Recent Episodes

 

Dwight Furrow, the author of American Foodie: Taste, Art, and the Cultural Revolution, talks about the philosophy of food. We discuss everything the impact of everything from automobile to Alice Waters to the Slow Food movement have shaped the way Americans think about food.
 
 
 
 

 

Inbal Baum, the Founder of Delicious Israel, joins us to talk about where foodies should eat when they travel to her country.

• Shakshouka is a popular dish in Israel
• Israeli Breakfast is a distinct and important meal
• The modern cherry tomato has roots in Israel
• Tel Aviv and Jerusalem top the list of cities you should visit
• Beach season runs from April to October
• Rosh Hashana is a great time to visit Israel
• When you visit Tel Aviv, go to the Carmel Market, the Levinsky Market
• Try the date syrup, Silan

 

 

Food for Thought

• Q: After pita bread, what is the most common food used to “wipe” humus?
• A: Raw onion.

 
 

Out of the Frying Pan

• Favorite Spot for Outdoor Dining: Milgo & Milbar
• Favorite Place to Buy Spices: Cafe Arma in Levinsky Market
• Herbs to Try: Za’atar and Hawaij (in Yemenite Coffee)
• Favorite Winery: Sphera
• Favorite Place for Dessert: The Malabia
• Favorite Food Experience for Kids: Max Brenner
• Chef to Watch: Eyal Shani
• Dish to Try at Different Places: Shakshouka and sabich

Bennet Jacobstein, author of The Joy of Ballpark Food: From Hot Dogs to Haute Cuisine, talks to us about what foodies can find at different baseball stadiums around the country.

• Hot dogs and sausages are not the same thing.
• The quality of ballpark food was elevated in the 90s as new stadiums were built and food television shows took off.
• Stadiums have highlighted regional foods.
• Gordon Biersch‘s founder Dan Gordon introduced garlic fries at Candlestick Park in 1994.
• The song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was written in 1908.
• The Yankees replaced Cracker Jacks at one point, but brought it back after a public outcry.
• 

  San Francisco Giant Gordon Biersch Garlic Fries

  Veggie Happy spearheaded the movement to get veggie dogs sold at ballpark stadiums.

• Andrew Zimmern has a stand in the Minnesota ballpark.
• Rocky Mountain Oysters are bull testicles.
• “The Big Six” are the food companies that service the major ballparks.
• As you go from ballpark to ballpark, try the hot dogs at each to see how they’re done differently.
• Proceeds from Bennett’s book go to Second Harvest Food Bank.

 

Food for Thought

• Q: In what year were Cracker Jacks first served at a baseball game?
• A: 1896 in Atlantic City.

 

Out of the Frying Pan

Here’s what Bennet recommends you try at each ballpark:

• Yankees Stadium in New York City: Chicken and Waffles.
• Fenway Park in Boston: Lobster Roll and a cuban sandwich.
• Wrigley Field in Chicago: Chicago-style hot dog with Vienna beef.
• Turner Field in Atlanta: Boiled peanuts.
• Marlins Park in Miami: Cuban dishes.
• Safeco Field in Seattle: The Ivar’s hot dog (with fish) and cream cheese hot dog.
• Nationals Park in Washington D.C.: A cauliflower hot dog and presidential cupcakes.
• 

  Chicago White Sox Chicago-Style Hot Dog

  Busch Stadium in St. Louis: The BBQ.

• Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles: Tommy Lasorda Spumoni ice cream.
• AT&T Park in San Francisco: Crab salad, lamb sausages, and Gordon Biersch garlic fries.

Try a Food Tour

More in this Country

Are you planning your first trip to the Big Apple? Here are five fantastic New York City restaurants that should be on every foodie’s bucket list.

1. Toro

Boston chef Ken Oringer arrived in New York City to lots of buzz in the fall of 2013 to showcase his pièce de résistance, Toro. Situated in a lofty corner space at the edge of Chelsea, this tapas restaurant will unleash your taste buds. Don’t expect your run-of the-mill Spanish tapas taverna. Toro’s flair focuses on exciting and unusual items like fresh live sea urchin, tripe, foie gras, and blowfish.

 

If you can, grab a seat at the back bar and watch Chef Oringer work his magic firing up hundreds of delectable morsels. The menu is quite extensive. Take your time, the staff will walk you through the favorites and measure your adventurous quota.

 

$$$

85 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011
(212) 691-2360

 

 

2. Taim

Founded by Israeli couple Chef Einat Admony and Stefan Nafziger, Taim brings New York City a gourmet version of the vegetarian street food staple, falafel. Their original outpost can be found on a quintessential West Village street.

 

A line usually forms outside of this tiny gem. If you’re lucky, seat yourself at the small bar and people watch window-side. You should definitely try the harissa falafel, which is topped with homemade creamy hummus and a delicious pickled cabbage slaw.

 

Taim also boasts a smoothie bar, with a favorite being the date, lime, and banana. Don’t let the vegetarian menu dissuade you; even the most carnivorous of clientele will leave satiated.

 

$

222 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10014

(212) 691-1287

 

 

3. Artichoke Basille’s Pizza

If you’re looking for decadent pizza, Artichoke is your place. You can grab a few slices to-go at various locales throughout downtown, but if you want to rest your feet, you should get comfy at the Chelsea location.

 

Created by Staten Island cousins Francis Garcia and Sal Basille, their artichoke slice–a thick pizza smeared with a cream sauce and finished with crisp artichokes, spinach, and gooey cheese–won praise amongst critics. However, their other pizzas, such as the vodka sauce with a twice-baked crust or the classic margarita, are not-to-be-missed. A full bar with Italian wines as the signature pieces and draft beers complement the meal nicely. Plan on being very full upon leaving.

 

$$

114 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011
(212) 792-9200

 

 

4. Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar

Tucked away on a quiet East Village street, Aroma Kitchen & Winebar is a wonderful date-night restaurant. Expect to be greeted by the welcoming owners, Vito Polosa and Alexandra Degiorgio. You can choose to mosey up to the wine bar near the front and chat it up with friendly bartenders or escape to the back dining room and surround yourself with exposed brick and delicate chandeliers.

 

All of their pastas are homemade, created with the freshest ingredients, and demonstrate a certain flair and thoughtful quality. Their wine list is lovely as well, showcasing a bevy of Italian wines.

 

$$$

36 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003
(212) 375-0100

 

 

5. Prune

There is usually a queue form ed down the street during weekend brunches, but if you’re lucky, you can sometimes snag a table without waiting on a weeknight. Gabrielle Hamilton’s prized possession, Prune, has been a hit in the East Village since 1999. Rich dishes such as roasted bone marrow or spatchcocked pigeon are a must with a varied wine list to boot.

 

Hamilton does a wonderful job creating a decadent and memorable dining experience. If you’re brave, wait out the line for Saturday and Sunday brunches. Be prepared for close quarters—the restaurant boasts a natural buzz that makes you feel like you’re part of New York City’s pulse.

 

$$$

54 East 1st Street, New York, NY
(212) 677-6221

 

 

What New York City restaurants are on your must-eat list?

 

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Marisa Olsen is the founder of Les Foodités, a food blog that explores the culinary arts with a focus on my passion for cooking and restaurant reviews in New York City.

Chris Angelus is the founder of Portland Food Adventures, which turns local chef’s restaurant recommendations into unique food experiences. He also writes for About Face Magazine as its cuisine editor. Most recently his latest venture is a podcast, RightAtTheFork.com, a weekly talk with some of Portland’s discovered and undiscovered culinary talents. We sat down to ask him a few questions…
 

1. What is Portland Food Adventures?

 
It’s become more diverse than it was, but basically it’s a unique way to explore the Portland food scene through interactive dinners where chefs talk about their work and personal lives, and then talk about their favorite eating and drinking places in Portland. Diners then may go explore the chef’s favorite places armed with gift certificates they received at that chef’s Portland Food Adventures dinner.
 

RELATED: Hear our interview with Chris Angelus of Portland Food Adventures.

 

2. What do you enjoy about the Portland Food Adventure dinners?

 

What has become most gratifying for me isn’t necessarily eating great food at a fantastic restaurant. It’s the social experience of getting a group of like-minded people together and having them click, and have a party. Nothing makes me happier than the sound of 35 people having a blast. I love when people who have come to a dinner call to reserve the next one and ask if they can sit with the people they first met at the previous event. Those experiences are invaluable to me, and they happen often.
 

3. Tell us how the food scene in Portland has evolved in the last decade.

 
I’ve been here about that long. It was just really starting to blossom in 2005. And then The Food Network came into being, and people started paying attention to chefs. Now we’re into another generation of chefs beginning to realize their dreams. Some have worked under our nationally known chefs like Vitaly Paley and Andy Ricker, like Gabriel Rucker and Nong, who just opened her first restaurant after having one of Portland’s most popular food carts for a long time.
 
Now guys like Rucker are opening new places or their sous are on the build their own careers. Lastly, the big guys and gals are all doing cookbooks now. Next up, service. But one of the things that keeps Portland dining relatively inexpensive is that service isn’t always the star of the show. It can be, but it’s inconsistent.
 

RELATED: Hear our interview with Chef Andy Ricker of Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon.

 

4. If a foodies are coming to Portland for the first time, what neighborhoods should they check out?

 
Portland is made up of neighborhoods, and each has its own vibrant food scene. Downtown is hot now. Last year it was Division (and it still is!) and Alberta before that. Mississippi and North Williams are kicking ass, too. Did I mention Concordia? And the Northwest? And the Pearl. It really is crazy.
 
If someone wants the full on experience, they need to be here for weeks or months, not days. Only then does one really get an understand of how vast our food scene is, especially for a city our size. A Portland food vacation is a great idea, including the beautiful Oregon coast. And I’d be happy to plan one out for people for a reasonable “food sherpa” fee.
 

5. What is the food truck scene like in Portland?

 

First of all, in Portland, they are not food trucks. They are called food carts because the vast majority are stationary and can be found in what we call pods. There are dozens of pods strewn throughout different neighborhoods, which are basically empty city blocks filled with anywhere between six and thirty-six food carts. (Downtown has three huge pods). So, a few hungry people can visit a pod, and decide individually what they would like to eat, and experience very good food made by passionate people who specialize in one or two things. Or, for the real foodie, they can eat like a beast and try many different types of food without going too far.
 
Many of our food cart owners go on to open excellent restaurants. Pok Pok (now with multiple locations in Portland and New York), Lardo (Two years ago one food cart. Now four sandwich joints and a pasta place), Shut up and Eat and Nong’s come to mind. It’s different than any other city with our stationery pods.
 

RELATED: Everything you want to know about food trucks.

 

Midgi Moore is food writer and blogger living in Juneau, Alaska. She owns Juneau Food Tours, a culinary walking tour highlighting wild Alaskan seafood.
 
 

1. What foods is your city known for?

Juneau is a small, land-locked city. With the ocean to the west and the mountains to the east, we have an abundance of delicious food offerings. We are most known for our wild Alaskan seafood. In the southeast Alaska area, we have all five species of salmon, dungeness crab, rockfish, halibut, spot prawns, and the luxurious sable fish. Diners in Juneau are treated to some of the best seafood one can imagine, prepared by gifted and creative chefs.
 
 

2. What is the best time of year to visit your city?

Typically summer is the most popular time to visit Juneau. Our visitor season is May – September, when many of the attractions are ope for example, sport fishing, whale watching, and flight seeing. Juneau Food Tours operates a walking tour during this time, with six tasting locations and eight tastings total. We focus on the seafood, but also include locally produced charcuterie, as well as locally brewed beer. We also offer a winter option from mid-December to the end of March. This is a progressive dinner with a prohibition theme. It has three courses, each at a different location, and three cocktails, because it’s prohibition! Most of our popular restaurants are open year-round, so finding a great meal isn’t too difficult. Juneau is only a two hour flight from Seattle, so any time of year is a great time to visit.
 
 

3. Who are some of the chefs in your city that we should keep an eye on?

We are so proud of our local chefs. Chef Lionel Uddipa, chef de cuisine at SALT is a local boy who has lived here since he was two years old. He studied at Cordon Bleu in Atlanta. From there he honed his craft interning (stodging as it’s known in the restaurant world) in James Beard award winning restaurants such as Tru and Next in Chicago and the three-star Michelin rated Alinea, also in Chicago. He brings a sophisticated avant garde flare to the dining scene and we are fortunate to have him. SALT is favorite stop on our summer and winter tours. Another chef on the rise is Chef Beau Schooler, who, with his business partner, Travis Smith, owns and operates four eateries: The Rookery Cafe, Taqueriea, In Boca al Lupo, and Panhandle Provisions, which is featured on our summer tour. Chef Beau is creative talent in the kitchen and has been nominated twice for James Beard Rising Star. He is a nose-to-tail chef, which means he uses all of the animal. In 2015, Chef Beau won the Great American Seafood Cook-Off with his nose-to-tail salmon. This dish included a salt made from the ground fish bones, as well as his trademark salmon chorizo. if you’re looking for a truly unique dining experience, The Rookery is the place to go. The third chef to keep an eye on is Vienetia Santana of V’s Cellar Door. V is a fusion chef who blends earthy flavors of Latin and Mexican food with spicy and rich flavors of the Asian and Korean cultures. Her must have dish is her fusion nachos, which blends these two flavor profiles into one amazing dining experience. For our summer tour, V provides halibut fusion nachos. They are a guest and a local favorite.
 
 

4. What can people expect on your food tours?

People can expect the best of Alaskan food and Juneau. We pair the tasty side of Juneau with the fun and colorful side through sharing history and fun facts. The walk isn’t too far, only 1.2 miles because all the great places are close to one another. We don’t feel like you need to walk all over town to get great food and to experience Juneau. Each tour is guided by a local resident, who lives in Juneau year-round. Our tour isn’t a “touristy” tour, we take you where we go, where we eat, where we have a beer with our friends. It’s off the beaten path of where most visitors tread.