Episode Archives

Shamil Velázquez – Puerto Rican Influences in the Lowcountry

Most chefs find inspiration from their own culinary traditions, and those flavors continue to make a mark throughout their careers. Today’s guest is Chef Shamil Velázquez from Delaney Oyster House. Velázquez grew up learning how to cook with his family from a very young age in Puerto Rico. He was surrounded by the cornucopia of…

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Richard Landau – An Early Pioneer of the Plant-Based Trends

Over the past decade, vegetable forward food has really started to get the recognition it deserves. That’s due to a handful of Chefs who took the attention away from meat before it became the “cool” thing to do. Today’s guest is Chef Richard Landau, an early pioneer of the plant based trends that have been…

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Mely Martinez Celebrates the Traditional Flavors of Mexico

In this episode, we’re celebrating the deep flavors of traditional Mexican cuisine. Today’s guest is Mely Martinez, blogger and author of the well-known Mexico in My Kitchen website and cookbook. Inspired by her desire to leave a legacy of traditional flavors for her son to easily access wherever he was in the world, she started…

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Chris Spear – The Personal Chef Behind Chefs Without Restaurants

Chef Chris Spear works his magic not from the chaotic depths of a restaurant kitchen, but from the mobility of his own food truck. His company, Perfect Little Bites, operates a private-chef-at-your-doorstep experience based in Frederick, Maryland. Today, he’ll talk about why his restaurant working experiences inspired him to become an entrepreneur, his desire to…

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Silvia Barban – Her Lifelong Italian Culinary Influences

Chef Silvia Barban learned to cook from a young age in the kitchen of her Venetian grandmother. Pairing those northern Italian recipes with the spicy Calabrian influences from her mother’s side of the family, she made a name for herself in America on Season 14 of Top Chef. Today, she’s the Executive Chef and co-owner of…

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Elizabeth Falkner Continues to Challenge the Status Quo

Chef Elizabeth Falkner’s first restaurant Citizen Cake revolutionized the world of pastry in the US, and has catapulted her to the world stage on TV and through her creative culinary process as demonstrated in several cookbooks she’s authored. We talk about where she finds inspiration, the road towards better female representation across the industry, and…

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Bob Peters – Multi-Award-Winning Cocktail Artisan

If you’ve ever dreamt of building the ultimate home bar, a place where you can kick back and sink into that Negroni made just the way you like it, this episode might inspire you to start sourcing building materials. Today’s guest is Bob Peters, an award-winning mixologist from Charlotte, North Carolina. As one of the…

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Ryan Burk – Passionate Head Cider Master at Angry Orchard

The history of cider spans the globe from the ancient apple jungles of Kazakhstan, to lush orchards across Europe, to rich and fertile American soil. The diversity of the land contributes to the vast diversity of this special fruit. In this episode, I’m talking to Ryan Burk, Head Cider Maker at Angry Orchard located in…

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Misti Norris: 4 ‘F’s – Farm, Forage, Ferment, Fire

What we covered in this episode Chef Misti Norris talks about her passion for farms, foraging, fermentation, and fire. She shares her love for charcuterie and fresh pasta. Chef Misti Norris explains how she took consumers from comfort food (gumbo, stews) to more unique offal dishes (pig parts, chicken hearts, veal tongues). During the pandemic…

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Andrew McLeod – Cooking is an Exercise in Practicality

What we covered in this episode Chef Andrew McLeod from Avenue M talks about the challenge of launching a new menu when a customer base  How did he balance the business need to keep classics on the menu and the desire to add his own creations? Chef Andrew McLeod says that cooking is an exercise…

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