Chefs Talking About Food

The hospitality industry is brutal on bodies. But feeding other humans is an essential, beautiful task.

I interview some of the world’s most hard-working chefs, farmers, small food product producers, and other hospitality workers. Whether digging into a specific ingredient or capturing the breadth of a 40-year career, we explore the why behind their what.

Welcome to some of the hundreds of stories we’ve made together.

Select Features

Remembering My Friend and Favorite Chef, Floyd Cardoz

Plate Magazine

Family Meals during Covid

Food Fanatics Magazine, (Special Edition, May 2020)

Meet the Women Who've Served Up 40 Years of Feminist Food

Shondaland

The Chefs of New York's Asian Food Mafia are Staying Strong Through Community

Plate Magazine

What Happens When an All-Star Pastry Chef Kicks White Sugar Out of His Kitchen?

Saveur

The Family History of Chicago's Heaven on Seven

Serious Eats

Robert Stehling Explains How He Knew It Was Time to Shutter Hominy Grill

Plate Magazine

Colonial America Was Obsessed with Chocolate that Probably Tasted Pretty Bad

Vice Munchies

How Brunching with Allergies is Getting Better (and how it isn't)

Extra Crispy

Tour Chinatown with Anita Lo

The Village Voice

New York's Scent Sommelier Wants to Break Your Wine Tasting Rules

VinePair

Meet The Food World's Pilates Teacher

Food & Wine

Chefs Dish on Kitchen Diversity

Serious Eats

Famed Chefs Deliver Meals to 18,000 Homebound Elderly — You Can, Too

The Village Voice

Flying With Knives — How Chefs Prepare for Festival Season

Serious Eats

Here's What It's Really Like to be a Private Chef for the Rich and Famous

Town & Country

Chef Interview Columns

We Chat With…

Serious Eats — Weekly NYC-chef column.

Includes: Daniel Boulud interview, April Bloomfield interview, Gabrielle Hamilton interview, Eric Ripert interview, Floyd Cardoz interview, Missy Robbins interview, Marcus Samuelsson interview, and more.

5 Life Lessons From 2 Years of Interviewing NYC's Top Chefs

Chef Charlene Johnson-Hadley on Working With Marcus Samuelsson and the Business of Restaurants

Joseph Marazzo on His 6-Foot Wide Wine Bar

How Pastry Chef Ghaya Oliveira Rose to One of New York's Most Prominent Pastry Positions

Chika Tillman's ChikaLicious Dessert Bar Stands the Sweet Test of Time

Ignacio Mattos on Honest Food and Why the Lights are So Dark at Estela

Ratchanee Sumpatboon on Isan Thai Cuisine and Making It in New York

Danny Mena on his Mexico City Cuisine and Where it Fits in New York

Chef’s Secret Weapons

Tasting Table

This monthly interview + recipe column was Tasting Table’s longest-running freelancer column and a regular top-performer.

Includes: Amanda Cohen interview, Ed Lee interview, Floyd Cardoz interview, Michael Solomonov interview, Marcus Samuelsson interview, Ford Fry interview, Jonathan Waxman interview, and more.

Say Yes to the Dressed: An ingenious way to use pickle juice you're going to love (Micah Wexler of Los Angeles’s Wexler’s Deli).

Butter Believe It: Chef Ed Lee's compound butter is the best thing we've ever put on steak.

It's Gonna Be Mayo: Sweet and spicy candied jalapeño mayo is the condiment you won't stop craving (Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp of Chicago’s Honey Butter Fried Chicken)

Curry Up: The Thai green curry paste that fires up any dish (Amanda Cohen of Dirt Candy, NYC).

Pour Some Schug on Me: Meet schug, the Middle Eastern hot sauce you'll use on everything this summer (Michael Solomonov of Philly’s Zahav).

Grin and Berbere It: How to use this perfectly balanced spice blend (Marcus Samuelsson).

Cashew Leche de Tigre: This spin on a Venezuelan classic is your next culinary party trick (Adriana Urbina of De Maria, NYC).

Jonathon Sawyer's Secret Weapon: The chef of Cleveland's The Greenhouse Tavern shares his recipe for smoked egg bottarga.