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Empty Plates is a podcast about food + memory created & hosted by Chef and Researcher Anjli Vyas.
In each episode, Anjli is joined by a diverse array of change makers, leaders and thinkers. Together, they will reflect on 3 plates of food that have shaped and impacted their life.
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32 Episodes
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In this episode Anjli speaks to Dev Sharma, an 18-year-old Youth MP and founding youth campaigner at Bite Back, currently chairing the UK Parliament's first-ever youth inquiry into the cost of living. Campaigning to challenge the injustices of the food system, his activism includes delivering a Charter to No.10 and advising companies on food policy. Recognised with the Diana Award and UK Parliament Award, his work has been at the forefront against junk food advertising onlin...
In this episode Anjli speaks to Kirk Haworth, an incredibly esteemed chef, mental health activist and a leading voice in plant based food, and most recently as the first plant-based chef to ever compete on the Great British Menu. If you know of plant based food, in London, or pretty much anywhere, you will know of him. He makes vegetables look phenomenal - showing them as the primary on the plate! He has made many of us question whether meat has a place on the menu at all. ...
In this episode we speak Martin Allen Morales. Martin is an award winning Peruvian restaurateur and the founder of the incredible restaurant group Ceviche; that houses both Ceviche and Andina. During this episode we touch on his beautiful story of how found home through the tales and recipes from the women in his family. As well as being a phenomenal chef, cookbook author, he is also an avid record collector. He has most recently founded, 2N Management a ci...
In this episode we speak to the author, wellness expert and chai extraordinaire Mira Manek. Mira is an author of two books, a beautiful Gujarati inspired cookbook Saffron Soul and Prajna - a book on Ayurvedic Rituals for Happiness. She has hosted a huge array of events from supper-clubs to wellbeing talks and runs her own retreats. Mira is also a certified integrative health practitioner and therapist. Her incredible journey into food is a life-long quest connected heavily to her love o...
In this episode we speak to leading food policy expert, Gavin Wren. Gavin is researcher, food systems consultant, writer, editor and coffee connoisseur. He is the founder of Wren & Co, a creative food systems consultancy that is focused on finding innovative solutions to solving complex problems. In 2020, he also founded Quota Media, a media organisation that is focused on delivering global news on the subject of food security. He also has a huge following on Tik Tok, where he is th...
In this episode we explore the culinary history of Douglas McMaster, a thought leader on zero waste cooking and sustainable living. He is the founder of Silo, the UK's first zero waste restaurant in Hackney. He has worked at 20 restaurants globally including the infamous St Johns, Heston Blumenthal’s renowned the Fat Duck, and of course Noma, in Copenhagen. Doug has been exposed to a wide array of food influences and education throughout his life many of which give him a par...
In today’s episode, Anjli is joined by William Sitwell one of the UK’s most established food writers, a restaurant critic for The Telegraph, authors and broadcasters. He’s the former editor of Waitrose Food magazine, a familiar face on MasterChef, and the author of The Restaurant: A History of Dining Out — a book that traces how the simple act of eating out has evolved across centuries and continents. This episode isn’t just about the history of restaurants; it’s also about ...
In this episode of Empty Plates, I speak with writer, actor, and author Jassa Ahluwalia about identity, race, and food. Jassa’s Both Not Half philosophy challenges the idea that mixed-heritage identity is somehow incomplete and reminds us that being both is not division, it’s wholeness. We talk about growing up Punjabi and English in the UK, the humour of being a “Punjabi-speaking white man,” his love of aloo paratha, and of course, the great Punjabi vs Gujarati samosa debate. Along the way, ...
In this weeks episode Anjli speaks chef Sohini Banerjee whose journey into food has taken her from prep shifts at Cinnamon Kitchen while studying a master’s in Health Economics, to leaving the financial world behind and building a career dedicated to the flavours of her heritage. Along the way, Sohini has worked alongside chefs like Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express, Helen Graham of Bubala, and Michelin-starred Rohit Ghai but her own cooking is rooted deeply in Kolkata, West Bengal, and i...
In this weeks Anjli episode we speak to Himansu Suri - also known through his stage Moniker as ‘Heems’. "Heems" Suri is an artist, rapper, and writer from Queens, NY. Himanshu Kumar Suri, better known by his stage name Heems, is an American rapper. Suri came to prominence as a member of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist, with whom he released two mixtapes and one album He first received recognition as a founder of the art-rap trio Das Racist, before releasing solo work and later ...
In this episode Anjli speaks to Rebecca Ghim the founder of the Ferm - A London based Fermentary - that produces incredible low carbon kimchi! Rebecca is from Gwangju, South Korea, a town known for good food and is the home to the World Institute of Kimchi. After her MA focused on food waste, food insecurity, and food sovereignty, she decided to marry her heritage and research by creating The Ferm, as the medium of expansion of her low-carbon lifestyle and activism by tackling sys...
In this week's episode Anjli speaks to Bettina Campolucci Bordi, Bettina is a phenomenal self -taught chef, author and she also runs a retreat chef academy. Bettina works across the plant based food scene from training wellness chefs, to advocating for sustainable proteins with the likes of Baxterstorey and Chefs Manifesto! Her story of how she entered the food industry is one of following intuition it seems and letting life guide you into the next stage. Bettina seamlessly ...
In today's episode Anjli speaks to doctor Dr Neha Vermani, a historian of early modern South Asia, particularly the Mughal Empire about the how our diets have been unwittingly been colonised by food ways. Neha’s research focuses on intersections between material culture (especially food practices and human-plant-animal interactions) and histories of science, senses, emotions, and self-fashioning. Together they explore the topic of food migration through the lens of ancient s...
In this very special episode of Empty plates, Anjli leads us through a our first Empty Plates LIVE recording and was recorded with a live audience at Hatchards in Piccadilly, also known as London's oldest book store She sat down with both Mira Manek and Doctor Chintal Patel to discuss the journey of how we protect and preserve our heritage in food and rituals, and reflect on how our own journeys of migration have shaped our relationship with Food and how we attempt keep them alive...
In this week's episode, Anjli speaks with Chef Lauren Lovatt. Lauren is not only a chef but also a food artist, author, and the founder of Plant Academy—an incredibly successful plant-based cooking school. If you think of raw food in London, Lauren is undoubtedly one of the key figures who comes to mind. Today's discussion explores Lauren's personal journey with plant-based food and delves into pivotal, life-changing dishes that have shaped her path. Lauren shares anecdotes from her curious e...
In this week's episode Anjli speaks to Dharmesh & Enna Lakhani, the co-owners of the Bobby’s, established in 1976, it is one of the UK’s first Indian restaurants, nestled on a bustling corner of Belgrave Road in Leicester. Building a restaurant is in many cases can be a pipedream, and for those who manage to get to opening day and live our there dream they quickly realise the next challenges are a mixture of staying relevant, balancing the cash-cows from and question marks and...
In this episode Anjli speaks to Dhilon Devji, the founder of Dhils the creator of the Vegan Seekh Kebab. "Irresistibly Meaty, Unbelievably Vegan" and the new appointed creator of the UK's best vegan kebab. Dhils story is a fascinating one, having spotted a gap in the market for South Asian flavour and culturally relevant alternative protein brands and syncing this desire with his scientific knowledge to create a 2D protein all from the comfort of his make shift home kitchen during Cov...
Today, Anjli is speaking to Chandani Kaur Kohli, founder of Biskut Bar, the first premium Punjabi biscuit company building a sustainable biscuit dreamland. So in this episode we will be talking about episode to AUTHENTICY, looking at how independent producers weave their core brand message through the web of sales, marketing and above trend, to ensure that they and their products align to the core values and principles of their brands DNA. Their offerings reimagine the bold aromatics o...
In this weeks episode Anjli speaks to Mallika Basu. Mallika is a writer, commentator and board adviser in the food & hospitality industry. Be ready for some fast paced, straight forward conversation on the semantics of APPROPRIATION vs APPRECIATION and a deep dive into supermarket equity! With two published cookbooks, she writes an award-nominated newsletter More than Curry covering the link between food, people and planet. Malika, also delivers key cultural training on cultu...
In this episode Anjli speaks to Poorva Joshipura, Senior Vice President of International Affairs for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) about the perception of veganism, animals as food, domestication, planetary health, human health, ethics and of course what it means to consume food? Poorva Joshipura is an key voice in vegan ethics and culture and esteemed author as we as an advisor for different organizations that protect domesticated work animals used for ...
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