Podcast

All fall, Aliza and Matt have been talking about many of the season’s new cookbooks, from the biggest “influencer” books to baking, memoir, biography, and the return of restaurant books to the mix. Here is a recap of some of their favorites from the busy fall—and a solid reminder that cookbooks make amazing gifts! If you like one of the titles mentioned, pick up a copy at one of our favorites stores, including Now Serving (Los Angeles), Omnivore Books (San Francisco), Kitchen Arts & Letters (New York City), Book Larder (Seattle), Golden Hour Books (Newburgh, NY), Bookbug (Kalamazoo, MI), or your preferred independent bookstore. Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

David Gelb is the the creator of Chef’s Table, the long-running Netflix documentary series that takes viewers inside the world of restaurants and chefs. David is also the director of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the acclaimed documentary capturing the idiosyncratic world of master sushi chef Jiro Ono. In this episode, we talk about the creation of Chef’s Table and how the show invented a new vocabulary for food documentary filmmaking. We discuss the latest season as well as special seasons dedicated to barbecue, noodles, pizza, and French chefs. David is one of my favorite creators in the food world, and I loved catching up with him. Also on the show, it’s the return of Three Things where Aliza and Matt discuss what is exciting in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: The horchata latte at Ursula in Brooklyn, Mundos Roasters in Traverse City, Michigan is doing great work. Also, Lucas Sin's Street Eats series on YouTube is such a great resource, a Chrissy's Pizza scene report, and there's a new NA Negroni in town: Lapo's. Lastly, an Oscars race update with Clayton jumping on the mic. Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

Gary He wrote the coolest book! Gary is an accomplished journalist and photographer who has contributed memorable stories to Eater for years. But his book about McDonald’s, McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches, is truly groundbreaking in its scope, telling the story of the multinational chain from Mexico and Denmark to India and Japan. In this episode, we talk about Gary’s travels to McDonald’s in over 50 countries on six continents, and we get to hear more about how specialty menu items change with the culture and terroir. It’s a fascinating deep dive into one of the world’s most iconic brands. Also on the show we hear from Alexander Smalls talking about his new book, The Contemporary African Kitchen: Home Cooking Recipes from the Leading Chefs of Africa.  Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

It’s our 500th episode! Thank you to everyone who has been following along since 2018 and to those who are brand-new to our universe. We had to mark this big episode with one of our absolute favorites in the world of baking, business, and cookbook writing. Christina Tosi is the founder of the singular Milk Bar bakery and the author of many must-own cookbooks. Her latest is her best one yet: Bake Club: 101 Must-Have Moves for Your Kitchen tackles all the baking questions (and perhaps struggles) home bakers might have. We talk about what makes a great weekend baking project and how some recipes are ideal for the time-strapped. Tosi talks about the good-old Momofuku days and how a big life change is making her rethink her own cooking habits. Also, the holiday Reese's ranked! Thank you again for all the wonderful messages over the years! We love hearing from you and bringing you our show a couple times each week. Also on the show, it’s the return of Three Things where Aliza and Matt discuss what is exciting in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Aliza's birthday, including trips to Pastis and the Alvin Ailey retrospective at The Whitney, the Baldor x The Sussmans collab is really fun, as is The Shirtosphere. Also, a box grater PSA, Malcolm Livingston II's August Novelties is incredible, JJ Johnson is previewing a cool new restaurant concept, Aquavit's bar room menu is the perfect way to try high-caliber Swedish cooking in NYC. Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you. 

Every year we await the release of The Best American Food Writing. It’s a sharp collection of works from around the world of food media, and it always brings surprises. This year was no different, and the collection’s new editor, Jaya Saxena, tells us about her selection process. We also dig into her own journalism career. She’s one of our favorite writers at Eater, and we talk about some memorable stories she’s written there as well as for TASTE.   Also on the show, it’s the return of Three Things where Clayton and Matt discuss what is exciting in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: the B.O. Boys, Saturday Night is actually good, the Seoul Meets Bagel at Between the Bagel, Bruce Eric Kaplan's look inside Hollywood screenwriting in They Went Another Way. Two more books: Mammoth by Eva Baltasar and William by Mason Coile. Also, a reminder that Zingerman's has the best holiday gifts, Little Flower Cafe in Astoria is a lovely place, Daniela Galarza's broccolini parmesan soup rules, and Mombard has invented quite the sandwich. Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you.