We Could Make That
34 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 7 years ago - ★★★★★ - 28 ratingsWe Could Make That is all about the stories of indie food makers who've struck out on a noble cause: to make the world as tasty as humanly possible. In each episode, Andrea Wien digs into their backgrounds, motivations and passions to decode why and how they started their businesses, and the lessons we can each take back to our own kitchens and lives.
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Episodes
Eat Chic Is Reinventing The Nostalgic Peanut Butter Cup (And Crushing It)
March 30, 2017 13:59 - 1 hour - 42.3 MB“There’s a lot of romanticism in having your own business, and it’s really difficult. My boyfriend would never put himself through what I’ve been putting myself through.” - Lotta Andonian, founder of Eat Chic Chocolates, on entrepreneurship My guest on the show today is Lotta Andonian, the founder of Eat Chic Chocolates, a company reinventing and perfecting a classic American treat and my favorite candy: the peanut butter cup. Lotta built up a solid clientele in London that includ...
Fawen's Drinkable Soups Are One Of 2017's Biggest Trends
March 24, 2017 18:53 - 43 minutes - 30 MBAmanda Bowen and Fabio Fossati are a couple. They do normal coupley things like work out and go on walks together. But a few years back, they took their relationship to the ultimate level. No, not marriage. Entrepreneurship. On this show, we talk about their drinkable soup company, Fawen, what it's like to go into business with your significant other and how they financed the launch. They also shed some light on the marketing channels that have been most effective for them and how their li...
The Most Delicious Gluten-Free Bread Known To Humans
March 18, 2017 15:29 - 51 minutes - 35 MBI happen to think that all food businesses are built on love stories - but the story of Sadie Scheffer’s Bread SRSLY takes the cake. Sadie was in grad school on the east coast when her crush moved across the country to SF. Rather than wallow in despair, Sadie dropped out of school and followed him. After a few dates, it became clear that Mr. Right didn’t feel the same and the relationship fizzled out. But Sadie was not deterred. She knew the beau of her dreams was gluten-free, so even though...
What The Black Sheep Of Wine Can Teach You About Success
March 06, 2017 20:23 - 1 hour - 42.1 MBIn 2003, at the age of 30, Andre Hueston Mack was the first African American to be named Best Young Sommelier in America. Soon after, he accepted a somm job at The French Laundry before Thomas Keller sent him across the country to open the most anticipated restaurant of the year, Per Se. In 2007 - really just a few years after he jumped into the food and wine world - he left fine dining to launch his own company, Mouton Noir Wines. Despite his massive success, Andre still calls himself the...
Three Gringos Walk Into A Business...And The Result Is Jalapa Jar
March 03, 2017 14:09 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBTommy Byrnes is a Longhorn-turned-Londoner-turned-New Yorker who co-founded a company called Jalapa Jar. Along with his two other co-founders, Steve and Joel, he’s bringing two of my favorite foods - tacos and salsa - to the New York masses. But Tommy and the crew are doing things a little differently, effectively starting two different businesses at once: a packaged (but fresh) salsa product and a retail storefront that slangs Austin-style breakfast tacos in NYC. On this show,...
Dave's Gourmet, The Granddaddy of Ultra-Hot Sauce, Continues to Innovate
February 24, 2017 16:02 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBThe Washington Post: "His condiments and sauces are legendary." The NY Times: "The hottest culinary experience known to man." The Wall Street Journal: "The legendary grandaddy of ultra-hot sauces." He is Dave Hirschkop, the founder of Dave’s Gourmet Fiery Foods and Specialty Foods, which make insanely hot hot sauces, creamy hot sauces and family-friendly pasta sauces. Over 20 years ago, Dave wasn't trying to start a hot sauce company. He was simply on a mission to create the...
This Motorcycle Riding, Banana Bread Wielding Woman Is DANK
February 17, 2017 14:28 - 58 minutes - 33.6 MBCaitlin Makary is a badass. She rides a motorcycle. She rock climbs. And she owns DANK, a banana bread company inspired by her vegan sister and rock climbing friends. Rider, climber, entrepreneur -- you could say her risk tolerance is higher than most. For years, Caitlin worked in corporate fashion, and it took a nudge from an old boss and a massive breakup to catapult her into entrepreneurship. In January 2016, she broke up with her boyfriend and holed herself up in her apartment for four ...
Ozuke CEO, Willow King, On Friends As Co-Founders, Fermentation And Travel
February 10, 2017 16:23 - 42 minutes - 24.1 MBWhen I grow up, I want to be Willow King. Or, maybe more accurately, I just want to move to Boulder, CO, hang out with Willow and her co-founder, Mara, and eat fermented things all the live long day. We could go snowboarding (even though I have no idea if Willow snowboards), plan trips to exotic locations (she definitely does this) and dream up ways to pickle our favorite foods (something she's already got on lock). But, since I have no plans to hightail it to Colorado anytime soon, I'll h...
Talking Trademarks, The Berkshires And Family Businesses With Fire Cider
February 03, 2017 15:22 - 38 minutes - 22.1 MBBrian Huebner is the founder of Fire Cider. Fire Cider has a winding tale - two of its three co-founders, Brian’s sister, Amy, and her now-husband, Dana, were high school sweethearts separated by a move. Years later, they reconnected via Facebook, ended up falling back in love and moved back to their hometown in the Berkshires. While this was all happening, Brian was busy drawing comics and selling windows as a door-to-door salesman in the DC area - something he says built up his toug...
This Founder's Going Back To His Roots With Paper Plane Coffee
January 26, 2017 16:13 - 57 minutes - 33.1 MBWhat do Colombia, Kermit the Frog and a mariachi band have in common? Not much, except for the fact that they're all tied together in one person: Jonathan Echeverry. As a kid, Jonathan split his time between Atlanta, where his family owned a Mexican restaurant, and Colombia, where they owned a coffee farm. Now, Jonathan has full circled back to the summers of his childhood with his new company, Paper Plane Coffee Co. As the founder of the company, Jonathan says he's connecting to somethi...
Food It-Girl Leiti Hsu On Her New Start-Up And Fave Makers
January 24, 2017 21:33 - 24 minutes - 14.2 MBLeiti Hsu is a professional connector. Chances are she's had dinner with your favorite chef, and interviewed your favorite food personalities for her radio show, Word of Mouth. Most recently, she launched a travel concierge service called Journy. Journy's goal? To put the power of the concierge in your back pocket, for a price anyone can afford. On this show, Leiti gives me the deets on Journy, including their newest advisor -- the powerhouse entrepreneurial golden child, Gary Vaynerchuk. ...
Health Warrior: The Company That Put Chia Seeds On The Map
January 20, 2017 03:17 - 54 minutes - 31.1 MBI hate to run. And on more than one occasion, I've found myself in this conversation: Me: "I hate to run." Multiple other humans: "I hated running, too. But then I read "Born to Run," and now I love running. I run every day. It changed my life." For Shane Emmett, the CEO of Health Warrior, the book "Born to Run" didn't only inspire him to pick up a pair of sneakers -- it also spurred him into entrepreneurship. The Tarahumara people are the focus of the book "Born to Run." And while man...
Bringing Buckwheat, An Eastern European Staple, To The American Mainstream
January 13, 2017 01:54 - 38 minutes - 22 MBLeeann Rybakov grew up in Kiev, Ukraine, where buckwheat is ubiquitous on every table. And while her mom continued to serve it once they moved to the United States, Leeann didn’t see it around all that much -- not that she really thought about it anyway. After working for eight years at her family’s logistics company, her husband encouraged her to follow her passion for cooking and attend culinary school and launch a food company. Enter buckwheat. As she toiled away on concepts for a he...
Increase Energy, Lift Libido And Balance Hormones With Macaccino
January 04, 2017 00:31 - 48 minutes - 27.6 MBAaron Glassman is the founder of Macaccino and the owner of the Golden Mean Cafe in Los Angeles. A few years back, an old man came into the restaurant holding a bag of something magical. Inside was maca, a root that's grown at high altitudes in the Andes mountains. Maca root is a superfood that's reported to help your body function way better. Seriously: better memory, more energy, more sexy times. It's basically a godsend. Aaron tinkered around with it to make it delicious, then put it...
Taking What's Old And Making It New Again With Cleveland Kraut
December 16, 2016 16:27 - 55 minutes - 31.5 MBDrew and Mac Anderson are brothers. Their sister is Emma. Emma married Luke. Drew and Luke met over some beers, as brother-in-laws have been known to do. They realized they'd both been fermenting stuff in their kitchens. A lightbulb went off, they started jarring their creations and Cleveland Kraut was born. Then, Mac graduated from college, stepped up as lead sales guy and became (one of) the shining golden children of the enterprise: "Mac is like our Lebron James. He’s as tall as Lebron an...
Joy The Baker On Gap Years, Starting Over And Her Fave Food Trends
December 12, 2016 14:52 - 19 minutes - 11.3 MBI want to be Joy Wilson's friend. But then again, everyone does. That's why she's been awarded "Best Baking Blog" by everyone from Saveur to The Kitchn since she started joythebaker.com in 2008. In writing and in person, Joy is a sweetheart with a personality that makes you want to bake a cake with her, then get into your PJs and drink wine while swinging together on a porch swing, talking ish about the dude that dissed you at the bar last weekend. Not that I've thought about this in any det...
Drawing On Hometown Roots And Old-Time Values With Stagg Jam
December 09, 2016 14:53 - 29 minutes - 17 MBWhen the going gets tough, the tough slow down. Or at least, that's Candice Ross' motto. She's the founder of the Brooklyn-born and based Stagg Jam, where she makes tasty jams and marmalades in cool flavors including seasoned sorrel, cherry chai, spicy orange with red pepper and fennel, and grapefruit rosemary, a nod to her Louisiana roots. For the past year, Candice has steered the Stagg ship, aiming for ideals that would make her grandad proud (she named the company after him, after all....
How Think Jerky Is Leading The Healthy, Chef-Driven Future Of CPG
December 01, 2016 16:04 - 38 minutes - 22.1 MBRicky Hirsch is the founder of Think Jerky, a beef jerky company that’s taking a health-conscious approach to our favorite meaty snack. Think has far less sugar and salt than typical jerky, it’s made using high-quality ingredients and meat — and it’s actually crafted by real chefs — Laurent Gras, a three-starred Michelin chef, Gail Gand, a two-time James Beard award winner and Food Network host, and Matt Troost, a Chicago Baconfest champion. Ricky and Think are also award winners in t...
Slice of Pai on Instagram, Food Trends and Starting Out
December 01, 2016 01:38 - 16 minutes - 9.34 MBThis is another in-between-isode where I talk to cool people in the world about the trends they’re seeing out and about, their favorite makers of the moment and exciting projects that they’re working on. Today, I’m talking to Joann Pai, known to her fans on Instagram as @SliceofPai. Joann is a food and travel photographer currently living in Paris, though her work has been featured in publications around the globe, including Vogue, Saveur, The NY Times and Conde Nast Traveler. Her cli...
The Most Impressive Person Of 2016
November 24, 2016 04:05 - 47 minutes - 27.1 MBIf you were a parent, chances are you’d want your kid to turn out like Sagan Schultz. Sagan is the CEO of the functional beverage and nutrition company, WellWell. He has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, a medical degree AND MBA from NYU and he’s a certified personal trainer. He’s also a certified sommelier and a self-proclaimed fitness junkie. WellWell is a watermelon-based, tart cherry juice that aids in muscle recovery. Sagan developed it in his kitchen because he wanted something to...
What Does It Take To Disrupt A Category Giant Like Pasta?
November 18, 2016 19:55 - 47 minutes - 27.1 MBIt must be pasta week on We Could Make That because my guest today is Brian Rudolph, the co-founder of Banza pasta. Banza is a pasta made from chickpeas that has double the protein, four times the fiber and nearly half the net carbs of average pasta. Plus, it tastes really, really good—and they have a mac and cheese that reminds me of creamy Velveeta and doesn’t make me hate myself after eating it. Banza started not so long ago in Brian’s kitchen, and has now skyrocketed to nat...
Emoji Pasta, Star Wars and The Ultimate Dinner Party with Linda Miller Nicholson
November 17, 2016 04:24 - 31 minutes - 17.9 MBLinda Miller Nicholson, or Salty Seattle as her fans know her, has been called the "Lady Gaga of Food" by The Cooking Channel. She was also a competitor on the hit show, MasterChef, and in 2018, she's releasing a cookbook, published by HarperCollins all about her latest obsession: pasta. Linda's got a thing with pasta. Specifically, she’s spent the last few years figuring out how to infuse the bold colors of the rainbow into dough to create edible artwork, like emoji ravioli — yes, it...
Here's What It Takes To Compete On The US Culinary Olympic Team
November 11, 2016 22:30 - 57 minutes - 32.9 MBEddie Tancredi loves to win. And he loves to cook. So when he discovered that he could cook to win competitions, he was all in. For the last 12 years, he's rotated between the culinary competition circuit - competing against heavyweights like The Food Network's Bobby Flay - and cooking in the world's best restaurants. His last gig was as Executive Chef and Managing Partner of Adega restaurant in Cleveland's hottest downtown building, The 9. Oh yeah. And he was on the freaking US OLYMPICS t...
Clean(ish) Food For People Who Like To Eat Dirty With The Dude Diet's Serena Wolf
November 01, 2016 21:17 - 19 minutes - 11.1 MBThis is an in-between-isode, where I talk to food writers, Instagrammers and generally cool people about their favorite makers and food things of the moment. Serena Wolf didn't set out to create a diet fit for the modern man. In fact, she was just writing on her pink blog about her life in Paris, going to culinary school and throwing dinner parties with her roommate. Then, she moved back stateside and shacked up with her now-fiancé, Logan. Turns out, Logan was a typical dude. He ate total...
Crossing Continents, Pizza Apprenticeships and Entrepreneurship with Mike's Hot Honey
October 27, 2016 17:12 - 50 minutes - 28.6 MBMike Kurtz is the founder of Mike’s Hot Honey in Brooklyn, NY. Mike’s Hot Honey is a chili-infused honey that Mike discovered while backpacking through the mountains of Brazil. But the story doesn’t start and stop there. In fact, after he made that delicious discovery, he didn't rush right home and open his company. Instead, he came back to NY, landed a job with a record label and eventually convinced the Boston Globe to let him travel to 30+ countries on five continents in one year. ...
How Cocktail Crate Is Upping Your At-Home Craft Cocktail Game
October 21, 2016 16:31 - 37 minutes - 21.5 MBAlex Abbott Boyd grew up with free-spirited, food-loving, hippie-inclined parents (one from the land down under, the other from NYC) who kept a garden and made their own jam. Obviously, this environment can lay the groundwork for a love of good food and flavor, which is precisely what happened to Alex. Emboldened by capable tastebuds and with the early understanding that beverages held a soft spot in his heart, he's traveled far and wide in the name of a good sip. This translates to everyt...
An Entrepreneur Who's Preserving New Mexico's Magical Hatch Chile
October 13, 2016 13:54 - 40 minutes - 23.4 MBImagine that your whole life you had this abundant bounty of spicy goodness at your fingertips, blindly going about your business and assuming everyone in the country also had the same bounty. Then imagine moving, only to find out that in fact, no one knows WTF you're talking about when you order your enchiladas "Christmas-style." If this makes no sense to you, don't worry -- it will soon. Nate Cotanch is from the Southwest. His mom - one of 17 (!!!) kids - is a New Mexico native, and like...
Low and Slow: Chasing Adventure on the Southern Barbecue Trail
October 05, 2016 18:32 - 55 minutes - 31.6 MBIf someone told you that you could get paid to travel around the South, stopping along the way to pop out and eat barbecue in iconic barbecue cities, you'd probably take them up on it. I mean, let's be real, unless you are a vegetarian, there are few things more satisfying than a hunk of meat cooked over an open flame, possibly dipped in sauce and paired with a cold beverage. Well, friends, here we are. Meet Rien Fertel, a New Orleanian who will make you very jealous with how he makes his ...
Here's What The Next Generation of Millennial Run Companies Will Look Like
September 30, 2016 20:53 - 30 minutes - 17.6 MBLet's say you came up with an idea for a food company in January. How long do you think it would take you to launch? Maybe a year? 18 months? If you're Aidan Altman, the answer to that question is five months. FIVE MONTHS, PEOPLE! Insanity. Aidan and his co-founder, Shannon McGlynn, dreamt up their company Spice Foods with a few characteristics in mind: transparency, altruism and health. It's true that Millennials generally think we're the bees knees [thanks mom and dad!], and as you'll h...
Two Eleven Madison Alums Plot To Slather The Nation In Brown Butter
September 23, 2016 12:00 - 39 minutes - 22.8 MBOne went to culinary school. The other didn't. One had a baker for a dad. The other grew up eating dry chicken and overcooked broccoli. Their culinary paths couldn't have been more different. And yet, they both ended up working side-by-side at one of the best restaurants in New York City: Eleven Madison Park. After years of browning butter on stovetops in restaurant kitchens and serving it to their friends at dinner parties, the lightbulb went off and they decided to start jarring this swe...
One Man's Quest To Get America Cozied Up With Fish Sauce
September 16, 2016 19:42 - 43 minutes - 25.2 MBWhen Hansen Shieh was eight years old, his obviously awesome (wait for it) mom took him out for lunch. As he bit into his first Sichuan pepper, his mouth exploded in flavor and heat. And his mom, the badass that she so clearly is, just laughed at him. Now, some 30 years later, Hansen is on a mission to bring the kick of Sichuan and other flavors, including Chinese fermented black bean, tamarind and fish sauce to the mainstream with his company, One Culture Foods. We talk shop about the l...
How Sir Kensington's Is Dethroning Heinz In The Ketchup Kingdom
September 08, 2016 18:49 - 50 minutes - 28.8 MBWhen Scott Norton and his co-founder, Mark Ramadan, were in college, they had a thought: why are American consumers totally chill about their ketchup? After all, the stuff we all grew up on is loaded with junk like high fructose corn syrup, canola oil and tomato paste. But instead of going back to bonging beers and eating take-out pizza like most college kids would do at this point, they took their concept a step further and asked themselves, "What would happen if we turned the ketchup ind...
Why The Best Place To Start A Revolution Is In Your Mouth
September 06, 2016 00:56 - 47 minutes - 27.4 MBAnarchy In A Jar started with humble beginnings but has now blossomed into a jam company that anyone would be proud to write home about. For starters, the ingredients come from local farms, the founder, Laena McCarthy, is handcrafting each batch out of Brooklyn, NY, and everyone from the NY Times to Saveur to that food blogger you follow religiously are singing Anarchy's praises. Not. too. shabby. Instead of going to culinary school like many in the food business, Laena started out her c...
There's A New Kid In Town And He's Called Za'atar
August 30, 2016 14:17 - 1 hour - 37.7 MBZesty Z is the brainchild of founder Alexander Harik, who pitched the idea to his family at the dinner table. They promptly laughed him off before starting to take him seriously. Thankfully for all of us, Zesty Z was born as a new za'atar-based condiment and spread. Alexander is Lebanese-American and grew up eating za'atar, but realized no one had introduced one of his favorite flavors to the masses. In this show, we talk about Google University — basically figuring it out as you go — t...