Why Food?
181 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 30 ratingsDo you daydream about dropping everything and opening a restaurant? Have you always wondered what it would be like to start your own line of condiments? So many trailblazers in the food world actually started their careers in entirely different fields. How did these folks decide to hit the brakes, start over, and become inspiring the chefs, entrepreneurs, farmers and activists they are today? Hear their stories and learn how you too can fulfill your food dreams. Join cohosts Vallery Lomas and Ethan Frisch on Why Food?
If you made a leap of faith to work in the food industry and want to share your story, please get in touch at [email protected].
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Episodes
Episode 82: Alicia Kennedy: From Vegan Baking to Vegan Writing
May 23, 2019 19:20 - 54 minutes - 50.4 MBThis week, please join us in welcoming Alicia Kennedy to the studio! Alicia is a Long-Island born, Brooklyn-based food writer and recipe developer with a focus on the intersection of food and politics, veganism, and spirits. She’s the vegan recipe columnist for NYLON Magazine and a former Village Voice contributor. Her podcast, Meatless, features conversations with chefs and writers on issues around culture and meat consumption. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.
Episode 81: Peter Stein: From Education to Oysters
May 16, 2019 17:41 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBWe are excited to sit down with Peter Stein, the owner and founder of Peeko Oysters! An ex-teacher and management consultant, he traded in his desk for the dock when he launched Peeko Oysters, the only oysters based out of New Suffolk, NY. Tune in as we talk to Peter about how his early childhood passion in aquaculture led him down the path to becoming an entrepreneur, the environmental benefits of oyster farming and the importance of creating more transparency in the fishing industry. Why ...
Episode 80: Will Horowitz: From Tibetan Buddhism to Watermelon Hams
May 09, 2019 17:37 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBJoin us for a conversation with Will Horowitz, executive chef and owner of Ducks Eatery and Harry & Ida’s Meat Supply Co in New York City. His New York culinary heritage is deep rooted, with grandparents on both sides as local chefs: one a French-trained chef cooking seasonally on the North Fork of Long Island, the other running a traditional Jewish Delicatessen in Harlem. Will attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado for Tibetan Buddhism and eco-sustainability. There he spent extensi...
Episode 79: Zia Sheikh: From Restaurant Kitchens to Restaurant Mental Health
April 18, 2019 18:09 - 49 minutes - 45 MBAfter spending 16 years cooking at notable restaurants including Tabla, Zahav and ABC Kitchen, Zia Sheikh knew that he had a problem. He found himself turning to drinking and substance abuse to avoid his depression and cope with the pressures of working long hours in a high-stress kitchen environment. After a night of binge drinking almost cost him his life, Zia launched his nonprofit, Restaurant After Hours, an organization dedicated to the mental health of hospitality workers. Why Food? i...
Episode 78: Liza de Guia: From Marketing to Telling Food Stories
April 11, 2019 18:20 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MBLiza de Guia had worked for ABC News and Plum TV when she launched food curated to tell stories about the artists and artisans who drive New York's food scene. She realized no one was making short documentaries about food on a weekly basis, so she decided to create the first of its kind. What began as a small video blog has since grown to partner with The New York Times, Food and Wine, Huffington Post and win numerous awards. Since 2009, Liza has single-handedly created over 200 short docum...
Episode 77: Daniel Gritzer: From Fine Dining to Food Media
April 04, 2019 18:05 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBThis week, we are thrilled to welcome Daniel Gritzer, the Culinary Director of Serious Eats, into the studio! Daniel shares how his early passion for food — staging at legendary restaurant Chanterelle at the age of 13 in lieu of a bar mitzvah — influenced his culinary career path. He's had few twists and turns along the way, including nearly a year working on organic farms in Europe, where he harvested almonds and Padrón peppers in Spain, shepherded a flock of more than 200 sheep in Italy, ...
Episode 76: Minh Tsai: From Banking to Tofu
March 21, 2019 18:01 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBAfter spending 10 years as an investment banker and management consultant, Minh Tsai became frustrated that he couldn’t find the delicious tofu and yuba he grew up eating in Vietnam. He decided to embark on a culinary journey to take back tofu, combining deeply traditional and pure methods with innovative production for his artisan tofu, yuba and soy milk product. After creating Hodo Foods, he launched a farmer’s market stand in Silicon Valley, eventually growing Hodo Foods to more than 4,00...
Episode 75: Catherine Piccoli: From History to the Museum of Food and Drink
March 14, 2019 17:35 - 58 minutes - 53.4 MB"Join cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Catherine Piccoli, Curator at the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn. Catherine is a food historian and writer whose work focuses on the intersection of food, culture, memory, and place. As curator, she oversees the creation of MOFAD’s exhibitions and educational programming and was instrumental in the research, writing, and development of past major exhibitions, Flavor: Making It and Faking It and Chow: Making the Chinese American Res...
Episode 74: Lisa Curtis: From the Peace Corps to Moringa
March 07, 2019 19:08 - 53 minutes - 49 MBThis week, please join us in welcoming Lisa Curtis to the studio! Lisa is the Founder and CEO of @kulikulifoods, the leading brand pioneering the superfood moringa in the US market. She founded the company after working as a Peace Corps volunteer. Since then, she has grown her Peace Corps dream into a multi-million dollar social enterprise with products being sold in over 7,000 stores. Prior to Kuli Kili, Lisa served as the Communications Director of Mosaic, wrote political briefings for Pre...
Episode 73: Deepti Sharma: From Politics to Catering Concierge
February 28, 2019 19:00 - 52 minutes - 48.6 MBDeepti Sharma is the CEO and Founder of @foodtoeat, an online food ordering and delivery service specializing in food trucks and restaurants. She started her company with the mission to connect immigrant, women and minority-owned food vendors to opportunities for growth - ultimately helping them strengthen their own business skills. She is also a Co-Founder of Bikky, a platform solving customer engagement for restaurants. Please tune in as we talk to Deepti about her incredible pioneering st...
Episode 72: Rose Previte: From Public Policy to Award Winning Restaurants
February 21, 2019 19:00 - 51 minutes - 46.8 MBPlease join us in welcoming restaurateur Rose Previte to the studio! Rose spent her childhood helping her mother run her Middle Eastern catering business and restaurant. She then later spent over a decade working in bars and restaurants while getting a master's degree in Public Policy from George Mason University. After meeting her husband and traveling around the world to 30 countries, her time abroad inspired her to open award-winning restaurant Compass Rose in 2014 and then her second res...
Episode 71: Aneesha Hargrave & Ali Banks: From Auto Parts & Architecture to Chopt Salads
February 14, 2019 19:00 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBJoin us this week for a conversation with Aneesha Hargrave and Ali Banks of Chopt Salads. Aneesha is Chopt's Executive Chef and left a career in auto parts sales to go to culinary school and become a chef, following a family passion for food and cooking. After building her foundational culinary skills and technique, she moved to NYC and found her dream opportunity at Chopt. Ali Banks, Chopt's head of R&D, built on a background in architectural, a culinary education in Paris mastering the fi...
Episode 70: Adam Rosenbaum: From Flywheel to meatballs
February 07, 2019 19:53 - 57 minutes - 53.2 MBThis week, we're joined by Adam Rosenbaum, CEO of the Meatball Shop. The Meatball Shop is known for their team first culture and aims to serve simple, sustainable, delicious food with no strings attached. Drawn to high-touch and community-focused communities, Adam joined the team in 2017 to strategically expand the business to major cities and markets. Prior to joining The Meatball Shop, he was the VP of operations for Patina Restaurant Group and SVP of Global Operations of Flywheel. Why Fo...
Episode 69: Mohammad Modarres: From Biotech to Interfaith Meat
January 31, 2019 19:00 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBWe are so thrilled to have Mohammad Modarres of Abe’s Meats joining us! Mohammad is a former biotech entrepreneur, game designer and political cartoonist who moved to NYC to start Interfaith Ventures, an incubator that creates products and programming promoting unity and dialogue across religions. Abe’s Meats grew naturally out of Interfaith and has since become its flagship product — it offers meat products that are both #halal and #kosher so they can be enjoyed without worry with friends a...
Episode 68: Alex McCrery & Jenny Goodman: From Kitchens and Pharmaceuticals to Restaurant Fashion
January 24, 2019 21:25 - 51 minutes - 23.9 MBJoin us for a conversation with Alex McCrery and Jenny Goodman: husband and wife, and cofounders of the groundbreaking restaurant workwear line Tilit NYC. Alex is a former restaurant chef (as well as private chef for Jerry Seinfeld's family) and Jenny worked in the pharmaceutical industry. They met while working at the iconic New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace, and in 2012 launched Tilit NYC to supply the restaurant industry with high quality, intentionally designed aprons and clothin...
Episode 67: Soleil Ho: From Chef to Restaurant Critic
January 17, 2019 18:36 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MBOur first guest of the season is Soleil Ho is the San Francisco Chronicle’s newest restaurant critic. Before coming to the Chronicle, she was a nationally recognized writer, chef, and the host of the Racist Sandwich Podcast, all while providing her thoughtful-provoking perspective on immigration, race, gender, and class in the food world. She is also co-writer on a graphic novel on entomophagy, culinary mentorship, and queer romance called MEAL. Tune in for an insightful conversation on her ...
Episode 66: Chitra Agrawal: From Corporate Marketing to Indian Pickles
December 20, 2018 23:59 - 48 minutes - 44.5 MBChitra Agrawal has been cooking, teaching and writing about food inspired by her family’s recipes from India for ten years. She co-founded Brooklyn Delhi with her husband Ben Garthus in 2014 to bring the flavors she was creating to a wider audience. Chitra is the author of Vibrant India: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Brooklyn (Penguin, 2017). Prior to Brooklyn Delhi, Chitra held marketing roles at American Express and DDB and completed her MBA at NYU Stern. Brooklyn Delhi's awa...
Episode 65: Eric Kim: From American Literature to Food Writing
December 13, 2018 19:16 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBEric Kim is a food writer and the Senior Editor at Food52, where he writes the popular Table for One column. Before becoming a food writer, Eric was an academic - he undergraduate literature courses at Columbia while pursuing a PhD in 19th- and 20th-century American fiction. Join cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a discussion about writing, writing about cooking, and identity in food. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.
Episode 64: Haley Baron: From Food Research to a Community for Women Who Love Food
December 06, 2018 20:37 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBJoin cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Haley Baron. She's the City Operations Director for pineapple collaborative, a community for women who love food, in NY, DC and SF. She's an accomplished food systems researcher, the team manager for the city-wide evaluation of a food access program administered by the Mayor's Office, and is publishing a suite of articles on the organic supply chain. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.
Episode 63: Alex Mayyasi: Writing about Politics & Food
November 29, 2018 22:55 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBJoin cohosts Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Alex Mayyasi, editor of Gastro Obscura, a food publication devoted to culinary wonders and curiosities.Alex was early employee at Priceonomics, where he wrote and edited business and economics stories. He lived in Cairo in 2011-2012, and along with Egyptian democracy activist Ahmed Salah, is the co-author of You Are Under Arrest for Masterminding the Egyptian Revolution (A Memoir). We'll talk about the transition from writing about politic...
Episode 62: Lisa Gross & Afsari Jahan: From Arts and Garments to Cooking Classes
November 15, 2018 21:37 - 41 minutes - 38.5 MBJoin us for a special episode with Lisa Gross (Founder & CEO) and Afsari Jahan (Bengali Cooking Instructor) from League of Kitchens. Lisa was and artis and social entrepreneur, and Afsari managed garment manufacturing in Bangladesh, but today they're part of the team behind League of Kitchens, hosting intimate cooking classes led by immigrant women in their homes. Join us for a conversation about social entrepreneurship, creating connection and understanding through food, and the most import...
Episode 61: Ben Jacobsen: From Tech to Finishing Salts
November 08, 2018 19:18 - 44 minutes - 41.3 MBBen Jacobsen started making salt as a hobby, to distract himself from a failing tech startup. When he finally left tech and decided make salt his full-time business, began by collecting seawater in buckets and boiling it down to make his now-famous finishing salt. In the seven years since then, he's build Jacobsen's Salt Co into a national brand and created a truly American finishing salt. Join co-host Ethan for a conversation about building a brand and changing the way consumers think about...
Episode 60: Erin Patinkin and Agatha Kulaga: Building a Socially Responsible Bakery
November 01, 2018 13:50 - 59 minutes - 54.7 MB"Erin Patinkin and Agatha Kulaga are the co-founders of Ovenly, an award-winning bakery known for creating baked goods that twist sweet and savory flavors in a modern way. With five retail locations, a large wholesale clientele, and over 60 employees, Kulaga and Patinkin are at the forefront of ethical entrepreneurship, building a dynamic company committed to job training and development and environmental sustainability. The duo were named one of New York’s most “badass” leaders in food by T...
Episode 59: Amber Jacobsen: from touring rock bands to upscale coffee
October 19, 2018 02:00 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBAmber started her career as a musical producer in Australia, where she toured famous bands such as Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen, before becoming the worldwide producer of Dirty Dancing. While still on tour, her childhood friend Adam Boyd approached her with a crazy idea: to start a high-quality, ethical coffee roastery in Brooklyn — and she figured, why not? She had been looking for a new creative outlet and, as Amber says, it sounded like an adventure! That idea has grown to become Toby'...
Episode 58: Zwann Grays: From Wine Sales to Wine Director
October 11, 2018 21:20 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBJoin Jenny and Ethan for a conversation with Zwann Grays, Wine Director at the highly regarded Brooklyn restaurant Olmsted. Zwann began her career in distributor wine sales, and then transitioned to work in restaurants, including at some of New York City’s most notable wine destination. At Olmsted, Zwann focuses on natural, producer-driven wine selections from responsible growers, female wine makers, and the next generation of wine makers. Why Food is powered by Simplecast.
Episode 57: Dana Pollack: From Magazine Photography to Atypical Macarons
September 28, 2018 00:43 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBDana launched her macaron bakery out of a small test kitchen in New Jersey at the age of 30 after leaving her job as a magazine photo editor to pursue a culinary degree. When Dana started applying her background in editorial photography to her business’ social media channels and the unique approach of photographing her macarons as though they were bottles of perfume or expensive jewelry, the business began to take off. Today, Dana has grown her business to ship direct to customers and wholes...
Episode 56: Suzanne Cupps: From Corporate HR to Executive Chef
September 20, 2018 15:43 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBSuzanne Cupps is the Executive Chef of Untitled and Studio Cafe in the Whitney Museum of American Art. Born and raised in South Carolina, Suzanne spent summers on her grandfather’s farm, but dodged her mother’s requests for help in the kitchen. A math major in college, she worked in Human Resources after college before taking the leap to attend the Institute of Culinary Education and start a new career in the kitchen. She started at Annisa, working under Chef Anita Lo, and played an integral...
Episode 55: Pooja Bavishi: From Public Policy to Ice Cream
September 13, 2018 22:15 - 58 minutes - 53.6 MBPooja’s interest in cooking started as a child in North Carolina, watching the early versions of cooking shows on television and then trying to recreate the recipes in the kitchen herself. Though she pursued other interests in fair and affordable housing through the non-profit sector, she continued to follow her ice cream-making hobby. She was particularly inspired by the blank palate of an ice cream base, when she discovered that the same spices of her parents’ Indian cooking – ginger, rose...
Episode 54: Nigel Sielegar: Beautiful Design and Beautiful Desserts
August 16, 2018 18:52 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBNigel Sielegar is an web designer who on a whim decided to open a stand at the Queens Night Market, selling traditional Indonesian coconut desserts with his cousin. Within one year of launch, Moon Man has created a line of carefully presented desserts, making them not only delicious, but visually appealing, an asset in today’s Instagram-heavy food culture. They have also received press from outlets including Culture Trip, Eater and the New York Times. NY Times food writer Ligaya Mishan named...
Episode 53: Loren Brill: Baking Up A Better-For-You Cookie
August 09, 2018 20:00 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MBLoren Brill was a young college graduate working as a yoga instructor when her world was turned upside down: she had cancer, Hodgkin's Lymphoma to be exact. After the shock wore off, she sprung to action, determined to take better care of her body through food. She began to cut processed sugars, hydrogenated oils and common allergens from her diet -- but found she was unable to satisfy her sweet tooth with commercially available cookies and cookie dough. So why not make her own? After long h...
Episode 52: Elena Liao: Brewing Up NYC's Best Oolong
August 07, 2018 15:39 - 57 minutes - 52.6 MBElena Liao knew something was missing. She had been in merchandise planning at some of the nation's best retailers for almost 10 years, but she didn't feel captivated by her work. As she looked for side hobbies to do in her free time, she found herself naturally drawn to coffee -- pourovers, specifically -- yet during class she would be drinking tea from her birthplace of Taiwan. Taiwan's complex history has given it a special relationship with oolong tea -- a lightly oxidized tea somewhere ...
Episode 51: Joseph Yoon: From Managing Musicians to Cooking with Bugs
July 31, 2018 14:47 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MBJoseph Yoon started his career in music but decided to pursue his love of cooking and became a private chef and caterer. It was while catering an exhibition with an artist friend that he cooked with insects for the first time, and he hasn't looked back. As the Founder of Brooklyn Bugs, Joseph has become an advocate for eating insects and an expert in the diverse and flavorful works of edible bugs. Join us for a conversation (and tasting) of some of the world's most delicious insects! Why Fo...
Episode 50: Garrett Oliver: From Rock Band Manager to Iconic Brooklyn Brewer
July 19, 2018 18:57 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBGarrett Oliver is the Brewmaster of the iconic Brooklyn Brewery and a world-renowned expert on beer, but few people know that he started his career as an international rock band manager and music producer. Join us for a wide ranging and wildly off-topic conversation about the arc of his long and storied career, what makes a good beer, and how to look great in hats. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast
Episode 49: Kerry Brodie: From Nonprofit Communications to a Nonprofit Restaurant
July 12, 2018 18:52 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBKerry Brodie started her career in nonprofit communications before deciding to pivot to pursue her love of cooking. While in culinary school, she realized she could use the skills she was learning to create a more sustainable, more welcoming environment for refugees newly arrived in the US. She launched Emma's Torch, a restaurant and culinary job skills training program for refugees and asylum seekers, as a popup in 2017, and opened as a full service restaurant in Brooklyn in the spring of 2...
Episode 48: Raquel Jacquez Sharp, Halima Marega & Isatou Sohona: Healthy Food Education from a Teacher and her Students
June 28, 2018 18:23 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBRaquel Jacquez Sharp is an educator and activist around healthy food and the Communication and Partnerships Manager at the Sylvia Center. Join Raquel and two of her students, Isatou and Halima (both 17) for a discussion on changing food habits among teenagers, and building food careers from a young age. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast
Episode 47: Julian Plyter: From Classical Music to Ice Cream Sandwiches
June 27, 2018 15:22 - 59 minutes - 54.7 MBAfter working for several years in classical music, Julian decided to enroll in culinary school to pursue a lifelong passion for pastry and baking. He worked in some of NYC's best kitchens, eventually becoming Pastry Chef at the Crosby Street Hotel. In 2010, he decided to make another career change and become an entrepreneur, and leaving his full time job to launch Melt Bakery, making and selling ice cream sandwiches at outdoor markets in NYC. Since then, he and his partner have built Melt B...
Episode 46: Yuan Ji: Bringing Beautiful Mezcal from Oaxaca to New York
June 13, 2018 15:33 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBYuan Ji is a former anti-trust attorney whose love for Oaxaca (and its mezcal!) inspired her to launch Erstwhile Mezcal. She's partnering with master mezcaleros in Oaxaca whose families have been making mezcal for generations, and importing the results of their expertise to the US. Join us for a deep dive into the how mezcal is made, the differences between agave varietals and Yuan's personal story of exploration and entrepreneurship. Why Food? is powered by Simplecast
Episode 45: Matt Gallira & Jimmy Warren: Bringing Festival Fare to New Heights
May 24, 2018 19:22 - 49 minutes - 45.3 MBSo far on Why Food?, we've talked to many food entrepreneurs about taking the leap from their former careers into food and beverage -- but what if you’ve already launched a successful, growing food business when another steals your heart? In this episode, Big Mozz founder Matt Gallira tells us about when (and why) he decided to pivot from his tomato sauce business, Atlantic Ave Company, to focus on taking his hand-stretched mozzarella and deep-fried mozzarella stick tent at Smorgasburg into ...
Episode 44: Yana Gilbuena: Uniting the World Through Kamayan Dinners
May 17, 2018 17:49 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB50 Meals in 50 States. To most people, this seems a crazy idea; to Yana Gilbuena, a passionate Filipino chef who had just been laid off from her full-time furniture design job, it was just the kick she needed to start her new life in food. She packed up all her things and went on an epic road trip across the United States, cooking traditional kamayan feasts - hands-only Filipino dinners - for communities from small towns in North Dakota to metropolitan cities in California, and even to our n...
Episode 43: Dario Wolos: Serving Up Mexican Spirit from a Volkswagen
May 10, 2018 22:33 - 58 minutes - 54.1 MBIn the summer of 2005, Dario Wolos joked to his friends he would start a taco shop inside a Volkswagen, or "combi" as the locals called it. The name "Tacombi" was dreamt up, then promptly forgotten after several rounds of mezcal. He was still working in the finance department of an internet startup in London at the time, but something clicked after that night and shortly afterwards Dario quit his job and found himself back in Mexico, dipping into his life savings to buy a 1963 VW Kombi. He d...
Episode 42: Carolina Santos-Neves: Doing Good with Good Food
April 19, 2018 21:09 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MBCarolina Santos-Neves started in data entry at epicurious.com but found herself spending more and more time thinking about the elaborate meals she was cooking for her friends. After several years, she decided to take the leap and go to culinary school, and went on to help open two critically acclaimed restaurants. Join us for a conversation about her career and the evolution of her culinary philosophy emphasizing ingredient-forward cooking that considers health, seasonality, and social impac...
Episode 41: Chi Bui: Uniting Chocolate and Olive Oil with Sustainability
April 12, 2018 20:05 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBChi Bui led many lives before her current one in chocolate. Her well-to-do Vietnamese family fled their home city of Hue after the war; her parents lost everything immigrating to the U.S., but ultimately resettled her and her five siblings in Philadelphia. Chi's mother ran a food truck for 20 years, a feat of labor and love from where Chi learned preserverance and leading by example. She went on to major in literature at the New School while fixing computers part-time -- which serendipitousl...
Episode 40: Kristin Canty: Fighting for the Right to Farm
April 10, 2018 15:45 - 49 minutes - 45.1 MBWhen Kristin Canty's young son developed severe allergies, she found relief by feeding him raw milk. She couldn't have known that would start a lifelong mission of advocacy and activism through filmmaking and food. Her feature film, Farmaggedon, exposed the hypocrisy of the FDA and USDA's regulation of small farms and was distributed widely to great critical acclaim. She went on to become a farmer herself, raising livestock and growing produce to supply her restaurants Wood's Hill Table and ...
Episode 39: Meet Your Co-Hosts: Jenny Dorsey & Ethan Frisch
March 29, 2018 18:46 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBThis episode, we're taking a fun approach to (re) introduce ourselves - by each taking half an hour to interview the other host! First up is Ethan Frisch, Founder of Burlap and Barrel. Ethan started in the food world as a pastry chef and activist ice cream maker before moving into humanitarian work overseas. In Kabul, he discovered he discovered fragrant fields of cumin and it planted a seed for his future. Now, he runs a single-origin spice company sourcing exceptional varieties from all ov...
Episode 38: Scott Norton: Bringing Personality and Charm to Condiments
March 26, 2018 14:45 - 56 minutes - 51.9 MBScott Norton began making ketchup in his college apartment almost 10 years ago. It was 4 years after Malcolm Gladwell wrote that Heinz could never be overthrown - but Scott didn’t buy it. So he and his Co-Founder, Mark, set out to disprove this theory with a product that was the complete opposite of any available on the market and Sir Kensington’s was born. Mark went on to work in finance, joining Lehman Brothers a month before the historic crash, and travel across Asia for a series on foldi...
Episode 37: Michele Tanenbaum: Fusing Cookies with Design Aesthetic
March 16, 2018 17:18 - 54 minutes - 50 MBMichele Tanenbaum was burnt out after spending decades in the fashion industry. She began to experiment with making sweet treats for both humans and canines as a gift for her friends - and quickly things blossomed into a full-blown cookie business. Now Lucky Bites - which is named after her terrier Lucky - is in its seventh year and reaching tens of thousands of avid fans online. Join us as we talk about how Michele's design eye has influenced her cookie business, navigating the world of Ins...
Episode 36: Dianna Daoheung: Bringing New Ideas to the Iconic NYC Bagel
March 12, 2018 21:51 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MBDianna Daoheung left a career in advertising because she wanted to work with her hands. She decided to challenge herself by enrolling in a culinary school's pastry program, where she found she loved the science behind bread baking. She took a job at the newly-opened Mile End Deli in Brooklyn, where she learned the fundamentals of Jewish cuisine and when Mile End's owners decided to open a bagel shop, Dianna was the natural choice to run it. Since then, she's overseen its significant expansio...
Episode 35: Jeremy Lyman: Changing New York's Coffee Culture With Service
March 01, 2018 18:20 - 57 minutes - 52.2 MBJeremy Lyman began sketching floorplans of his future business at 16, but found himself only working on his "coffee project" during bad days at work. He wanted to fill a hole in the NYC market for a hospitality-driven coffee concept - except he didn't know anything about coffee. Serendipitously he met his Co-Founder Paul, and together Birch Coffee started with a trip to CoffeeFest 2008. Now, Birch Coffee has 9 locations across NYC and its own roastery in Long Island City. Join us as we talk ...
Episode 34: Andrew Jacobi: Building A Sandwich Empire With Braised Meats
February 27, 2018 16:18 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MBAndrew Jacobi always flirted with the idea of starting a food business, but found himself chasing the competitive high of private equity after college. After yet another late night, he decided to think more seriously about his long-harbored love for meat. After learning the beef supply chain first hand and meeting his founding chef, Ricky, Andy started Untamed Sandwiches, a fast-casual concept with 3 locations across NYC. Untamed's unique focus on braised meat as the centerpiece has allowed ...
Episode 33: Matt Shapiro: Protecting New York's Street Food History & Culture
February 13, 2018 18:17 - 46 minutes - 42.4 MBMatt Shapiro was in law school when he read about a Midtown street vendor's cart being wrongfully confiscated by the police. He was immediately moved by the issue and began to work with the Street Vendors Project, an arm of the non-profit organization Urban Justice Center, that advocates for and provides legal representation to all types of street vendors in NYC - from food trucks to grocery carts to craft & clothing vendors. Join us as we wade through the issues of immigration and race, per...