Podcast

In this week’s episode, we try to wrap our brains around how Sunburned Hand of the Man actually makes their music.

Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel is the chef and co-owner of Birdie’s, an Austin, Texas, restaurant that is innovative and exciting, and by far one of our favorite meals of the year. On this episode, we speak with Tracy about her journey from cooking at Lula Cafe in Chicago to working the line at some of New York’s most acclaimed places—Del Posto, Blue Hill, and Gramercy Tavern—and how she met her partner in life and business, Arjav. We talk about what excites her about restaurants and dig into some of Birdie’s most popular dishes.  Also, stick around for Matt’s thoughts on a recent trip to Austin, Texas—featuring some of the restaurants and trucks that got him most excited, including Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop, Distant Relatives, Franklin Barbecue, Cuantos Tacos, Birdie’s, Canje, and Nido.  The TASTE Texas Tour was supported by our friends at Travel Texas. Stay tuned for dispatches from Houston and San Antonio.  MORE FROM TRACY MALECHEK-EZEKIEL:   Food & Wine Restaurant of the Year: Birdie's [Food & Wine]Food & Wine names East Austin spot Restaurant of the Year [Austin American-Statesman] Inside Birdie’s Journey [Tribeza]

Here are three classic conversations from This Is TASTE with three key members of the New York Times food desk. Melissa Clark is a prolific cookbook author, longtime NYT columnist, and one of the most respected food writers in the game. In this interview, we talk about her days collaborating with great chefs including Daniel Boulud, David Bouley, and Claudia Fleming, as well as her action-packed cookbook career.  Genevieve Ko is a deputy editor of New York Times Cooking and the Food section, as well as a prolific cookbook author and collaborator. Here we have such a great time catching up about all things cookbooks, food media, and what it’s like to help run one of the best, and most popular, sections at the NYT.   Lastly we sit down with Emily Weinstein, the food and cooking editor of the New York Times. We’ve been a great admirer of her and her colleagues’ work at NYT Cooking, and we took the opportunity to talk about what makes a great story as well as some of the cooking trends Weinstein is most interested in covering. We also discuss Weinstein’s long journey working at the paper, starting as a dining listings fact-checker and rising to various editorial roles, eventually taking the top spot. Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We'd love to hear from you.  

When Rissi Palmer released her debut single "Country Girl" in 2007, she became the first black woman in 20 years to have a song on the Billboard Hot Country chart in 20 years. Little did she know that a decade and a half later, she would use her platform and experience in Nashville to be a champion for people of color in that space. Now the host of Color Me Country with Rissi Palmer on Apple Music, a CMT correspondent, among many other things Rissi is involved in, she has just put out a three-song EP aptly titled Still Here, and joins Carmel Holt for an in-depth conversation about her journey, the state of diversity and inclusion in Nashville, and the necessity of what she calls "ego death".

Clare de Boer is the chef-owner of Stissing House, a restaurant located in New York’s Hudson Valley and one we like very, very much. Clare is also the chef-owner of two New York City restaurants, King and Jupiter. On this episode, we speak with Clare about her time cooking at the River Cafe in London and her journey to America to open some of the country’s best restaurants. We also talk about her writing career, a forthcoming King cookbook, and some of the restaurants she is excited about right now. Also on the show, Matt catches up with Brad Metzger, a Los Angeles–based restaurant recruiter and the creative force behind the LA Chef Conference, a gathering of chefs and food media members taking place October 30. We talk about the role of recruiting in the restaurant industry and hear about Brad’s journey to launch the conference.  Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We'd love to hear from you.     MORE FROM CLARE DE BOER:Hello From My Island [Substack]A Manhattan Chef Heads Upstate. A Country Tavern Follows. [NYT]LA Chefs Conference [official]

The "Feel It Still" songwriter chats up his Kanye-adjacent producer.

Nate, Dave, and DEM breakdown Freestyle Fellowship's 2nd album Inner City Griots