which they originally envisioned as a bar-snack business, providing bars with better alternatives to beer nuts and potato chips. Over the course of ten years, Ovenly transformed into a combination...
As part of our special Special Sauce series on the pandemic's effects on the various constituents of the food community, I reached out to Xi'an Famous Foods co-founder Jason Wang. Jason had told his remarkable story , so I was confident...
As we all try to deal with the crisis confronting us, I thought we'd follow up on the Special Sauce episodes that focused on Kenji's stories with other voices from the food and beverage industry. In the coming weeks you're going to hear the stories of...
It's obviously still not business as usual at Serious Eats (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter), so we're going to continue to produce Special Sauce episodes that deal with the coronavirus pandemic. On this week's episode, we once again...
Editor's note: The Coronavirus story is unfolding at a breakneck pace. That means that something said that was true at the time may no longer be so. On this episode please note that Lola, the Tom...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Claudia Fleming on the Pitfalls of Your Passion [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F05926518-99d0-4238-ab87-a495f37237d0%2Fimages%2Fd248485b-30de-4e8b-8f3b-98bdd10be6bb%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Claudia Fleming on the Pitfalls of Your Passion [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's Special Sauce, I continue my conversation with visionary pastry chef Claudia Fleming. But before we get to Claudia's captivating story, Kenji fields a question from Serious Eater Joan Moore, who wants to know how long the blade on her...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Vegetarian Chile Verde, Claudia Fleming on Lego Desserts [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F2d5ff871-3b8a-467f-8702-e576e217d2a6%2Fimages%2F7e136257-fbdd-446a-8ca8-fe1875af3d96%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Vegetarian Chile Verde, Claudia Fleming on Lego Desserts [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
There are forgotten giants in the food world, people who have profoundly influenced what we eat, but whose names we barely know. James Beard Award-winning pastry chef Claudia Fleming is one of those people. She is the author, along with Melissa Clark...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Misha Collins on Pasta With Jam Sauce and Random Acts of Kindness [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fe9aeaff6-8db6-4ece-b238-10c1d1562483%2Fimages%2Ff1d5ab52-4847-402d-b2e2-589f13bbf625%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Misha Collins on Pasta With Jam Sauce and Random Acts of Kindness [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my conversation with Supernatural star Misha Collins, we dive into his family's eating habits, which eventually lead to , which he wrote with his wife, Vicki. Their children Maison and West had adopted the chicken nuggets-centric diet...
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One of the things I love about Special Sauce is how often I am surprised and moved by my guests. And this episode, in which I interview Supernatural star Misha Collins, who, with his wife Vicki, just published , is a perfect example. Collins had a...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Maangchi on Being the Korean Julia Child [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F595c7628-6a29-4ddf-bb61-e9bf8902e65c%2Fimages%2F8080bbc9-efa5-4e21-aefb-a0bcb433c1b7%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Maangchi on Being the Korean Julia Child [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week's Special Sauce features part two of my conversation with the online cooking star Maangchi, but first we get to hear from Kenji, who answered a question from Serious Eater Kyle Johnson about whether or not you can freeze the base for his ....
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Cooking for His Kid, and Maangchi on Becoming a YouTube Sensation [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fee87f617-47ee-46f1-9bb1-44c86f354315%2Fimages%2Fecf7c490-2474-426b-a008-356172902a41%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Cooking for His Kid, and Maangchi on Becoming a YouTube Sensation [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Maangchi. Maangchi. Maangchi! Need I say more? On this week's Special Sauce I had a chance to sit down with YouTube cooking sensation , who, in addition to being an inspiration to all of us here at Serious Eats, is our associate producer Grace's hero....
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Sean Brock on the Distinction Between Happiness and Success [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fc872f83e-b7c0-45f5-a165-48d426d65a77%2Fimages%2F051e7ca9-9a75-44cf-ab21-79457c5548ac%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Sean Brock on the Distinction Between Happiness and Success [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's far-ranging Special Sauce we cover a lot of territory- and I mean a lot- of territory. We've got Sean Brock on the highs and lows of an extended stay in rehab, and the joys of parenthood; Kenji on being a Juicy Lucy skeptic;...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Chef Sean Brock on the Perils of Working Too Hard [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F601c372c-bf92-4547-a545-bab49df2a42f%2Fimages%2Fec8ca28a-34ca-4b7a-abf5-d14905f67c8f%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Chef Sean Brock on the Perils of Working Too Hard [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On the first new Special Sauce episode of 2020, we go deep and wide on a whole range of topics. First the insanely talented chef Sean Brock, whose new book, , has just been published, takes us on part of his extraordinary journey as a chef. Brock...
This year, my wife and I managed to get through Thanksgiving without any major mishaps or blow-ups. That domestic and culinary tranquility was thanks (at least in part) to the answers Kenji and Stella gave on our special episode of “Ask Special...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Eggs, Plus Wisdom From Two Master Bakers [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F960d61be-44cd-40d0-aa7e-f9bff2842b6a%2Fimages%2F792013f9-213e-479f-a8dd-881ed406db0f%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Eggs, Plus Wisdom From Two Master Bakers [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my conversation with the extraordinary bakers Amy Scherber of Amy's Bread and Melissa Weller of High Street on Hudson, we take a deep dive into what makes a proper (and I would say perfect) bagel, keeping wholesale bread fresh and...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Pizza Dough; Amy Scherber and Melissa Weller on the Business of Baking [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fe1b36513-e7fe-4ff8-b8ef-e152547f6ea6%2Fimages%2Fa341f5ab-ae25-4c16-8092-c284dbae7a5a%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Pizza Dough; Amy Scherber and Melissa Weller on the Business of Baking [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week's Special Sauce episode unintentionally turned into a carb fest. Although I knew I was having on a couple of the finest bakers in the land- Amy Scherber, the founder of , and Melissa Weller, a baker and partner at - I had not anticipated...
I don't know about the rest of you Thanksgiving hosts out there, but my wife and I tend to become increasingly stressed as the holiday approaches each year. On more than one occasion, I've reached out to Kenji and Stella to help relieve my...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Competitive Cooking; Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying on Being Gaijin [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fd3a9e5f4-51b0-43e0-af2e-07296c36ecd6%2Fimages%2F639c2ad6-036d-473c-ad87-7c2b3e20a675%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Competitive Cooking; Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying on Being Gaijin [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's Special Sauce, we take a deep dive into , the new cookbook from Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying. We pick up where we left off in last week's conversation, and Chris and Ivan talk about how this new project came about. They said that while...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying on The Gaijin Cookbook [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fd2d441f7-f5a9-4c85-8e22-5fc1462e99f6%2Fimages%2Ff2b18ff6-29db-4ed0-ae9c-8d4847d61e83%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying on The Gaijin Cookbook [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Sometimes, my Special Sauce interviews are the best way to catch up with old friends and colleagues. I was reminded of that when Chris Ying and Ivan Orkin, co-authors of , walked into the studio. The first thing you have to know about Ivan and...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Browning Meat, Adam Chandler on Colonel Sanders's Wild Side [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F4f1697ec-1fbd-4b8e-b8b6-72686d5bf53f%2Fimages%2Fca45f557-9094-4fdb-a5bf-d82677ef7b74%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Browning Meat, Adam Chandler on Colonel Sanders's Wild Side [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On Special Sauce this week, I had the pleasure of continuing my deep dive into the history of fast food with Adam Chandler, the author of . But before I tell you more about that conversation, we kicked off this episode, as we always do, with another...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Cooking With Fish Sauce and Adam Chandler on Fast Food [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F7943d3f9-a641-43d0-9cab-bcdd4d1b13e3%2Fimages%2F33ec1613-b6c5-45df-9c51-f86f15e282bc%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Cooking With Fish Sauce and Adam Chandler on Fast Food [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week's Special Sauce episode kicks off with Serious Eater Marc Lampert asking Kenji about the process of cooking with ingredients packed with umami. "Does umami cook out like an acid would?" Marc asked. Here's part of Kenji's response: "A general...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Freezing Chicken, Simone Tong on Making Mixian [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F04053d27-35d9-496b-b497-639e6deacbbd%2Fimages%2F77d14f3b-0c35-4db9-9aea-f71f60696151%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Freezing Chicken, Simone Tong on Making Mixian [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week's episode of Special Sauce kicks off with our new culinary Q&A segment, "Ask Kenji." At the behest of listener Dave Shorr, Kenji lays down the law on the best way to freeze chicken. It’s a simple process that includes placing chicken...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kenji on Cooking With Starch, Simone Tong on the Ingredient She Hates [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fddefdbda-4d32-4b4e-878f-959a94af54c9%2Fimages%2F75c41a43-1a06-4b27-9d88-b7c0c2201122%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kenji on Cooking With Starch, Simone Tong on the Ingredient She Hates [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week's Special Sauce kicks off with our new culinary Q&A segment, "Ask Kenji." This time around, Kenji schools us and serious eater Paul Anderson on the differences between cornstarch and flour when used as thickeners. Among them: Unlike...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce 2.0: Kenji on Grilling Naan and Nicholas Morgenstern on Sundaes [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F5381f30c-e225-4fda-bd63-dc9128f19f2d%2Fimages%2F05fe3612-c4d6-4dea-bc33-a20329e10d5b%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce 2.0: Kenji on Grilling Naan and Nicholas Morgenstern on Sundaes [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
For the first segment of this episode of Special Sauce 2.0, Kenji takes a question from serious eater Phil on how to make naan in a Big Green Egg. It starts with our and ends with a 60- to 90-second bake on a pizza stone. Next, ice cream Jedi...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Introducing Special Sauce 2.0, with guest Nick Morgenstern [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Ffbd86647-d643-4ed1-9cd7-4b38ae7ae98e%2Fimages%2F156847c0-bea7-4710-bc9f-636ab22040ba%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Introducing Special Sauce 2.0, with guest Nick Morgenstern [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week Serious Eaters get to see the all-new Special Sauce format we've cooked up for the new season. Every episode of Special Sauce 2.0 will start off with "Ask Kenji," a brief section in which
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Author Tom Roston on Post-9/11 New York as Victim and Survivor [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F9584802f-6914-425f-9a12-fea162b6fe45%2Fimages%2F77a4169d-fabb-408e-bbe9-654f988d5a6a%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Author Tom Roston on Post-9/11 New York as Victim and Survivor [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Part two of my at times emotionally overwhelming interview with Tom Roston, author of , focused on the employees of Windows on the World who were in the North Tower's iconic restaurant on September 11, 2001, all of whom tragically died that day....
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Tom Roston on the Untold Stories of Windows on the World [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F69d67111-030f-49f2-857f-0e57f89d73b4%2Fimages%2F06428f60-3a99-4ce0-9159-ba3b73cde838%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Tom Roston on the Untold Stories of Windows on the World [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
No matter where you were when the two planes hit the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, you were profoundly affected by the events of that day. And if you, like me, were at all involved in the food culture at that moment, your thoughts quickly turned...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Soleil Ho on Representation in Food Media [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F7ee72d6c-e131-4922-b3f3-6efe58d4792a%2Fimages%2Fe77f675a-a527-493d-83d9-f1401c478d53%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Soleil Ho on Representation in Food Media [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my thought-provoking interview with San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho, we dove right into how she thinks about restaurant criticism. Soleil explained, "I like to think of restaurants as texts in the same way that...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Soleil Ho on Her Journey From Quantum Physics to Racist Sandwich [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F4e7174d2-433b-4a51-84dd-4c5b2b68bfd5%2Fimages%2Fba4270b7-2011-47c3-b3d9-e97252076675%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Soleil Ho on Her Journey From Quantum Physics to Racist Sandwich [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Like a great deal of food media in America, the world of restaurant criticism has and . So it was exciting to see the San Francisco Chronicle break the mold last year when it hired Vietnamese-American food writer and co-host of ,...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Matt Rodbard and Max Falkowitz on What's Next in Food Media [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fadd4119a-913a-4ea1-bb14-2289245cb9b6%2Fimages%2Fc7861060-83f5-41df-bc83-108eee3c4a96%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Matt Rodbard and Max Falkowitz on What's Next in Food Media [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of Ed Levine's conversation with and Matt Rodbard, the three discuss how Falkowitz and Rodbard got started in food media and how their careers evolved. Falkowitz begins by underlining how intimidating it was when he first started...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Matt Rodbard and Max Falkowitz on Becoming Food Writers [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F111069f1-f6a6-4e75-8b39-967886f7186a%2Fimages%2F435fa8bf-4802-49ea-8b5f-80f72bbd191e%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Matt Rodbard and Max Falkowitz on Becoming Food Writers [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In the next two episodes of Special Sauce, we take a deep dive into the challenges and triumphs of building a career in food media. I invited former Serious Eats editor/current contributor , and founding editor Matt Rodbard to share their...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Lazarus Lynch on Writing Son of a Southern Chef [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F3ad6af20-86a0-41a4-a06d-6b953f541a8e%2Fimages%2F9f6b28a6-c613-4f39-b7d3-fc264d816fc3%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Lazarus Lynch on Writing Son of a Southern Chef [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of Ed Levine's conversation with Lazarus Lynch, who goes by more titles than any 25-year-old has any reasonable expectation to have (cookbook author, performer, singer...the list is incredible!), they delve into how Lynch decided he wanted...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Lazarus Lynch on Cooking on Camera and Being Okay With Who You Are [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fd86f8dbb-9e8e-49a6-80c2-896bf99598b7%2Fimages%2F3ea85061-5dc3-47d8-9f1e-de039eb89388%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Lazarus Lynch on Cooking on Camera and Being Okay With Who You Are [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Singer, author (), and food personality Lazarus Lynch is not your typical cookbook writer or social media star. As an openly gay young Black man, Lynch is blazing his own trail in the food and media worlds, so I couldn't pass up the chance to talk to...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Alvin Cailan on What “American Food” Means in 2019 [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fd5de17d5-801b-4725-9529-1b430d16563e%2Fimages%2Fc724981a-e134-4c5b-b0d4-85372fcf852a%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Alvin Cailan on What “American Food” Means in 2019 [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part 2 of my extraordinary chat with chef-restaurateur-activist Alvin Cailan, we delved deeply into his socio-political motivations, but we still managed to fit in some laughs. Cailan says he's always been motivated to confound the pessimism he...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Eggslut’s Alvin Cailan on Ruckus-Causing as a Career Path [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F6f96d993-5c80-402c-b8d1-01819ee1290a%2Fimages%2Ffded9817-9682-42d8-9f20-d8265f540ef5%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Eggslut’s Alvin Cailan on Ruckus-Causing as a Career Path [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Every now and then on Special Sauce, I just hit it off with a guest, feeling immediately as if I've known them all my life. That's what happened when I talked with founder, chef-restaurateur, and ruckus-causer Alvin Cailan. Cailan, who grew up...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce Live, Ed Levine Edition: Serious Eats Lives! [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F98d29a49-2f0c-4577-b1ee-09c521ea5d8b%2Fimages%2F99ea578c-ead8-4ffb-b0ef-9c9ba3e3f38e%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce Live, Ed Levine Edition: Serious Eats Lives! [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Welcome back for the second part of Special Sauce with Ed Levine, featuring Ed Levine! This week we pick up where we left off, with Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and Ed's longtime friend, serving as a special guest host, asking Ed...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce Live, Ed Levine Edition: A Serious Eater Is Born! [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fa5ea9ed8-a7b8-4c26-843e-ec8c4aecfbad%2Fimages%2F2c97a266-30af-467e-8e98-7a152c881635%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce Live, Ed Levine Edition: A Serious Eater Is Born! [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
At the end of every week, Ed Levine- a.k.a. Serious Eats founder, a.k.a. Serious Eats overlord, a.k.a. "missionary of the delicious," a.k.a. Ed "The Good Ones Eat Through the Pain" Levine- , diving deep into the ways in which eating and sharing meals...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Nik Sharma on the Kitchen as Laboratory [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fb92efb25-c6d9-4937-a4ab-fa7fe78a23f5%2Fimages%2F709abde6-42e6-490c-9941-8822108e80b5%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Nik Sharma on the Kitchen as Laboratory [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week, in part two of my conversation with chef and food writer Nik Sharma, we dug into the science-based approach to cooking that informs his terrific new cookbook, . Given Nik’s background in medical research, it made sense to learn that...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Nik Sharma on the Stories Told by Seasoning [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F9ca97fcf-3db4-43d1-8de7-44b4e04fcbf7%2Fimages%2Fa74e03f3-1c7a-46b4-8f91-590e88686da2%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Nik Sharma on the Stories Told by Seasoning [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Cookbook author (), blogger (), and newspaper columnist () Nik Sharma made the perfect Special Sauce guest. Why? He has a great, dramatic story, and he isn't afraid to tell it like it is (or was). Sharma grew up in India, and as a man who recognized...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Priya Krishna on Cooking and Being "Indian-ish" [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F7596f87b-6d4c-44e4-a2f6-0822bb1f5c30%2Fimages%2F2a621cd8-5657-4dac-ae07-0403bb6a76fd%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Priya Krishna on Cooking and Being \"Indian-ish\" [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my delightful conversation with Priya Krishna, she delves into her book : Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family in so many unexpected and revealing ways. "Indian-ish" is not just the name of the book; it also describes...
![Thumbnail for "Priya Krishna on Special Sauce: How Indian-ish Came to Be [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F3cc90cc6-a043-4e20-8a31-d047a375c869%2Fimages%2F6a18faad-6149-45c7-ad01-efc7121ac0e0%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Priya Krishna on Special Sauce: How Indian-ish Came to Be [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
I knew that Priya Krishna, author of Indian-ish: Recipes and Antics From a Modern American Family (I am predisposed to like any book with the word antics in the title), was smart and funny and focused, since I'd read her book. But I still wasn't...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Joe Yonan on Charting Your Own Path [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fb9292008-729d-4cf1-a859-97212c23f35a%2Fimages%2F3e4e23e1-7186-4818-b626-ff3861240822%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Joe Yonan on Charting Your Own Path [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my far-ranging interview with Washington Post food editor Joe Yonan, we talked about his career in journalism and the ever-evolving world of food media. Joe told me about his winding path to food journalism. After years of reporting...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Food Editor Joe Yonan on Finding the Color of His Parachute [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fa9b0eca4-7548-46b7-9941-58550bdb6b85%2Fimages%2F60b4858b-07a5-4468-b43c-c4db97a84d3c%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Food Editor Joe Yonan on Finding the Color of His Parachute [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
It's always fun to have a longtime friend on Special Sauce because I always learn so much about the person sitting across from me, no matter how long I've known them. And that's just what happened when I sat down with Washington Post Food Editor...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Jason Wang on Building a Xi'an Famous Foods Empire [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F8e2536cc-06f7-4874-99eb-4cdf48bafc51%2Fimages%2F4fbe3972-4c7e-4924-80d0-e215e078f668%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Jason Wang on Building a Xi'an Famous Foods Empire [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my conversation with Xi'an Famous Foods cofounder Jason Wang, he and I talked mostly about the struggles and challenges involved in first getting the business off the ground, and then expanding. The restaurant's original location, in a...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Jason Wang on the Origins of Xi’an Famous Foods [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F83145dc5-d240-4f6c-a105-a069dfea7d87%2Fimages%2Fa7326da3-9da0-4461-8cc3-c0904d9e3bff%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Jason Wang on the Origins of Xi’an Famous Foods [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
One of the many reasons I love doing Special Sauce is I get to interview people who shed light on various parts of the food culture I know very little about. People like Jason Wang. Wang and his father, David Shi, are the co-propietors of , the...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Kwame Onwuachi's Journey From Setbacks to Success Story [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F1bab6e05-841f-4c7f-854a-55cac6b3ebb1%2Fimages%2F5ffa7292-dc2c-4a8f-a987-e0af1e5547b9%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Kwame Onwuachi's Journey From Setbacks to Success Story [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
When we l chef and memoirist Kwame Onwuachi, he had dived back into his catering business in New York City. Business was decent, but he’d begun to see holes in his game. "The food tasted good, but was it completely hot when it hit the table? I...
![Thumbnail for "Kwame Onwuachi on Special Sauce: Notes From a Young Black Chef [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fe47db1db-c7f5-42b6-ab6e-d9ded45f5564%2Fimages%2Ffe74b61e-d661-4bfa-bd74-ac3019fb6c93%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Kwame Onwuachi on Special Sauce: Notes From a Young Black Chef [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week's Special Sauce guest, chef-restaurateur (Kith/Kin in Washington, DC) and memoirist () Kwame Onwuachi, has led an interesting life, to say the least. How interesting? By the time he was 21, the now-29-year-old had already started a catering...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Allison and Matt Robicelli on Moving to Baltimore [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F971b7d16-74b6-4343-9d61-2cd5cfe1107c%2Fimages%2Fcba6c84f-3edf-49d3-9711-885e63a4182a%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Allison and Matt Robicelli on Moving to Baltimore [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
When we last left the irreverent Robicellis in the first part of their Special Sauce interview, they had decided to leave Brooklyn, their beloved hometown. I wondered why Allison and Matt decided on on Baltimore. "It feels like the New York I grew up...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Tommy Tomlinson on Asking for Help When You Need It [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F289a0d53-7c48-4a73-b9ff-d0b4eefc1558%2Fimages%2Fab2a9cc7-fde4-4df2-85a4-8c6a68df9b27%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Tommy Tomlinson on Asking for Help When You Need It [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my wonderful conversation with Tommy Tomlinson, author of the impossible-to-put-down book we talk about how he decided he was going to have to do more than just diet to successfully deal with his weight issues. Tomlinson...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Tommy Tomlinson on Untangling Food, Love, and Loving Food [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F7aa689cb-48c1-4175-95d0-18a3ac5eb8ac%2Fimages%2Fc87755ac-5218-4e08-806c-216141805522%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Tommy Tomlinson on Untangling Food, Love, and Loving Food [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
It's pretty rare for a Special Sauce interview to speak so directly to me that it feels like I've been hit in the gut. But that's exactly what happened when I talked with Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Tommy Tomlinson, whose book is a moving...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Osayi Endolyn on the Legacy of Southern Fried Chicken [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F71952199-30be-4771-a5b7-165c6fb6b05a%2Fimages%2Fe5d34eb7-8a55-4942-9fdc-659556578099%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Osayi Endolyn on the Legacy of Southern Fried Chicken [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
The superb young food and culture writer Osayi Endolyn is back again for this week's episode of Special Sauce. This time our far-reaching conversation includes a discussion of a brilliant piece on fried chicken Endolyn wrote for , a fascinating...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Osayi Endolyn on Nigerian Food, Writing, and Identity [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fbd8c9e8f-f1b6-49a0-84b0-57c8dc598f09%2Fimages%2F6f2bb10a-95e9-4d62-afd9-4c705ef88583%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Osayi Endolyn on Nigerian Food, Writing, and Identity [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's episode of Special Sauce, Ed speaks to Osayi Endolyn, a Florida-based food writer whose work regularly appears in major food publications across the country, and whose column in , the journal published by the Southern Foodways Alliance,...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: “Is Deep Dish Pizza a Casserole?” And Other Pressing Pizza Questions [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fea68ed02-9491-4f6b-af49-019bbedc6806%2Fimages%2Fc8750e6e-27b8-46b5-b6a0-e4e2acd39104%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: “Is Deep Dish Pizza a Casserole?” And Other Pressing Pizza Questions [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Welcome back to part 2 of Ed Levine's Special Sauce conversation about pizza in the wake of the revelation by pizza historian Peter Regas about the true origins of New York City pizza. , Regas has demonstrated that Lombardi's, which was long thought...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Uncovering Pizza's US Origins [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F72cafded-9823-4667-b4e9-e7919e8d3c0b%2Fimages%2Ff24af417-b071-40b6-b060-af3f078051c6%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Uncovering Pizza's US Origins [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
We rarely deal with breaking news on Special Sauce, but when said news concerns pizza's US origins, exceptions must be made. As soon as I learned that Peter Regas, a Chicago-based statistician by day and by night, had discovered that there were...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Doug Crowell and Ryan Angulo on the Importance of Kindness (and Salt) [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fd15eb416-6485-4b99-850a-d8687512806b%2Fimages%2Fe67a6c3e-c49c-4312-9f08-4e6f5ad512e3%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Doug Crowell and Ryan Angulo on the Importance of Kindness (and Salt) [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's Special Sauce, Doug Crowell and Ryan Angulo talk a lot about a lot of things, including their cookbook, the aptly titled I asked them to dissect the unusual title, starting with "kindness." Doug explained, "It's a big part of what we...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Doug Crowell and Ryan Angulo on the Neighborhood Restaurant [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F428f5728-954e-4e95-b2ef-52c02d29a530%2Fimages%2Fdd74d946-9ef2-4f67-a906-130cf23a88eb%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Doug Crowell and Ryan Angulo on the Neighborhood Restaurant [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
I am constantly on the lookout for good neighborhood restaurants. The kind of restaurants that treat me like a regular even if I'm not; where the host greets me warmly even when it's really crowded; where the food is consistently serious and...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Chef Anita Lo on Cooking for Yourself [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Ff64e87ce-90c5-4438-893b-5d89175c3636%2Fimages%2F3488e72c-0d8b-4d4a-acaa-5d849ce76b39%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Chef Anita Lo on Cooking for Yourself [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's Special Sauce, Chef Anita Lo talks about her new cookbook, Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One. To Anita, cooking for yourself is a journey of self-discovery. "I think cooking can be self re-affirming," she says. "I mean if food...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Chef Anita Lo on Cooking for Michelle Obama [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fb785bb68-af84-4ed6-9ce7-b2835937a8de%2Fimages%2F7bc81150-eaf5-4ffd-9151-30d8a60eede9%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Chef Anita Lo on Cooking for Michelle Obama [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week on Special Sauce with the terrific chef and fine writer Anita Lo. Anita had Annisa, a great restaurant in Greenwich Village, for 16 years before closing it in 2017. She was part of the first wave of women chef-restaurateurs in New York....
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: The White Moustache’s Homa Dashtaki on Staying Small and Flourishing [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fcb34edac-dda3-4b5b-912f-2f3607408ab8%2Fimages%2Fc175f551-4d29-4c58-b110-dbe5df00f8fc%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: The White Moustache’s Homa Dashtaki on Staying Small and Flourishing [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week’s Special Sauce I continue my delightful conversation with founder Homa Dashtaki. I asked her how she makes her sinfully rich yogurt. Homa said, "There's nothing I'm doing different than the way I would teach you how to do it at...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: The White Moustache’s Homa Dashtaki Makes the Best Yogurt in the US [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F3cad446b-9b1b-42ae-b5f1-1f20ef240a46%2Fimages%2Fe7c1a887-08f1-4b48-9f38-c988365cf1db%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: The White Moustache’s Homa Dashtaki Makes the Best Yogurt in the US [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
I have a confession: Until Daniel Gritzer told me about a couple of months ago, I 'd never heard of it, much less its founder, Homa Dashtaki. Now, after interviewing Homa and trying her yogurt, I can tell you that Daniel was right when he said...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: René Redzepi on Apprenticeships, El Bulli, and Being a Better Leader [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F94ac0db8-f667-49ac-b6fe-684826fc21f7%2Fimages%2F5e26cb33-508c-4481-b241-aa9dd5005462%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: René Redzepi on Apprenticeships, El Bulli, and Being a Better Leader [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In this week's Special Sauce interview with René Redzepi, he describes his journey from being a 15-year-old novice cook to culinary visionary, which started when he was an apprentice at Pierre André, a Michelin-starred, classic French restaurant in...
Stella Parks and Daniel Gritzer are back for the second part of our Ask Special Sauce holiday edition, and we tackle some of the most pressing issues many of us face when cooking during the holidays. For example, take the sticky subject of royal...
I had such a good time with Kenji and Stella on our recent installment of Call Special Sauce, we thought we'd do the same thing in a two-episode series leading up to the end-of-year holidays. This week and next, joins to answer your...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: René Redzepi on Opening Noma at 25 [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fc8c28cc5-08ec-441b-8f99-42aa625818ae%2Fimages%2F15a8cd29-e074-4619-85f6-9589566b81f0%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: René Redzepi on Opening Noma at 25 [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
It was a thrill to sit across the table from René Redzepi to record this episode of Special Sauce. The pioneering chef-restaurateur is the force behind Copenhagen's , which has been no fewer than four times. As you might easily...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook on What Makes Israeli Cuisine Unique [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fe0cb9ab7-0843-42a9-bf89-100e996256e1%2Fimages%2F3189c8d6-f98b-4ee5-bc44-b7f4b7f06d02%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook on What Makes Israeli Cuisine Unique [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my enlightening and heartfelt conversation with Chef Michael Solomonov and his partner Steven Cook, authors of we took a deep dive into- what else?- the soul of Israeli food. First of all, I became really envious when they told me...
![Thumbnail for "[Rerun] Ask Special Sauce: Kenji and Stella Troubleshoot Your Thanksgiving (2017)".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fa0bfc247-7f3e-4a46-8af9-d3d4c74d90b5%2Fimages%2F7bfc5c1e-1b92-4dc2-8768-190b669fb234%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"[Rerun] Ask Special Sauce: Kenji and Stella Troubleshoot Your Thanksgiving (2017)\"."){kind=logo}
When I was mulling over what we could do on Special Sauce for Thanksgiving, I immediately thought about stress reduction. Making the big dinner can be stressful for any number of reasons, and while we design all our Thanksgiving offerings with an eye...
For the last couple of Thanksgivings, we've done call-in episodes of Special Sauce with Stella and Kenji to answer the holiday-cooking questions stumping the Serious Eats community. We love producing these episodes, and our audience seems to love...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook on True Partnership [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fad448ea4-4e71-4c14-a430-2a524461bede%2Fimages%2Ffa9a41c9-764a-401f-9e88-a9c051f998dc%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook on True Partnership [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
When we booked multiple James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Solomonov and his business partner Steven Cook on Special Sauce to talk about their new book Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious and...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Sam Sifton on Food in the Internet Age [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F09c91745-c8fa-4c5a-ab70-7c272e253c10%2Fimages%2Ff21ff161-3bca-4c1a-9add-847d7c529c89%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Sam Sifton on Food in the Internet Age [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my repartee-filled interview with New York Times food editor Sam Sifton, we delved into the intersection of food and technology. When I asked Sam how he thinks the internet has impacted the food media landscape, he...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Sam Sifton on Food as the Universal Language [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F48628854-b41e-403e-982d-e985f1a3db01%2Fimages%2Fbb666779-5724-472b-b950-3da225109c65%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Sam Sifton on Food as the Universal Language [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Sometimes my Special Sauce conversations function as a reunion, and this week's episode represents one of those times. Almost 20 years ago, my guest, Sam Sifton, was my editor at the New York Times food section, and, as such, the...
On this episode of Special Sauce, I asked Daniel Gritzer, our managing culinary director, to come on and talk about the work he's been doing recently, and about where he...
![Thumbnail for "Where’s Kenji?!? (Here. He’s Here.) [1/1]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F9d172c74-e229-46a8-b5c0-5542cde22127%2Fimages%2F97501527-3ecb-4004-aae8-50827366dfc4%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Where’s Kenji?!? (Here. He’s Here.) [1/1]\"."){kind=logo}
I decided to kick off the new season of Special Sauce by checking in with Kenji. It won't surprise the Serious Eats tribe that he's been a little busy lately. You probably know about Wursthall, the...
![Thumbnail for "Special (Pizza) Sauce: Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener Talk Pie, Part 3: Pie Hard With A Vengeance [3/3]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F85a84029-800d-461d-9876-7924a7204f2f%2Fimages%2Ffe6282b0-5765-4d34-872d-52d1e64aa95d%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special (Pizza) Sauce: Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener Talk Pie, Part 3: Pie Hard With A Vengeance [3/3]\"."){kind=logo}
In part three of my pizza nerd-cast with Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener, we go seriously deep into New York pizza, specifically the state of the NYC slice in 2018. Scott observed that some of the best pizza in town is being made by a new generation of...
![Thumbnail for "Special (Pizza) Sauce: Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener Talk Pie, Part 2: Pie Harder [2/3]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Ff4809ecb-4e24-487b-89a4-2c32a0bbad54%2Fimages%2F207ae058-a1b8-49fa-ab03-237ce7777d24%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special (Pizza) Sauce: Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener Talk Pie, Part 2: Pie Harder [2/3]\"."){kind=logo}
The self-described pizza nerds Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener are back with me on this week's Special Sauce to continue our deep dive into our favorite food. Scott took great umbrage at the widely disseminated origin story of the Margherita pizza, in...
![Thumbnail for "Special (Pizza) Sauce: Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener Talk Pie [1/3]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F7925f117-47ee-455a-a422-3f0437014a3d%2Fimages%2F63637227-2cf3-4d22-a620-d70ab6f63c92%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special (Pizza) Sauce: Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener Talk Pie [1/3]\"."){kind=logo}
For the next three weeks on Special Sauce I will be geeking out about pizza with Adam Kuban and Scott Wiener, two of the smartest, most passionate, and most knowledgeable pizza nerds on the planet. Adam Kuban is the founding editor of the seminal food...
![Thumbnail for "Sam Kass on How What You See Shapes What You Eat [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F08217c42-09f5-46a2-8408-54138898c983%2Fimages%2Fe989265d-8c7b-4a5e-a9a7-480174c86978%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Sam Kass on How What You See Shapes What You Eat [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my interview with former Obama personal chef and Obama White House food activist Sam Kass, I got schooled big-time about the role visuals play in how you eat at home. "The first lesson that I learned, that I think is maybe most helpful...
![Thumbnail for "Sam Kass on Cooking for the Obamas [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F9ccf2f8d-30b9-46a1-af84-88ca004d1dd8%2Fimages%2Fbd45c538-92f9-41a0-a5a5-b627da2aabfb%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Sam Kass on Cooking for the Obamas [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
All right, I admit it: I've always fantasized about having one of the Obamas as a guest on Special Sauce. And while I haven't given up hope entirely, I realize that Sam Kass, my guest on Special Sauce this week, might be as close as I get to that...
![Thumbnail for "Rick Bragg on Why Cooks Are the High Priests of Good Living [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F7eb72794-14d3-42f3-a91c-84428b155d78%2Fimages%2F7b2fb177-d767-4abd-90bb-3d1a79afba5b%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Rick Bragg on Why Cooks Are the High Priests of Good Living [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's episode of Special Sauce, the Pulitzer Prize–winning but ridiculously down-to-earth Rick Bragg digs deep into his mom, the subject of his latest book, . For one thing, Bragg's mother was not in the least interested in...
![Thumbnail for "Author Rick Bragg on His Mom, the Best Cook in the World [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Ffc4a4e07-003c-42ef-9e0b-e4cde0901c79%2Fimages%2F59e5c04a-7c1a-4eaf-98fc-9a8bf54ea94d%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Author Rick Bragg on His Mom, the Best Cook in the World [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
We don't often get a chance to have a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist on Special Sauce– was the first–so I jumped at the chance to have Rick Bragg, one of my favorite writers of all time, on the podcast. Of course, Rick isn't known as a food or...
![Thumbnail for "Rodney Scott on Bourdain and Letting the Barbecue Speak for Itself [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F755574aa-c38a-4ce9-81f3-a92b4bf52dc6%2Fimages%2F5787a22c-3b5c-4122-a40f-1767154c0850%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Rodney Scott on Bourdain and Letting the Barbecue Speak for Itself [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my terrific conversation with James Beard Award-winning pitmaster Rodney Scott, we discuss the fact that barbecue, like jazz, was developed by African-Americans, and yet most well-known pitmasters are white. "I respect any human...
![Thumbnail for "Rodney Scott Was Born and Raised to Be a Pitmaster [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fda64f495-5791-4b92-9793-069dfd083311%2Fimages%2Fcc7d7954-973c-4426-a781-ce2e96128098%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Rodney Scott Was Born and Raised to Be a Pitmaster [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Barbecue pitmasters are amongst our nation's greatest storytellers—they learn that all-important skill tending to their 'cue all night. But Rodney Scott, South Carolina pitmaster and James Beard Award...
![Thumbnail for "David Lebovitz on Blogging, Cookbooks, and Moving to Paris [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F4447c1c1-12be-4e83-854d-23eaa0ce7240%2Fimages%2Ff70c5c4e-b0e4-4ba4-953d-2d375ec185d1%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"David Lebovitz on Blogging, Cookbooks, and Moving to Paris [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
On this week's Special Sauce, seminal food blogger, pastry chef, and author David Lebovitz and I took a trip back into the past. And we had a blast. David worked in the Chez Panisse kitchen for 13 years before he realized it was time to leave. "I left...
![Thumbnail for "David Lebovitz on Renovating His Home in Paris [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fbd6887b5-bbd6-4ea4-982c-9022a4b1bb70%2Fimages%2Ff77e7d67-157d-44f5-b231-45b73a5291a2%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"David Lebovitz on Renovating His Home in Paris [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
My guest on this week's Special Sauce is the extraordinary blogger, author, and pastry chef David Lebovitz, whose latest book is . David and I started off our conversation with the early days of blogging, and I asked him about whether he had ever...
![Thumbnail for "Matt Goulding on Why Italian Food Can Evolve [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fa430af30-3740-47f3-8e7c-d8c93856b747%2Fimages%2Fc8eba835-eec2-444a-8a2a-ab12fcbb3298%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Matt Goulding on Why Italian Food Can Evolve [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Listening to Roads and Kingdom co-founder Matt Goulding talk about the food culture in Italy on this week's Special Sauce was a real treat for me. Matt spent months eating his way through the country for his extraordinary new book, , and he explains...
![Thumbnail for "Chef Ed Lee on Cultural Appropriation Versus Collaboration [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F133d98e3-b93d-4c5b-bfb6-91751ae234a8%2Fimages%2F0d43e00f-9c9f-49b2-b580-b06cb6d21327%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Chef Ed Lee on Cultural Appropriation Versus Collaboration [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part 2 of my conversation with the remarkable chef and writer Edward Lee, we take a deep dive into his terrific new memoir-with-recipes . Lee writes in the book, "Much of what we think of as traditional American cuisine is being challenged....
![Thumbnail for "Edward Lee on Finding Home in a Bowl of Collard Greens [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F314a3178-a940-41f2-b933-767bce651a4d%2Fimages%2F8f50e7df-ff17-407e-b03e-0b213e2bc09b%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Edward Lee on Finding Home in a Bowl of Collard Greens [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Having chef and memoirist Edward Lee on Special Sauce was the happiest of accidents. Sitting on top of a pile of books on Special Sauce associate producer Marissa Chen's desk was Lee's evocative and moving memoir, . I read a chapter, was...
![Thumbnail for "Special Sauce: Artist and Author Maira Kalman on Savoring Moments of Cake [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F9051add2-031b-4e22-882d-c0ae73e8c080%2Fimages%2Fdb834eb8-6418-40b9-8839-22516b6fabee%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Special Sauce: Artist and Author Maira Kalman on Savoring Moments of Cake [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part 2 of the Special Sauce interview with artist and author Maira Kalman, we were joined by Barbara Scott-Goodman, who co-authored
![Thumbnail for "Writer and Illustrator Maira Kalman on Room Service and Moments of Joy [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F1bbe633d-6735-4f9f-916f-cecbb1c073d5%2Fimages%2F6e9f2798-7898-4cbb-9251-e44d4985027e%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Writer and Illustrator Maira Kalman on Room Service and Moments of Joy [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
I don't know how many serious eaters have heard of the brilliant, food-loving, and thought-provoking artist and writer Maira Kalman, but I've been a huge fan of hers for a long time now. So when I heard that she had recently co-written (with Barbara...
![Thumbnail for "Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman on the Perils of Publishing [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fa51048cf-0ce0-4405-bd00-a22bb034b6f1%2Fimages%2F4feb5f87-e4cc-4ddc-a89f-8cea253a572d%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman on the Perils of Publishing [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my terrific interview with 's Deb Perelman, we move from the creation of her blog into book writing (her second book was just published in October 2017), and how social media has (or hasn't) changed what she does. The first thing I...
![Thumbnail for "Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman on Not Pretending to Be Perfect [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fb9619408-26b3-454f-a306-ca6df9079042%2Fimages%2F2998f832-2146-4782-a8d9-eb67ffe80fc4%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman on Not Pretending to Be Perfect [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
A week after sitting down with of , I got to reminisce with another seminal food blogger: Deb Perelman of . Deb started Smitten Kitchen in 2006, the same year that Serious Eats launched. Twelve years later, Smitten Kitchen has millions of...
![Thumbnail for "Elise Bauer on Turning a Food Blog Into a Business [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Ffba464fc-1350-4c83-af72-b617d48e10fd%2Fimages%2F5b0a6aeb-bf89-40e1-99ff-439b41e1489c%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Elise Bauer on Turning a Food Blog Into a Business [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
At the end of part 1 of my Special Sauce interview with Elise Bauer, she had just described starting in 2004 after coming home to live with her parents in Sacramento to recover from a serious case of chronic fatigue syndrome, and in this week's...
![Thumbnail for "Simply Recipes’ Elise Bauer on Alcatraz Swims and Blogging as Medicine [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fad453f8f-fa02-49f2-92f8-07fea8bdd39c%2Fimages%2F0c4950b7-624b-43e8-a29e-f4770348fc4d%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Simply Recipes’ Elise Bauer on Alcatraz Swims and Blogging as Medicine [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
My guest on this week's Special Sauce is founder Elise Bauer, who was a veteran of Silicon Valley start-ups long before she started her blog. "In the late '90's I worked with a start-up and helped raise $35 million on Wall Street for what was similar...
![Thumbnail for "Sara Moulton on Why Female Chefs Should Head West [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F96823bc8-348c-4404-9559-e7adc002e796%2Fimages%2Fba634677-1c9a-4372-a645-591284ba13e0%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Sara Moulton on Why Female Chefs Should Head West [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part 2 of my Special Sauce interview with Sara Moulton, she plunges headfirst into the issues women face as chefs. "When I first moved to New York...I couldn't get a job. But not only that, about every five years there'd be an article in the New...
![Thumbnail for "Sara Moulton on Leftovers, College Gig, and Not Looking for Attention [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F0cca0549-10d2-4293-808e-24cbe13be56d%2Fimages%2Fe0921ea5-0c7b-4f92-9de7-f7ac3dd7719e%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Sara Moulton on Leftovers, College Gig, and Not Looking for Attention [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week's guest on Special Sauce is food television personality and pioneering chef Sara Moulton, who is as unpretentious as she is accomplished. And when I say accomplished I mean accomplished. Sara is currently the host of the PBS series and...
![Thumbnail for "Roads & Kingdoms’ Matt Goulding On Moms, Tweets, and Bourdain [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F596e87cb-e870-41ce-9255-cee61ac3e8d3%2Fimages%2Fc8f1cdfc-83ab-48fc-83e5-7279d1dd08dc%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Roads & Kingdoms’ Matt Goulding On Moms, Tweets, and Bourdain [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
As you can probably tell, I love interviewing people for Special Sauce. That's because we book guests who have compelling food-related stories to share with us. But co-founder and author Matt Goulding had so many interesting things to say about food...
![Thumbnail for "Andrew Friedman on the Evolution of Chef Culture in America [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fc33efd6f-078d-40ed-86d3-1ec62e0e8221%2Fimages%2Ff3a73e1b-633c-425c-99ca-eafea4c3da23%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Andrew Friedman on the Evolution of Chef Culture in America [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part two of my interview with Andrew Friedman, the author of Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll, he and I take a...
![Thumbnail for "Author Andrew Friedman on Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F9cde0908-46b2-4c2e-b817-4f48418cf860%2Fimages%2F9bc52d60-ca78-441f-b017-1800449736eb%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Author Andrew Friedman on Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
No writer has spent more time working and hanging out with great chefs than Andrew Friedman. So when I heard that his long-awaited book chronicling chef culture in the US—Chefs, Drugs, and Rock &...
![Thumbnail for "The Knife Skills Team and Life After the Oscars [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fba3b82d0-1aa7-423d-9797-1ebb296bb4d1%2Fimages%2Fbddd48c5-09d5-4db3-b360-9270606159c5%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"The Knife Skills Team and Life After the Oscars [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
It's been several days since the Oscars, and I'll admit it: I was keenly disappointed when Knife Skills didn't win for Best Documentary Short. But now that I've had a few days to reflect on the Oscars as a...
![Thumbnail for "The Team Behind Knife Skills, the Oscar-Nominated Documentary [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F6a17631a-eeec-4488-abbd-6c57970af801%2Fimages%2F3a1935ac-6418-4818-b0e4-a6c9fd45bda1%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"The Team Behind Knife Skills, the Oscar-Nominated Documentary [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
We don't usually make a big deal about the Oscars on Special Sauce, but when I saw the brilliant Oscar-nominated documentary short Knife Skills, I knew I wanted to talk about it. The film shows what happens...
![Thumbnail for "Phil Rosenthal on Stepping Out of His Comfort Zone [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F6b096eac-0aef-412b-b48f-c38def4ebdd8%2Fimages%2F72a308cc-c8a9-4e02-90cc-f5e6c312e3f2%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Phil Rosenthal on Stepping Out of His Comfort Zone [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Back in the day, we used to say that Serious Eats was a website focused on celebrating and sharing our enthusiasm for food with the online community. In Part 2 of my interview with fellow food enthusiast Phil Rosenthal, he reveals that , his new...
![Thumbnail for "Phil Rosenthal Is Anthony Bourdain, Except Afraid of Everything [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fdbedcf97-2e40-499b-a8eb-df7f7c848557%2Fimages%2F88a7b465-630a-4434-9e16-f673611c2e3e%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Phil Rosenthal Is Anthony Bourdain, Except Afraid of Everything [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Phil Rosenthal Is Anthony Bourdain, Except Afraid of Everything [1/2]
![Thumbnail for "JJ Johnson on Hoops With Steph Curry and the Pleasures of Rice [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F0fe37b57-1975-40e6-be85-8345763debd1%2Fimages%2Fd4870930-b69b-4e1b-b6e9-24b15b102591%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"JJ Johnson on Hoops With Steph Curry and the Pleasures of Rice [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
In part 2 of my interview with JJ Johnson, the charismatic chef and co-author of , I had to ask him to explain the book's lengthy subtitle word by word, and to explain what he and his co-author Alexander Smalls set out to do with it. The book, JJ...
![Thumbnail for "JJ Johnson on Embracing the Food of the African Diaspora [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fa058e998-9f00-43db-95c7-19da9f5bf16d%2Fimages%2F9e6de05b-63ec-42d3-b6b9-c122145ac6c5%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"JJ Johnson on Embracing the Food of the African Diaspora [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
My guest this week on Special Sauce is chef and cookbook author Joseph "JJ" Johnson. When I say he gravitated to kitchen work at an early age, I mean really early. He started cooking with his grandmother when he was four: "I didn't really watch...
![Thumbnail for "Jenny Allen on the Joy of Eating a Turkey Burger All by Yourself [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F0c875cb8-1daa-4e8d-a69a-7cd6200f9b4b%2Fimages%2Fe5f70cd5-3893-483c-87e4-296c47feb70c%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Jenny Allen on the Joy of Eating a Turkey Burger All by Yourself [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Here's how the delightful and brave Jenny Allen describes the food at her family table in Part 2 of her Special Sauce interview: "Such bad food...and so little of it." As that quote can attest, you can be sure there's no shortage of pithy insights or...
![Thumbnail for "Author and Playwright Jenny Allen on Chocolate Mousse and Writing Funny [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Faad0ab08-1c18-41e5-b4b7-d77cc8dfeb4c%2Fimages%2F48db7dfe-1098-457f-a314-a4915d2dd051%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Author and Playwright Jenny Allen on Chocolate Mousse and Writing Funny [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Jenny Allen, the humorist and author of the guffaw-inducing new book Would Everybody Please Stop: Reflections on Life and Other Bad...
![Thumbnail for "Resy's Ben Leventhal on the Growing Pains of Internet Start-Ups [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F05655749-a4ed-4260-b2b0-6cacc92144c7%2Fimages%2F72c8ba83-ca5d-4b32-a08d-b0d80f2cc9ea%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Resy's Ben Leventhal on the Growing Pains of Internet Start-Ups [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
When 's Ben Leventhal, who has been involved in at least five food-related start-ups, speaks about entrepreneurship, I am all ears. Here are just a couple of the pearls of wisdom that came out of our in-depth conversation: "What I do try to say to...
![Thumbnail for "Eater Cofounder Ben Leventhal on the Early Days of Web 2.0 [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F9e52f2ef-e608-4689-a2f0-f44f41ccb42e%2Fimages%2F0d3c0191-aa5b-41af-9093-38143f93ef57%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Eater Cofounder Ben Leventhal on the Early Days of Web 2.0 [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
The members list of the non-existent Digital Food Entrepreneur's Club would be quite small, but it would have to include Ben Leventhal, who is both this and next week's guest on Special Sauce. Ben cofounded in 2005 and is now one of the...
![Thumbnail for "[Rerun] Ask Special Sauce, The Holiday Edition: Kenji and Stella on Pie Crusts, Fudge, and Gizzards".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fcf634584-0e12-43f4-b5bd-f55cd97e9869%2Fimages%2Fcdc3f69c-58f8-4bb6-935d-f0b9443f9fd3%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"[Rerun] Ask Special Sauce, The Holiday Edition: Kenji and Stella on Pie Crusts, Fudge, and Gizzards\"."){kind=logo}
This week we've got a special holiday episode of Ask Special Sauce. With Kenji and Stella serving as my co-pilots from the comforts of their own homes, we endeavored to answer some of the questions Serious Eaters and Special Sauce devotees have about...
This week we've got a special holiday episode of Ask Special Sauce. With Kenji and Stella serving as my co-pilots from the comforts of their own homes, we endeavored to answer some of the questions Serious Eaters and Special Sauce devotees have about...
![Thumbnail for "Andrew Rea on Life After Going Viral [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F0483f542-f81e-4fa4-acdf-68224892e245%2Fimages%2F5b6edaec-0884-49d9-b316-559d2912ef58%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Andrew Rea on Life After Going Viral [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
As we came to the end of the , Andrew Rea had just started producing and hosting , which I think is the most exciting, engaging, and just plain fun short-form cooking video series out there. Andrew still had his day job, and his obsessive,...
![Thumbnail for "Andrew Rea on the Wild Success of Binging With Babish [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F39f38bab-db50-43c4-aad8-aca61c460296%2Fimages%2Fbf4705c8-e608-4229-af50-f26f9c44f4c1%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Andrew Rea on the Wild Success of Binging With Babish [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
I have to say that most YouTube cooking shows leave me cold. There's a little too much shaky cam footage and a few too many unfunny asides, and not enough serious, engaged cooking for my taste. So when Kenji told me about , I watched one episode...
![Thumbnail for "Bill Yosses on White House Dirt and Fake News [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F8215b699-95e9-4687-a838-9b05807dc42f%2Fimages%2F83122b77-8b13-48e6-b589-4dede8e3817e%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Bill Yosses on White House Dirt and Fake News [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
If you interview someone like Bill Yosses, who was the White House pastry chef for George W. Bush and Barack Obama, you hope and pray that you can shake loose some dirt to titillate your listeners. But when you listen to part 2 of my interview with...
![Thumbnail for "[Rerun] Ask Special Sauce: Kenji and Stella Troubleshoot Your Thanksgiving".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F1d995c61-dbc4-40ab-83fb-3f8376c74d41%2Fimages%2F742fb7dd-8b20-4612-8911-f73e05ae2703%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"[Rerun] Ask Special Sauce: Kenji and Stella Troubleshoot Your Thanksgiving\"."){kind=logo}
When I was mulling over what we could do on Special Sauce for Thanksgiving, I immediately thought about stress reduction. Making the big dinner can be stressful for any number of reasons, and while we design all our Thanksgiving offerings with an eye...
![Thumbnail for "Bill Yosses on President Obama's Love of Pie [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F324b04ec-2e69-4020-a1e9-71490e006b98%2Fimages%2F7cf858d0-bca7-4861-8af4-07937739b211%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Bill Yosses on President Obama's Love of Pie [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
This week's guest on Special Sauce is Bill Yosses, who was the White House pastry chef from 2007 to 2014 and is the author of the just-published . Bill isn't your (White House) garden variety pastry chef: He's a James Beard Foundation Who's Who...
One of the many reasons I love doing Special Sauce is I get to talk to many people I have long admired from afar and never met. This week's guest is one of those people: David Tanis, one of the best and most thoughtful chefs and cookbook writers...
![Thumbnail for "Jacques Torres Explains the Chocolate Color Wheel [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F4e552f18-812b-48ce-9dac-c7eeb4370786%2Fimages%2Fa5facd07-7457-47a5-90e3-59db484d49bf%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Jacques Torres Explains the Chocolate Color Wheel [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
Serious Eaters who are as curious about all things chocolate as I am are going to love the second part of my Special Sauce interview with Jacques Torres, a.k.a. Mr. Chocolate. Jacques gives a simple, succinct, and comprehensive explanation of the...
![Thumbnail for "Jacques Torres on Becoming Mr. Chocolate [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F112c5052-e688-4b1e-b68a-478a51882e19%2Fimages%2F6f9dc33a-d1a6-41c5-8bcf-084462900360%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Jacques Torres on Becoming Mr. Chocolate [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
If you love chocolate–and what Serious Eater doesn't–you won't want to wait to savor every morsel of the Special Sauce episodes featuring Mr. Chocolate himself: chocolatier and pastry chef extraordinaire Jacques Torres. Jacques knows...
![Thumbnail for "Chris Kimball on the Grateful Dead and Life After America's Test Kitchen [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F2a0161c7-75c9-4f39-bc07-26a8fb41604b%2Fimages%2Fe0c454fa-74ec-4a9d-a4f2-702042dbaac4%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Chris Kimball on the Grateful Dead and Life After America's Test Kitchen [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
I'm going to go out on a limb here, or perhaps I should say on a sprig of rosemary: For those who care deeply about the state of home cooking today, the food-journalism landscape, or the Grateful Dead, this week's episode of Special...
![Thumbnail for "Chris Kimball on the Joy of Arguments and the Future of Food Media [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fd51dab97-d0d0-4b99-a4be-0e0a16022559%2Fimages%2Fab3799e9-d93d-4df0-a98d-9342e3522d59%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Chris Kimball on the Joy of Arguments and the Future of Food Media [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
If you're interested at all in food media you're going to love my Special Sauce conversation with founder and seminal food publishing guru Chris Kimball. Chris is insanely smart, incredibly provocative, and very good company if you like your company...
![Thumbnail for "Adam Driver on Choosing Roles and Eating a Chicken a Day [2/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2F10ba8d92-a1dc-49e9-af91-5fd8166438c2%2Fimages%2F013a0e44-825d-4f31-b042-7dc58a5a4f06%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Adam Driver on Choosing Roles and Eating a Chicken a Day [2/2]\"."){kind=logo}
When–and it should be when, not if–you listen to part two of my Special Sauce interview with Adam Driver, my guess is you'll be as awed as I was by his bandwidth, his intellectual curiosity, and the way he thinks about food and life....
![Thumbnail for "Adam Driver on Marines, MREs, and Postprandial Cereal [1/2]".](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff.prxu.org%2F1809%2Fde4184ae-983f-4657-95a6-84bc9a4c3172%2Fimages%2Fc4bb167a-59c2-4499-87ec-91febdc7021c%2FSpecial-Sauce-Logo-1536x1536.png&w=3840&q=75 "Thumbnail for \"Adam Driver on Marines, MREs, and Postprandial Cereal [1/2]\"."){kind=logo}
For the first episode of the new season of Special Sauce I invited on a very special guest: the brilliant, original, and always thoughtful Adam Driver. We talked about his unusual path to an acting career, which took him through the Marines. His time...
In part two of my far-ranging conversation with chef, pizzaiolo, and pizza poet laureate Chris Bianco, we talk about so many things, including his reaction to winning the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest in 2003. He was the first and only...
My guest on this week's Special Sauce is Chris Bianco, the man who makes my favorite pizza in the world. The pies he puts out at in Phoenix, AZ, would definitely be on the table at my last supper. And while Chris is also the author of the...
In part two of my illuminating interview with French-American super chef Daniel Boulud, he and I talk about—believe it or not—airline food. Daniel has designed some business class meals for Air France, and the airline flew me over to Paris to...
My guest on this week's Special Sauce is Daniel Boulud, whom I have known for more than 25 years. We first met when Alex Lee, his longtime chef de cuisine and my regular squash partner, asked me to take Daniel on a food adventure (Alex now...
Welcome back for part two of my Special Sauce interview with designer and architect David Rockwell. In this week's episode, David talks about what the initial design process for projects is like, and about some of the challenges he faces when talking...
On this week's episode of the Special Sauce podcast, host Ed Levine talks to David Rockwell, the architect and designer behind every Nobu around the globe, as well as multiple airline terminals and the theater in which the Academy Awards are held.
In part two of my Special Sauce interview with Chinese-food and -culture writer Fuchsia Dunlop, we tackle common misconceptions about cooking Chinese food at home. Fuchsia addresses those intimidated about diving in, explaining that "people often...
What a story: A young, food-obsessed British student at Cambridge University named Fuchsia (God, I love that name) heads to China in the '90s to study, and manages to become the first Westerner to attend the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine. After...
Welcome back for part two of my Special Sauce interview with Southie street urchin-turned-chef-restaurateur Barbara Lynch. This week we talk a little bit more about her memoir, , but Barbara also manages to surprise me with a few additional tidbits of...
Boston-based chef-restaurateur Barbara Lynch has had an eventful year. First, her memoir, , was published; it's a moving, brutally honest, no-holds-barred account of her hardscrabble upbringing in a South Boston housing project. And then Time magazine...
Part two of my interview with my old runnin' partner, John T. Edge, delves into the genesis and development of his new book, . I thought I'd just give you a taste of what John T. has to say regarding misconceptions about Southern culture...
This week on Special Sauce my guest is the great Southern food chronicler John T. Edge. I've been discussing food as seen through the lenses of race, class, and ethnicity with John T. for almost 20 years now (no one, not even his wife, calls him just...
Last week's episode of Special Sauce ended with Michel Nischan and I discussing his groundbreaking restaurant, Heartbeat, and his efforts to serve food that was healthy and actually delicious. This week we pick up where we left off and talk about how...
This week on Special Sauce, I have as my guest my old friend, Michel Nischan, the three-time James Beard award-winning chef, author, and food equity advocate. Michel's a busy guy. Between his work as the founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave, which aims...
Today, my guest is Seth Godin, the insanely popular business blogger and best-selling author (his book, , is the most inspiring on leadership I've ever read). Seth has been encouraging and inspiring future leaders of every stripe imaginable for over...
On this week's Special Sauce, Andy Ricker explains his idiosyncratic take on what he does for a living, which he articulated in his book, : "I'm not a chef. I didn't invent this stuff. The food at my restaurants is not my take on Thai food." When I...
My guest on Special Sauce both this week and next is chef-restaurateur Andy Ricker, whose Pok Pok restaurants in Portland, Oregon, and in Brooklyn introduced me to the joys of Northern Thai food. We delve into his hippie roots growing up in...
This week on Special Sauce features the second part of my far-reaching conversation with Dan Barber, and he and I cover a lot of ground. He defines each of the three plates that are the subject of his groundbreaking book, . I'll let you in on what the...
I think it's safe to say that Dan Barber, the visionary chef of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, has led an interesting life. I'm sure you'll agree after listening to this week's episode of Special Sauce. Barber's dad loved good restaurants, so...
Last week, I promised that you'd get to hear why Mark Ladner decided to walk away from Del Posto, which was awarded four stars by the New York Times, to open a fast-casual pasta joint, and this week I make good on that promise. In this week's...
In the first of my two-part interview with chef Mark Ladner, we focus on his indirect yet hard-earned path to helming Del Posto, the New York Times four-starred restaurant he ran for twelve years. And why did the only chef to earn those four...
You probably won't be able to hear it, but I was moved to tears by my interview with dumpling queen Helen You on this week's Special Sauce. Helen is the owner of Dumpling Galaxy, the finest dumpling shop in NYC, and the coauthor of The Dumpling Galaxy...
"Hot pig Jell-O" may not sound like a draw to most people, but that's exactly how Mario Batali describes the headcheese that he got me to try—and even like!—more than 20 years ago. How he managed that feat, his nose-to-tail approach to...
I have been dying to get Mario Batali, whom I have known for more than a quarter century, on Special Sauce since I first dreamed up the idea for our podcast, more than a year ago. And, when all you serious eaters listen to Mario on this week's...
Many serious eaters know the pleasures associated with ordering something delicious from the online food retailer Mouth.com. But not many people know the fascinating backstory of Mouth's cofounder Craig Kanarick. That's where this week's...
I call part two of my interview with Missy Robbins "The Comeback Episode," because we learn what happened when Missy returned from her self-imposed hiatus from her career as a chef. Missy delves into how the time away helped...
On this week's Special Sauce I chat with Missy Robbins, the chef and owner of Lilia in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Missy describes her 20-year journey to opening her own place with such sharp clarity that after we finished recording, I was unable to think...
In this first of a two-part interview with The New York Times Op-Ed Columnist and former restaurant critic, Frank Bruni, we delve into everything from his earlier days as Rome bureau chief for that same paper, why it feels as if readers of...
On this week's Special Sauce, I continue my far-reaching conversation with great cook and ramen master, Ivan Orkin, aka Ivan Ramen. What is his recommendation on the best way to eat ramen, how did he make it as an American ramen chef in...
In this first part of a Special Sauce double-header, Ivan Orkin, of Ivan Ramen and Slurp Shop in NYC, talks about life before he became a celebrity in Japan as a gaijin (foreigner) ramen chef: the Orkin family table growing up on Long Island, NY, how...
This week's guest on Special Sauce is chef and school food activist Bill Telepan, who is now at the helm of New York's Oceana Restaurant. Bill shares some particularly insightful observations about why chef-driven neighborhood restaurants across...
In part two of my conversation with Marcus Samuelsson, we chat a little about the profound Russian influence on everyday Swedish cuisine, the driving inspiration and ethos behind opening his Harlem restaurant, The Red Rooster, and how...
This week's Special Sauce features Chef Marcus Samuelsson, whose restaurant, The Red Rooster, is arguably ground zero of the Harlem food and drink renaissance. I found Marcus's story so inspiring and moving that I decided it merited two...
Chef Daniel Rose of Le Coucou, the best new restaurant in New York City, reflects on his career and kitchen philosophy.
Our first was so nice, we decided to do it twice. Leah from DC wanted to come up with ideas for baked goods that "would just really light people on fire" at her daughter's school's bake sale table—in a metaphorical sense, that is....
Let's face it: One of the main reasons we look forward to the holiday season is the copious amount of baked goods we get to make and eat. So, with that in mind, I invited our pastry wizard, Stella Parks (aka BraveTart), to take calls on a special...
On today's episode of Special Sauce, Kenji and I fielded a wide variety of potentially vexing questions about cooking on a boat (Mike in Cyprus), preparing acidic foods in cast iron cookware (Julia in New York), making the most of small...
In a million years, I would never have guessed Ruth Reichl's guilty pleasure: "Onion rings," she told me during part two of our conversation on Special Sauce. "I can't resist a good onion ring." That's not the only surprising answer you'll hear on...
In this week's episode of Special Sauce, Kenji and I field our listeners' call-in questions, and tackle the pressing concerns that plague Thanksgiving cooks (and their guests) around the country. We trust that our listeners and questioners will be...
If you've ever read one of Ruth Reichl's restaurant reviews, let alone one of her books, then you know what a wonderful, natural storyteller she is. Great storytellers and great stories are the heart and soul of Special Sauce,...
I like to call this week's Special Sauce guest, Rob Kaufelt, the cheese whisperer. Finding and selling great cheese seems to be what Rob was put on this earth to do. Over the years, the Murray's Cheese Shop owner has brought serious cheese...
The background of this week's guest on Special Sauce—chef, restaurateur, and aspiring falafel magnate Einat Admony—isn't that of your typical chef. She grew up in Israel, learning how to make couscous from her Moroccan neighbor,...
Considering her many restaurants, books, and television shows, plus her involvement in the gourmet Italian marketplace Eataly, Lidia Bastianich might seem like a known quantity to serious eaters all...
Daniel Gritzer, Serious Eats' culinary director, is in many ways our not-so-secret weapon. To learn more about the surprisingly nonlinear career path that landed him at Serious Eats (which involved two stints herding sheep in Europe), and about the...
This week's guest on Special Sauce, Alex Guarnaschelli, is constantly juggling the roles of TV chef (she's a regular judge on Chopped), working chef (at the two Butter locations in Manhattan), and mom (to one beautiful daughter). When you're faced...
Serious eaters who have been around awhile, like me, know that the idea of driving across America in search of the best regional food originated with Roadfood authors Jane and Michael Stern, not Guy Fieri: They published their first edition of...
Pizza lovers know Paulie Gee, a.k.a. Paul Giannone, this week's Special Sauce guest, as the owner of the founded in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. But as good as his pies are, and they're damn good, his unlikely path to pizza entrepreneur–there are now...
In our latest call-in episode of Special Sauce, Kenji and Ed address listener concerns over how to rebuild a pantry and how a food’s appearance affects taste. And, of course, we make some time for good-natured ribbing, too.
In this third episode of Call Special Sauce, Kenji and Ed wrestle with tricky questions from Serious Eaters on food allergies, electric stovetops, and authenticity.
The arts of making French charcuterie and its Italian cousin, salumi, are two of the highest forms of the craft of cooking. So when I heard that chef and cooking teacher Brian Polcyn and journalist Michael Ruhlman, the authors of...
On this week's Special Sauce, John Stage, founder of the insanely popular barbecue mini-chain Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, reveals the unusual way he discovered his calling. Growing up, Stage had a soft spot for his mother's Italian-American cooking,...
Serious Eats' pastry expert, Stella Parks, a.k.a. BraveTart, is so disarmingly charming as our guest on Special Sauce, you'll undoubtedly fall in love with her the way all of us have. After attending the Culinary Institute of America, working in...
In the middle of part 2 of Danny Meyer's interview on Special Sauce comes a shocking admission. In 2001 the first incarnation of the enterprise that became the global phenomenon Shake Shack was a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park that was part of an...
In this week's episode of Special Sauce-the first of two parts-we talk about how Meyer came to see the pursuit of restaurant-experience perfection as anathema to his own business, and take a look at his five founding principles of hospitality. I could...
On this week's Special Sauce, Roy Choi told me that his new California-based fast food concept, LocoL, is merely trying to change the world, one mostly-meat burger at a time.
This week's especial Special Sauce episode (I know that's redundant, but it rolls off the tongue) again features my runnin' and eatin' partner, Kenji López-Alt, Serious Eats' managing culinary director and the author of the New York Times best seller...
This week's episode of Special Sauce is, well, special. Inspired by Car Talk, one of our all-time favorite radio shows, we did a call-in session featuring Kenji López-Alt, Serious Eats' managing culinary director and the...
I used to think of Le Bernardin chef-restaurateur Eric Ripert as a smart, impossibly charming and handsome chef's chef. But between interviewing him for Special Sauce and reading his moving and evocative memoir 32 Yolks, I've since realized that...
The multiple-Beard-Award-winner and proprietor of 19 Seattle restaurants is whip-smart, even though his mother has never forgiven him for being the only one of her eight children not to go to college. Tom's also funny, opinionated, and generously...
Family businesses are hard. Family food businesses that have lasted four generations, like the New York appetizing emporium Russ & Daughters, are practically unicorns. So, when I had a chance to have Niki Russ Federman and Joshua Russ Tupper on...
Ed Levine first met Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez eight years ago, when he happened upon her and her mother selling handmade tortillas at a tiny farmers market in West Harlem. Even back then, he could tell that Jessamyn was a force to be...
This week's Special Sauce guest, bread baker extraordinaire Jim Lahey, is a man of strong opinions, provocative ideas, and many talents. He's not on the fence about anything. So I figured that if we just gave Jim a mike and let him rip, serious eaters...
Roy Blount Jr. is one of the funniest writers on the planet. And he loves to eat, and talk about what he's eaten, so he's a made-to-order guest on Special Sauce. On this week's episode, you'll hear Roy wax poetic about the dangers of eating foam (he's...
Who knew, in an age of huge magazine companies being sold off like rusty used cars, that you could create a quarterly, delightfully idiosyncratic food magazine and get more than a hundred thousand people to pony up $28 a year to subscribe? On this...
In this episode, we discuss how Dominique Ansel went from army KP duty to the kitchens of Fauchon in Paris (where he arrived in a clunker he bought for $400), to being the pastry chef at New York gastronomic palace Daniel. We also talk about what...
The Sweetgreen team has watched their business grow over the past nine years from a single 500-square-foot storefront location in DC's Georgetown, which they opened when they were still college students, to what will be 60 restaurants nationwide by...
In this episode, we get into some Sporkful-inspired debates
about the purpose of hot dog buns and the ideal shape of pie. We
discuss the divide in the podcasting world, as well as what makes
his often contrarian—and always funny—show great.
In this episode of Special Sauce, Lam and I discuss how he tends to "go for the cheeks" and why his parents are proud of him for doing so. He also talks about how normal it is for writers to hate writing—but why he still encourages aspiring authors...
Brooks Headley, the punk-rocking, vegetable-whispering owner of Superiority Burger in NYC, says he's "almost insistent upon only being in bands with extremely volatile characters, myself included." In this week's episode of Special Sauce, I talk with...
"Don't start with your sister's wedding cake," suggests baker and author Dorie Greenspan on this week's episode of Special Sauce. Greenspan has come far from the self-described "sweet little home baker" that she once was, and has a lot of advice for...
Colicchio is a passionate guitar player and music aficionado, as you'll hear when he sings one of the riffs in the Stevie Ray Vaughan song that we want to use as the Special Sauce theme song in the near future. We also chatted about his seminal book,...
This week, Colicchio discusses three key things he's learned over the course of his career — the things he thinks every aspiring chef should keep in mind. You'll learn about how a prison library book pushed Colicchio into the kitchen, and how...
This week, Canora discusses what he thinks restaurateurs and diners misunderstand about the service industry. You'll learn about how he deals with those issues, his guilty pleasures, and why sometimes it's good to have someone remind you to just calm...
In this episode of Special Sauce - which, I must warn you, is a bit NSFW, unless you're surrounded by some really adventurous eaters with good senses of humor - Gold, Gabbert, and I discuss our shared passion for music and why there...
On this week's Special Sauce, journalist, author, professor, and activist Michael Pollan - author of In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire - discusses what's kept him in the garden, in the kitchen,...
In this second half of my interview with The New Yorker staff writer, Calvin Trillin, you'll learn what major roux-related mistake would keep him from revisiting a restaurant, some of his secrets for speechwriting (or not writing, rather),...
In this episode of our podcast, you'll find out how Calvin Trillin came to be a staff writer at The New Yorker and author of 30 books, including American Fried; Alice, Let's Eat; and Third Helpings, which are now collectively known as The Tummy...
Pete Wells of the New York Times is perhaps the nation's most influential and powerful restaurant critic, but, as you'll hear on this week's Special Sauce podcast, he's soft-spoken, funny, and thoughtful-and eminently fair-minded.
"Cooking is the way I can give a piece of my heart to someone," says The Chew's Carla Hall. On this week's Special Sauce, I chat with Hall about how she hopped around on her career journey, going from being an accountant at Price Waterhouse...
"In America, you don't get what you don't ask for," says chef-restaurateur, Top Chef contestant, and cookbook author Dale Talde. "You have to punch and kick and scream to get what you want." On this week's episode of Special Sauce, I talk to Talde-one...
On this week's episode of Special Sauce, Ed talks to Brian about his undying-and sometimes heretical-love for pizza, how gluttony ties into his upcoming Showtime series, Billions, and the moment when Wonderama broadened his culinary horizons. You'll...
On this week's Special Sauce, I talk to David Simon—one of the smartest, funniest, and most thoughtful serious eaters I have ever broken bread with—about how his years as a beat reporter made their way into his television work....
"I'm a very average cook, but I'm a very happy cook," crime novelist Laura Lippman explained to me on this week's podcast. Lippman is far from your average writer, though. The Washington Post has called her "one of the best novelists around, period."...
I've known the great comedian and actress Susie Essman for nearly 20 years, and I've always been disappointed that she'd never cursed me out the way she did her TV husband, Jeff Garlin, on Curb Your Enthusiasm. So I asked her to let me have it right...
Rich Torrisi's name hits headlines all the time, but the renowned chef—and managing partner of one of New York City's hottest restaurant groups—admits that he doesn't much care for all the media attention. "I don't have a taste for it, I...
When I first met her more than a decade ago, Gail Simmons was no television personality. She was the not-at-all-lowly assistant to Jeffrey Steingarten, the feared and revered Vogue food critic. (And she had to survive a ridiculously arduous interview...
Even if you've read every one of his columns on Serious Eats and every page of his weighty tome "The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science", you'll still find out some surprising—and funny—stuff about Kenji López-Alt...
The first episode features my good friend Phil Rosenthal, who's a successful restaurant investor and the creator of Emmy Award-winning TV show Everybody Loves Raymond. PBS is now airing his latest creative endeavor, I'll Have What Phil's Having, a...
Special Sauce: Matt and Allison Robicelli on Cupcakes and the Bonds of Suffering [1/2]
April 4, 201936min 29sec
Sometimes our Special Sauce guests are just so idiosyncratic, so entertaining, so thoughtful, and so zany, I find myself alternately laughing and near tears for an hour and a half straight. That's what happened when I had Matt and Allison Robicelli on the podcast.
Allison is a longtime baker, cook, and James Beard- nominated food writer; Matt is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute who has cooked at City Bakery and Lutèce. Together, they opened the acclaimed bakery Robicelli's in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (which closed in 2015), and wrote a cookbook, Robicelli's: A Love Story, With Cupcakes. But before all of that- before they ever met, in fact- each of them faced life-changing events that indirectly led them to pursue their culinary interests professionally: Allison was diagnosed with stage IV Hodgkin's lymphoma, and Matt was a paramedic who suffered injuries while responding at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Neither had even reached their 21st birthday at the time, which helped them bond when they finally met. "I think one of the reasons we got along so well was because after I survived cancer, it's really hard to relate to somebody who's 22 and didn't go through that," Allison says.
Nowadays, Matt and Allison run a culinary consulting business, co-own a couple of New York food businesses, and host their own podcast, The Robicelli Argument Clinic, whose name is self-explanatory: "We just quibble a lot, and we argue," Allison says. "We've been together for 14 years, and somebody was like, that's entertaining. Cut to tape. That was it. So we decided to do a podcast of just- we have these ridiculous arguments, just any kind of food topic. We just want to have more fun."
I asked my standard question about what life was like at Matt and Allison's respective family tables when they were growing up. Allison dispelled the stereotype that everyone has warm and fuzzy memories of their childhood dinners: "I remember a lot of yelling [in my family], I remember putting a TV there because that would shut everybody up.... Food can bring up all the memories. It can bring up all of the feelings. It's complicated just like we are. I think that's the kind of beauty about it."
Family meals don't have to resemble a Norman Rockwell painting, Allison contends: "There's all these beautiful stories on the internet about the family table, and not everybody had it. You know what? That's okay. If your family dinner was eating McDonald's in the car alone- that's fine." The table that the Robicellis share nowadays includes their two preteen boys, Toby and Atticus, and that makes mealtimes predictably challenging. "The pickiest eaters I've ever met," Allison calls them. "They drive me insane."
In keeping with their own podcast style, my conversation with the Robicellis turned out to be a series of wacky and wise, well, arguments, and you'll have to listen to this episode and the one that follows to enjoy them. Matt and Allison are two wonderfully human interviewees, and great company. My guess is that they'll make you laugh as hard as I laughed, and they might make you cry as well.
The full transcript for this episode can be found over here at Serious Eats: https://www.seriouseats.com/preview?record=443265
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