Podcast

Today we have a very fun episode highlighting one of the country’s emerging culinary cities: Traverse City, Michigan. Located in Northern Michigan on the stunning shores of Lake Michigan, Traverse City has a restaurant and wine scene that attracts visitors from around the globe. And this August marks the debut of the Traverse City Food & Wine, running August 20–24. In this episode, we speak with some of the people who make Traverse City such a special place. First up we speak with Sarah Welch, a Top Chef finalist who ran the acclaimed restaurant Marrow in Detroit before moving to Traverse City to open a forthcoming restaurant with her husband, Cameron Rolka of Detroit’s Mink. Next, we hear from Traverse City Food and Wine director Whitney Waara about the amazing event, with a lineup of chefs including Tyler Florence, Ji Hye Kim, Mei Lin, and Kate Williams. To close, we learn about Traverse City’s growing wine region from Patrick Brys of Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery. For Traverse City Food & Wine tickets visit traversecityfoodandwine.com. This very special episode is supported by Traverse City Tourism and Pure Michigan.

AJR, Recess Therapy, Al Gore and more

Adam Roberts is back on the show, and we couldn’t be happier to speak with him about his terrific debut novel, Food Person. You may know Adam from his pioneering food blog (now on Substack), The Amateur Gourmet, but we know him now as a fiction writer digging into the world we talk about often here on the show: food media, cookbooks, collaborations, and all the behind-the-scenes drama that can pop up therein. Adam has written an incredible universe in the novel, and we discuss how he wrote it and how cookbooks truly informed the writing process. And, at the top of the show, it’s the return of Three Things, where Aliza and Matt talk about what is exciting them in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Chicago's Lao Peng You has an incredible house noodle soup, Overcompensating is our favorite new show, Betweener is an interesting energy drink alternative. Also: A visit to the new Mission Chinese in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Lula Cafe remains a Chicago legend, Askinosie Chocolate is a favorite new chocolate company and puts the farmer front and center.  Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you.   

Mehreen Karim a Brooklyn-based pop-up chef, recipe developer, and food writer. You may know her from seeing her compete on Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef, but today she’s coming back on our show to talk about writing her first cookbook, Make It Plant-Based! Southern, and editing a larger plant-based cooking series. I always have so much fun catching up with our friend Mehreen, and this episode is no exception. Also on the show, TASTE contributor Vrinda Jagota stops by the studio to talk about two of her recent stories about the real-world effects of going viral: The Expansive, Absurdist Canvas of Tiramisu and Indian Pizza Is Extremely Online. Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you.