Why Food?

"I am obsessed with other people's obsessions" This quote sets the tone for how engaged and involved you become when you read Cork Dork. Bianca Bosker, previously the executive tech editor at the Huffington Post, left her job and set out to understand Sommeliers and their obsessions, whilst trying to become a certified Somm in under one year. In today's interview we get to hear about Bianca's journey from philistine to blind taster, the sacrifices she made, is fine wine a genuine industry or just a playground for the rich, and the truth about how knock-off mass production wines are created. Bianca has an incredible story and deserves respect and applause for the depths that she went to in one year. This book has opened my eyes to the true value of wine and has become a springboard to continue my education. Cork Dork is now available online and in-stores. Follow @bbosker on Instagram to see more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-se

As the founder & CEO, of Dig Inn, a successful farm to table restaurant group based in New York and Boston Adam Eskin was thrown in the deep end right from the start. With an Economics degree from Brown University, Adam quickly entered the world of finance where he ascended the corporate ladder. His first insight to the world of food came when Wexford Capital acquired a small chain of bodybuilding restaurants, at the time of the protein craze during the mid 00's. Adam soon assumed responsibility for the transformation and revival project of the restaurants which would become Dig Inn. Dig Inn is an inspiring company with direct connections to the farms that they source from. In the modern era where food companies alternate their fluffy descriptors depending on whats in vogue, Dig Inn has maintained the same vision from day one. They are a farm-to-table, seasonal restaurant group which serve healthy and nourishing food at very affordable prices. This was the company that I wanted to work for when I first mo

A winner of 16 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards during his 25 years as a food critic for GQ, Alan Richman is one of the most revered, yet controversial figures in the restaurant scene over the past two decades. His feuds with Anthony Bourdain, David Chang and Creole cuisine have captured the media, but there is a much greater depth to Richman’s career and personality that deserves to be heard. His journey into the world of food and wine was by coincidence after serving in the army, followed by a period as a sports reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin in the 1970s. With over a quarter century reporting on restaurants and food trends, Richman lays bare his thoughts on the industry, the coveted position of the celebrity chef and whether the position of food critic is one in danger of extinction.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Imagine if you're first restaurant job was at a two Michelin-starred restaurant and within that restaurant you were the Head Sommelier, quite the start in the industry. Max Coane's life was dedicated to music from the age 6, it was his obsession. As a producer, sound-engineer, songwriter and musician he worked in some of the finest recording studios around the world. In his early twenties he was introduced to the sophisticated world of wine and this love interest slowly came to a tipping point where he chose wine over music. This is not a wine-geek conversation, this is an insight into how Max views the world of hospitality and what he can offer it. "See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chef Yo graduated with a masters from the Theatre Directing program at Columbia University. A native of Thailand, he found himself working in Thai resturants in New York, climbing the ladder from busboy to server to manager. The hospitality industry never appealed to him-it was simply a means to an end-but when he graduated and struggled to find work in the theatre he went back to basics. Chef Yo reached out to two friends and together they opened up Pinto, a Thai restaurant in the West Village. After four years in business their head chef had to return to Thailand and with such a tight budget, Chef Yo took the mantle of head cook. He learned from repetitive practice of recipes in the French Laundry cookbook and slowly found his own identity. The real change came with perspective. The endeavor of opening a restaurant was a project to finance a play, never a career. It was only once Chef Yo accepted Pinto was an extension of him and something he would devote himself to that the restaurant began to succeed. As

Homa Dashtaki is the owner of The White Moustache, a coveted New York producer of both Persian and Greek style yoghurts, labneh and whey probiotic drinks. Homa started the company with her father after she was laid off from her Wall Street job during the 2008 recession. This is a story of perseverance - The White Moustache encountered so many hurdles during its infancy which would cause most business owners to give up but Homa was determined the business would succeed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jonathan Mendez, co-founder of Saloniki Greek introduces us to his new restaurant and his previous career path as a lawyer. Saloniki Greek takes traditional Greek dishes with New England ingredients to reproduce some delicious classics. In this episode we talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of Greek Street food here in the states, and what to look for when you want some quality feta cheese.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna are the co-founders of the delicious, creative and playful ice cream company, Ample Hills. They both have past careers as teachers, Brian later went on to become a screenwriter and director before founding Ample Hills. Ample Hills are known for their chunky ice creams and wacky names but did you know they make every single ingredient from scratch? Brian gives us a basic guide on how to deconstruct a food and recreate it as ice cream and we get Ample Hill's opinion on the artisanal ice cream scene and where they draw their inspirations from.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Timothy Caspare, the Chef de Cuisine at the trendy Italian spot Pasquale Jones, hasn’t always been a chef. On today’s show we talk about his time as an English teacher at a rough high school in New Jersey, his retreat to Italy for his formal cooking education, his quick ascent at Eleven Madison Park and his nuggets of wisdom to balance a highly regimented profession with creative flair.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the founder of Brooklyn Oenology, Alie Shaper has taken the centuries old wine concept of terroir and modernized it within the Brooklyn environment. Alie is a graduate of Engineering from Cornell University which is where her passion for wine was ignited. After graduating Alie moved to San Jose as a military contractor to work on various projects. She soon returned to New York in pursuit of the wine industry. In 2010 Brooklyn Oenology opened a tasting room in Williamsburg, stocking food and beverage treats from the New York region. Ali is unique in the humane way that she approaches her wines - she has very much taken something from the old world and made it comfortable within its surroundings.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shen Tong is one of the most accomplished individuals I have met. It is simply not possible to bracket him in to pre- and post-food careers because he builds on his achievements instead moving from one to the next. Shen is a social activist, exiled from China as one of the student leaders in the democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989, he was also heavily involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Shen Tong is a television producer, technology innovator, entrepreneur, serial investor and writer. His accomplishments are extraordinary at 48, and his new focus is food. Shen founded Food Future Co. the world's first scale-up accelerator in food, agriculture and social entrepreneurship. He also founded Food-X, the number 1 food innovation accelerator in the world. These accelerators will support companies that are making meaningful change for the future. Food Future Co. and Food-X are not trying to fund rapid growth for a high return on investment, these companies are the ethical investors in the future o

Vincent Mazeau recently traded his successful career as an artist and set designer of 15 years to start a new life, owning and operating his own restaurant, Cherry Point, in Greenpoint, with his partners, Chef Julian Colcott and Garrett Smith. Vincent is a graduate of Sculpture from Yale who progressed in to the world of set design with his company, Big Room. During Vincent's fifteen years in the industry he collaborated with brands such as Calvin Klein, Yves St. Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Dolce & Gobbana. As an artist, Vincent’s work has been shown in galleries and museums all around the world as well as some of the worlds most-acclaimed publications. Vincent left the industry to enroll at the French Culinary Institute, after graduation he did a stage at Michelin-starred Corton where he met Cherry Point’s chef Julian Colcott. In this episode we will be discussing why Vincent left a successful career behind him to re-establish himself in the notoriously fickle New York restaurant scene, along with the

Stephen and David Flynn are twins and founders of The Happy Pear. The Happy pear began twelve years ago as a fruit & veg shop in their hometown of Greystones, just south of Dublin, Ireland. In that twelve year period, The Happy Pear has expanded to a Café, evening restaurant, sprout farm, food production facility – producing energy bars, pesto, granola and many other plant based delicacies, the happy heart – a health education course, and two best-selling cookbooks. Stephen and David have an insatiable appetite for life and probably have the most jam-packed days of anybody I have ever met. The Happy Pear is a community of people who want to improve the lives of others and all of this has stemmed from the twins vision to start a food movement with their fruit & veg shop. In this episode I sat down with Stephen and David in The Happy Pear café in Greystones. They shared the story of their younger years, the profound connection they have to food, the importance of having fun, and how their food movement

"If you have a genuine passion for something, why not go for it?" I'm back home in Galway, Ireland this week and while I was home I wanted to meet the guys who have set the restaurant scene a light with their warm hospitality and sensational Neapolitan pizza. Galway is the major food destination in Ireland, recently awarded the European Region of Gastronomy 2018 and Dough Bros are the restaurant that perched themselves as the number one restaurant on TripAdvisor for 14 consecutive months among 345 restaurants. Dough Bros is founded by two brothers Eugene and Ronan Greaney. Eugene was laid off from his sales and marketing job during the recent recession and spotted an opportunity to go into business with his brother by starting up a food truck selling Neapolitan style wood fired pizza. The food truck quickly moved on to a pop-up restaurant with a 10 week lease, which extended to 18 months, and four weeks ago the brothers moved in to their first permanent space. It has been a rapid success story for the Greaney

"The one through line of my early twenties was that there was no through line." After many years of random jobs and a prolonged stint at the Metropolitan Opera, Casey made a pledge to himself that he would establish his career path by the time he was 30. Food was always heavily involved in Casey's life, it was a love interest of his but always something in the background. That is until he and a friend set themselves a challenge to set up a company in 30 days. They developed a spicy honey with quality ingredients from the Hudson Valley, Bushwick Kitchen was born. Three years later, they now produce 7 products ranging from honey, maple syrup and hot sauce. Casey discusses the early challenges in his first entrepreneurial endeavor, how he rolled with the punches, and how all those random, unrelated jobs in his twenties aligned to mould the multi-dimensional entrepreneur that he is today.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode we meet one of the most inspirational restaurateurs in the States. Largely unknown because she doesn't operate in sexy markets like New York or LA, Martha Hoover is the CEO and founder of 11 restaurants and a charitable foundation. Formerly a public sector lawyer, Martha made the transition to food in '89. With no restaurant experience, two young children, and a third on the way, she opened up Cafe Patachou. Over the past 25 years she has changed the restaurant landscape in Indianapolis - with community at the center of everything she does. Martha shares her simple steps to run a sustainable, efficient and collective restaurant group.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.