Hillary Sterling is a longtime New York City chef who is currently the executive chef at Ci Siamo, one of our favorite restaurants in all the land. We’ve known Hillary for years, and it was really fun to dig into her history to find out about her early food memories growing up deep in Brooklyn and her many cooking jobs in Chicago and NYC. We talk about traveling around Italy for research and her friendly rivalry (more of a friendly meeting of the minds) with chef Missy Robbins. We also find out what she loves most about running one of NYC’s hottest (literally—it’s live fire, baby) restaurants. MORE FROM HILLARY STERLING:Rekindling the Flame at Danny Meyer’s Ci Siamo [NYT]Italian Passion Front and Center at Ci Siamo [Gay City News]How Chef Hillary Sterling Runs Her 120-Seat NYC Restaurant Using Live Fire [Eater] FOLLOW, FOLLOW, FOLLOW:instagram.com/chefhillarysterlinginstagram.com/mattrodbardinstagram.com/taste

265: Hillary Sterling

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Alison Star Locke earned a B.F.A. in Filmic Writing from USC, where she won the Jack Nicholson Screenwriting Award. She began her career as a reality TV Story Producer and writing, directing and producing numerous shorts. After staying home to advocate and care for her daughter, who has autism, she returned to work to write and direct The Apology, her first feature, a psychological thriller starring Anna Gunn, Linus Roache and Janeane Garofalo and is available on Shudder, AMC+, Blu-Ray and VOD. Her comedy horror short, Pick Up Time, was laureled up at fests, including Nightmares, Renegade, etc. She recently produced the zombie horror/relationship drama short, Until the End. She lives with her husband and daughter in the LA area. Her work focuses mainly on motherhood, gender disparity, disability and having fun getting your rage out. You can find her on socials at @alisonstarlocke.

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Ben McKenzie is an actor (The O.C., Southland, Gotham) who has become a prominent critic of cryptocurrency through his book Easy Money (2023), and his recent documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money (2026).

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Is Not Music was founded by Xander Duell as a way to create the artistic infrastructure he couldn’t find in the industry. Is Not Music cultivates projects at the intersection of music, performance, and design. Grounded in collaboration and process, we champion artistic autonomy and ownership.

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Merrill Garbus is the frontperson of Tune-Yards, and a composer whose work includes scores for director Boots Riley’s film projects, most recently I Love Boosters.

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265: Hillary Sterling

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